Let me start off saying that I am not a Profession player nor a high level player. Haven't been involved in any highly competitive tournaments since High school days when I was a Sponsored player. last week I had the privilege of working as a line judge for the 2014 Pan Am badminton championship games. Here are few things that I came away for this experience that could and will improve my game and hopefully yours as well. Here are three things I came away from the games that I can learn and work at it to be a better player. 1) to be CALM on the court (hard to master) 2) Soft hand (don't need to hit everything hard, control) 3) Shots do not have to be perfect, just NEED to be good and "IN" *One of the US coach kept on telling his players "soft hand" in the XD championship game. "nice and soft, not need to hard it hard. Just control" **In the Semi MS,one the sideline coach kept telling his player on "almost" every single serve..."concentrate on the serve, just make sure it goes over" the most humble experience I came away from the game was watching an US MD player (57 years old) made it to the Semi of the MD. WOWWWWWW!!!!! His ability to be CALM on all his serve and return was an eye opening. He does not make a lot of mistake, you need to beat him. Most if not all players came on the court laughing at him and crying (seriously! CRYING) after the games because of him!!! Hope this helps! too many things to digest!!!!!
"Soft hands, fast feet." I think that's one of the most common advice I've heard coaches tell their players. Probably because in matches, most players tend to tense up too much due to nervousness etc.
GUERRERO, the Pan Am man's Single champion is build like a tank. He was very quick with his feet and yet most of his shots are soft (not even to the base line). A lot of his drops were way beyond the service line! looks like his was playing not to lose.
Most drop shots in singles are hit beyond the service line anyway. This is deliberate. Top players can easily play drop shots tight and close to the net. They just choose not to.
Good advice there but I wouldn't call it mental training as such. More like general tips to remember.
In that single's champion game I was judging the service line and had best seats in the house for drop shots. Most of his drops were 2 ft. beyond it!
It's still not that far for singles. Okay, it's on the fast side, but not unusual -- either for slices or neutralising shots. With the slices in particular, it's possible you're right and he was playing with safe "margins" -- i.e. trying to get a slice too tight causes mistakes. It's also possible he just wanted to hit that kind of shot.
As Gollum said - this is not uncommon even at a professional level. When I hit drop shots, I am happy with that kind of angle. Hitting less steep means they can be quicker (which is good) and because they are further from the net, it means opponents cannot play tight spinning net shots - which can be very damaging in singles! Best to keep opponents away from the net.
Yes. This has been the case for a number of years now. Dropping the shuttle to the service line works against ordinary folks such as myself who lack the leg strength to run forward. But against those who are faster, it invites a tight netshot. Margins for error are important so keep the shuttle in play.
It was an eye opener to see National player to play such SAFE shots "drops and clears!!!!"" Need to save up for the Olympic games!!!:crying:
