Well, today was my first time in a real tournament. I took part in some small ones last year but don't count them as real tournaments. I'm playing singles and doubles in the under 15 category as my school only has 3 girls in the school badminton team. Somehow I got a bye(by?) for the 1st round, I think because the amount of girls who took part were an odd number? . In the 2nd round I won 11-0, 11-1. I've yet to play the 3rd round, it's this Wednesday. In the 2nd round my opponent wasn't too good, her net play was poor and she didn't cover her court well. I took every opportunity to tap the shuttle down whenever she gave the shuttle high at the net. Anyway, I'm glad enough that I can reach the 3rd round, this is my first tournament you see. I'll just be glad for last minute tips. I'll like to know what to do if my opponent has good and strong strokes, but is slow on the court and doesn't have stamina? I'd appreciate any advice. IF(big IF) I can win the 3rd round, I'm in for quarter finals. That'd be a great achievement for me, a first-timer. But I'm not putting too much hope on that, I'll take one step at a time and concentrate on the 3rd round first. I'll also be playing doubles this Thursday, have yet to see any of my doubles opponents. Will update you all later.
Thanks Cappy Any advice on how to win such an opponent? Good strong strokes, but slow on court and lacks stamina.
Perhaps you'd like to keep such opponents running to all four corners of the court to drain their stamina? If they're slow then you might like to pin them at the back of the court for two to four strokes and then play a deceptive drop.
Heh! I think it's better that you ask your coach whom you paid to train you. Good strokes is not end-all-be-all, spirit/confidence is very important in singles too. Weak stamina? Lengthen the rally... just be sure that you have very good stamina before you do that. Slow around the courts? Just move your opponent around and do fast clears and drops to rush them.
Problem is I'm not training tomorrow, called him up but he's got another class already and my game is on Wednesday! Another thing. Is being nervous a usual part of the game? When I'm receiving (which means I lost the service) I'm not nervous, when I'm serving(I WON the serve!) why am I so nervous??
It's your first formal competition after all. Very natural to be nervous. As you play more and more competitions, you'll be more relaxed under these conditions. People tend to worry when they think too much and too far into the future. Block it out and concentrate on the present. Just focus on playing each point and you'll be fine. Relax and have fun.
Hahaha you won't believe the fun I had today. Never realised a tourney can be so fun. I played 1 game only but it was still fun. Some of the people around me told me I look very calm, but actually I was very nervous. But like a teacher said, once a few minutes have passed and you're warmed up, you're no longer nervous.
A simple singles tactic http://www.badmintonforum.com/vb/showthread.php?t=6086&highlight=diagonal This is so effective a tactic, that lots of people don't understand it! Previously, after some time coaching, I would play a couple of practice games with my coach (and get beat silly). One day Mag's article popped up - thought I'd try it out that day on my coach. Guess what? - my coach said my choice of shots was much better that day. Still got beaten badly, but felt a lot better about it.
