How to decide pairings

Discussion in 'General Forum' started by other, Mar 4, 2004.

  1. other

    other Regular Member

    Joined:
    Dec 14, 2004
    Messages:
    1,566
    Likes Received:
    8
    Occupation:
    Student
    Location:
    Cambridge, UK
    hiya, we may be entering a cup match on sunday with only 2 of the regular team of 6 there. its three open pairs, 1, 2 and 3 and the same pairs play each other, ie. 1 plays 1 and 2 plays 2 etc etc. so we've got a best of three games, and also a best of 3 sets for the overal match. i've managed to round up 4 more players, 1 may be weaker than the rest. i have no idea about the other team, but i suspect they're not terribly good (at least the immediate next team in the cup). considering we have to keep the same pairings and numbers, what would be the best bet to go for?

    2 regular players in pair 1, and the rest in 2 and 3?
    1 regular and 1 reserve, teams 1 and 2. then a team 3 of 2 reserves?

    we need to win 2 to go thru, so putting all our eggs in the first pair may not be a great idea. better to spread out the chances?
     
  2. Neil Nicholls

    Neil Nicholls Regular Member

    Joined:
    Aug 21, 2002
    Messages:
    2,908
    Likes Received:
    10
    Location:
    Cannock, UK
    Is there anything in the rules that says you have to play your best pair as 1, next best as 2, and weakest as 3?

    If so you might have a better chance splitting up the 2 regular players.
    If you end up with 3 pairs who have never played with each other before, you could say that you don't know which is best, and field the pairs with the regular players in as 2 and 3.

    or put the 2 regulars in pair 1, and the weakest player in pair 2.


    depends on how well you know the indivisuals play with each other.
    As our first team captain, I get this nearly every match. Only once this season have I not had between 1 and 3 people out of 6 missing for a match. We tend to have an idea of the opposition though, so I have some sort of basis for deciding who to pair with who in which order.
     
  3. other

    other Regular Member

    Joined:
    Dec 14, 2004
    Messages:
    1,566
    Likes Received:
    8
    Occupation:
    Student
    Location:
    Cambridge, UK
    i think the rules are generally that pair 1 must be the strongest pair out of the chosen pairs....not the two best players necessarily....so we don't HAVE to pair up 2 team players. so i was planning to split it up. well, we know that they are not very good from their results with other teams, but we don't know their pairings:(

    we'll probably just do:

    team player + reserve 1st pair
    me + reserve pair 2nd pair
    reserve + reserve 3rd pair

    this way, we should win the 2nd pair set
    the 3rd pair should have a good game against the opposition 3rds
    1st pair will just have to see what their luck is....i'm assuming they will stick to the rules and field pairs in order of strength

    not that it always works....as the regular second pair, we can beat the first pair....but the captain is in the first pair:D :rolleyes:

    the idea about having the weakest team as pair 2 is a good idea:)

    neil, i'm guessing you'll have more than about 7 matches a school term/whatever that is for you....we are ok normally....just it clashes with the u19 counties tourney, which i would go, had my partner not had to pull out remembering he is visiting someone that weekend:(
     
  4. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2002
    Messages:
    23,818
    Likes Received:
    4,791
    Occupation:
    wannabe badminton phototaker
    Location:
    Outside the box
    Always a risk.

    If they have a weak third pair, go for the strong 1st pair (win three), and aim for the 2nd and 3rd pair to win against their 3rd pair.

    If you doubt the 3rd pair abilities, you might try to have a stronger 2nd pair instead. ie sacrifice the 3rd pair's strength and hope to pick 2 wins from your 2nd pair.
     
  5. other

    other Regular Member

    Joined:
    Dec 14, 2004
    Messages:
    1,566
    Likes Received:
    8
    Occupation:
    Student
    Location:
    Cambridge, UK
    hehe...that's what we would do if i were a normal match. however we don't rotate the pairs, the 1st pair only plays the other 1st pair, best out of three:)

    we'll go for splitting it up, will be more fun:)
     
  6. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2002
    Messages:
    23,818
    Likes Received:
    4,791
    Occupation:
    wannabe badminton phototaker
    Location:
    Outside the box
    Oh, I see, my mistake. Just go for two strong pairs.
     
  7. JChen99

    JChen99 Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2002
    Messages:
    1,048
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Realtor
    Location:
    Vancouver
    Um... I actually have a question on deciding pairings too. Here in Vancouver for Highschool, the format is of the following
    Team1A Doubles vs Team2A Doubles
    Team1A Doubles vs Team2B Doubles
    Team1B Doubles vs Team2A Doubles
    Team1B Doubles vs Team2B Doubles
    So A pair besides playing opponent's A pair will also play the B pair
    so it totals for 4 points on just the Men's doubles. The same situation goes for woman's doubles as well, where 4 points max can be rewarded.
    As for Singles, there's one point each for Mens and Woman's doubles, and afterwards the Men's singles player pair up with the woman's singles player to play mixed. Thus making 11 points in total. So far, from what I've seen, the other schools we've played have always put their top 2 players together in doubles, thus making a strong doubles pair.

    The situation at my school is. For the guys, there's this pair that I will not split up simply because they've been playing together for longer than I have played badminton lol, and them playing together amplifies each other's skill (i guess cuz they mesh together so well) so that leaves me with the singles and doubles to fill. Of the 3 other kids I "perfer" to put in, one is more singles oriented, but plays a lot of doubles so he's quite comfortable playing either. The second is more doubles oriented, but lacks the ability to "see things" on court until told later. The third has a good solid smash so he can be very dominant in doubles, but he has no idea how to rotate, and tends to just "park" himself in front of the net even if his partner lifts. He's also the one that's giving me quite a bit of headache. For instance he doesn't show up to practices or shows up expecting to play games while the other kids are doing drills. He has quite some talent but because of the fact he missed ALL of last week's practices I had no choice but to sit him out yesterday during a reginal qualifying game where we would have lost if it weren't for our B girls pulling an unexpected win against the opponent's A doubles.

    As for the girls, I had the 4 strongest girls playing doubles and the weakest player in singles. However, when it came to mixed she was having a lot of trouble keeping up and the guy ended up playing singles on a doubles court, losing the game.

    I'm just wondering what's the sensible thing to do for pairings? cuz it seems to me that most other schools we play against always put their strongest 2 in A doubles, and if they had 2 more strong players they'd stick em into B doubles, but if they only had one more then third strongest guy (or one of the top 3) would just be in singles.

    Suggestions anyone?
     
  8. other

    other Regular Member

    Joined:
    Dec 14, 2004
    Messages:
    1,566
    Likes Received:
    8
    Occupation:
    Student
    Location:
    Cambridge, UK
    hehe...sounds complicated. here's what i'd do. I'd tell the players that they would have to form a regular partnership/or choose to play singles. If they want to play a particular event, then hopefully they will be more receptive to coaching and training, drills superivsed by you? Some people might prefer to play singles, and then for practise, the boy can play the girl, might help on court relationshp? let them play a couple games between each other (whole team) and debrief each pair/singles afterwards, alone (not with any other pair). I think that might help them feel "special", as part of a proper partnership. then, they will be aware of their weaknesses, and they should work together better to minimise them. Heh...in a perfect world fo course:)
    I play doubles mainly with my dad, for a fair while now, so i basically know what he could do, and he is attuned to me as well. i think you should just let them choose how to play, and then work around that.
     

Share This Page