Is it a good idea to try to slow down the pace against very fast paced opponents?

Discussion in 'Techniques / Training' started by Birdy, Jan 16, 2014.

  1. Birdy

    Birdy Regular Member

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    Today I had a match against players better than I usually normally played against and they played really fast (lots of drives and smashing). I think this would what we consider fast pace opponents right (if I've understood pacing correctly)?

    So their pace obviously outpaced ours and I was thinking about one of the questions I asked earlier here on this forum about pacing and trying to apply that. I suggested to my partner to slow the pace down so that it would affect their fast pace momentum .. this was accomplished by some suggestions such as doing more neutral shots like net push and drops.

    But I don't know if this logic was a good idea. Do you guys think we should try to slow the pace down as a strategy against opponents who pace is so fast? If so, why would that be a good thing and what else should we take into consideration before using this strategy? What needs to be in place?

    NOTE though the reason I can't tell if the strategy was a good idea or not is because I actually had some trouble executing it. I couldn't slow the pace down..but maybe for future reference when my skills improve.. i will attempt this strategy again against superior fast pace opponents.
     
    #1 Birdy, Jan 16, 2014
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2014
  2. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    What's the level of the opponents compared to your level of play?

    The skill level and experience of how to play the game is a big factor.
     
  3. MSeeley

    MSeeley Regular Member

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    If your opponent is better than you, you will lose. Slowing down the pace is not usually easy as, most of the time, players like playing fast paced.

    So I ask you, if you don't slow the pace down, what are you going to do? Just let them win by trying to keep up and failing? Then you achieve nothing. You need to focus on something you can do to try and win e.g. play tight to the net, do not lift, slow the game down, smash down the middle, punch clear down the middle etc... But whatever you chose to do needs to be something you ALREADY know how to do.

    Remember: practice is for improving. If you want to learn to play faster, learn it in practice. If you are playing a game against people and you can't keep up with their pace, it is not the time to start learning to keep up - you are already in the match! You need to use the skills you HAVE, not the ones you want to learn, because you don't have them yet.

    If you can successfully slow the game down, and your opponents cannot cope with it, then YES! Use whatever tactics you can to beat them. However, there may be other taactics that work just as well, or even better. This depends on your opponents and what they are capable of (they may like playing slow paced!!!) and more importantly what YOU are capable of (you may be rubbish at slow pace - so don't change to that tactic!).

    Good luck!
     
  4. Rykard

    Rykard Regular Member

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    when I play against certain opposition I try to take the pace off the shuttle to make them generate the pace, this quite often means they force it too much and make a mistake. It also makes them move more.
     
  5. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    as matt already said, it depends on the level of your opponents... if theyre much better, then there's really nothing you can do except play your best, whatever that pace may be... because they can match and beat you at any pace, slow medium or fast...

    having said that, if your opponents are same or lower than your level, then there are some players who cannot handle soft shots below the tape... these are the ones that you can easily beat by soft pushes, blocks, half smashes, fast drops, etc... but your shots must be accurately close to the tape for this to work
     
  6. jencon13

    jencon13 Regular Member

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    I see lots of ambiguous answers!!! Heres my attempt at a clear cut answer lol: - Very fast paced players, tend to be either very fit, or very stupid in their choice of shot. If its the first option.. changing the pace is not as simple as "drop shotting". I believe something most people miss is.. the game is fast not based on the shot itself but by the MOVEMENT of the player. You need to add a lot more disguise, my bet is your to predictable / not disguised enough on your shots. If you deploy the peter gade tactic of shots, (Not going to explain, google it pls) its alot harder for opponents to tell where you will hit, thus giving them less time, and thus hopefully slowing the pace down. If ofcourse its the second option, bait the player with a lot of high lifts, that might be easy to smash, but also hard to cross court smash with, hence leaving the predictability, an easy bet to guess.
    hope this helps xx
     
  7. sautom88

    sautom88 Regular Member

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    Fast paced players are not always very fit, Fast and POWERFUL players have to be very fit. I consider myself fast (no loose net shots or drop shots or else I'll tap it when I am in mid-court) but not very fit, I don't have thundering smashes. Cheung made a very valid point on yr question, are they much better or just a bit better? If they are much better then u have to improve yourself, slowing the games' pace does not matter much.
     
  8. SmashAndDash

    SmashAndDash Regular Member

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    I see an issue with giving advice on this situation. Are we approaching this as a practice match, or a competitive match?

    If this is a practice match, then you should play to improve, as MSeeley said. Focus less on winning, and more on playing well. During practice matches like these, you should try to play at the top of, or beyond what you think your playing abilities are. Since this is not a competitive match, you should attempt to match their pace, without worrying about stamina. If you run out of stamina early, this indicates that you need to do more stamina training at higher intensities. If you cannot generate enough pace to throw your opponents off balance, then you should work on that too in practice.

    If you are considering this as a competitive match, then it's okay to focus on just winning. Badminton strategy is very open and complex. There is more to tactics than just "fast pace" and "slow pace". Instead of locking onto one approach, you should try different things and see what is effective, and what is not. Narrow down "possible tactics" to "effective tactics".

    For example, a "possible" tactic would be to not lift and play more net pushes and net shots. After a rally or so, you may notice that it is hard for you to not lift, and that net shots are not effective, but net pushes seem to pressure your opponent. This means that using net pushes would be an "effective" tactic that you should continue doing.

    As stated by others, some matches you just can't win (ex. if you were to go up against LYD/YYS right now, there's no chance you would win, as a novice), however there are always tactics you can try to use that may be effective.

    TL;DR: If this was practice, just go all out, try your best, and improve yourself. If this was competitive, don't limit yourself to one strategy. Test what works and what doesn't, and then do more of what works.
     
  9. faaiz

    faaiz Regular Member

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    try to slow the pace by playing at the net..when they lift at the base line smash then the fast pace will be yours..
     
  10. Birdy

    Birdy Regular Member

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    They were pretty fit. We ll try disguising our shots more to slow the pace down. Haven't tried this one yet aside from lifting, dropping, blocks and push shots to slow pace down. Oh yeah, we also tried hitting the shots to really open spots and trying to move them around more, but they were just too fast.

    I think like everyone said, we just couldn't keep up with them and there wasn't really much point in slowing the pace down. Skill difference was just obvious =/

    Thanks for the tips all!
     
  11. Birdy

    Birdy Regular Member

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    How do you take the pace off the shuttle? Can you give some examples? It would help alot. Thanks!
     
  12. Birdy

    Birdy Regular Member

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    Well, one of them was just fast and powerful and the other was just fast. They're a bit better, not by a lot, but they totally controlled the pace of the game by dominating a little on the speed.
     
  13. opikbidin

    opikbidin Regular Member

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    I just lift very high so we have time to prepare for a smash or drop.That's my default trick for facing fast paced players, just lift very high that gives time to prepare.

    From my experience, the fast paced players actually do that so we lose our balance and can't position ourselves properly, by giving us no time to think.

    But if you lift high, retreat a little and prepare for smash or drops, and then lift high again, repeat the process, the pace usually becomes a bit slower.
     
  14. SSSSNT

    SSSSNT Regular Member

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    Exactly my thinking on how to slow down the pace.

    Will work on a lot of players, especially at lower levels like most of us are in.
     

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