We all get nervous in competition, just try to immagine it as a club game without putting pressure on yourself, it's just like playing the newcomer to your club. Use the warm up to see what shots are not as good as they could be and bear this in mind for later on in the game. Stick to basic shots and try not to be too fancy, the easier it is the less can go wrong, the more technical the shot the more can go wrong! If the opponent has good strokes then you should be aware more than usual of their speed on court, if you are faster and more sure footed then move them round all the corners diagonally (since that is the furthest on court distance) and then play a little unexpected shot with deception just to mix things up. Don't keep playing the same shot or the person may get lazy and just use the odds to predict where the shuttl will go and just go and stand there waiting for it, this is generally what people lacking in stamina do, it cut's out the movement they have to do. If they are at the back clearing then some slice drops and fast drops to bring them in quickly and then cross court net shots to make them move side to side and then a lift to the back, makes them move and wrong foots them because of the direction of the momentum. I always like to add in a diagonal cross court clear from one corner to the other since the opponent will usually be standing to one side waiting on the straight one. Cheung I cant access this article/link above
Copied Mag Location: Stockholm, Sweden Posts: 2,108 Tiring your opponent -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'm currently reading a Danish book on badminton, and while it's focusing primarily on how to coach juniors, it's got some really fine chapters on tactics. Below is a basic tactical principle for singles that I thought I'd share because it is so simple to grasp and remember, and is useful for players at all levels. Many of you may already know it. The "triangular principle": If one wants to tire one's opponent, one should focus on placing the shots so that the opponent consumes as much energy as possible trying to return them. One way of achieving this is to make the opponent change direction after returning to his or her base position. The basic idea is illustrated in the diagram below: given that you place the shuttle in corner A, your next shot should be placed in either corner B or C, or again in A. This will force the opponent to make an energy-consuming change of direction after returning to his base position (red arrows). Note: It is tempting to place the next shuttle in the corner that is farthest away from A, the diagonal corner at D, but try to avoid this as it will allow the opponent to run straight through the base position without having to change direction. So, some possible combinations of placements would be: A-B-A-C-C-C-D-B-D, or D-B-A-C-D, etc. In short: avoid diagonal placements! (Which of course does not mean you should avoid diagonal shots!) Attached Images --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That's good advice from Dill Well done in reaching the 3rd... All the best for the rest! If your opponent is slow, or her fitness in question, just keep her moving either from the front to the back or diagonally... in other words, go for the four courners, bearing in mind not to keep any pattern... add in a few smashes from time to time to surprise her In a nutshell, hit to where the opponent is not Always try and be aware of empty pockets... Most importantly, have fun! p/s: You know, there was this rumour going around when I was playing in the circuit years ago- Advice from the national players on how to decrease nervousness. Always go to the toilet and relieve yourself b4 a match... then u won't be so nervous on court... hahahaha you know what? to a certain extent, it does work!
Thanks for that article Cheung, will try it out tomorrow. I think it will work against any kind of player, right? Not just against players lacking stamina? I've got to learn to control my shots... Yesterday I hardly made any unforced errors, only dropped into the net a few times. But I've noticed that whenever I play against players with strong and good strokes, I tend to make more mistakes (eg. hitting out, smashing out, even serving to the WRONG court!). Maybe it's just nervousness? Hehe will try haven's advice on the toilet part Dill, thanks for your advice... another thing that I've noticed is that I tend to hit the shuttle TO the opponent, not AWAY. Must try and change that too... Wow so many things to change in my game tomorrow... lol I'll see what I can do about it, will just try my best in whatever games I'll be playing in and of course, I'll have FUN! From the previous records of my school's badminton achievements, the girls have rarely ever passed the 3rd round...
Joanne! Which school were you from??? I was there the whole day! The dude with the greasy hair slicked upwards and two kids who are perpetually at the right side of the stage, wearing blue and brown kakhis. Did you play on Court A?
Lol! Great coincidence! I played at court E. Sent you a private message... I was there until about 2pm, my teacher didn't want to stay on anymore so we had to leave at 2 something lol. Well, getting more and nervous about my match tomorrow...! Thanks Smashingbird, I'll remember that hehe.
Darn it, I arrived too late as the kid was there to play U-15 Boy's singles, thus I missed Joanne's game this morning. Would've snapped a pic and post it here on BF for the world to admire... Anyway, here's my report on the game from three days: Shortie, Goodie Everybody notices, when those kids who are so small, no more than 5' walks into court in their innocent glory, taking on bigger guys. One may think that it looked very lopsided to pit a little one against the taller and 'more' established opponent, and yet, when they first hit the shuttlle for warming up, suddenly that view became mightily wrong. Three of them, I noticed, were no taller than the net (shorter in fact) and had the physique of a 10 or 11-year old kid (who should be 12 or older since it's U-15) and seemed to be at a great disadvantage. Yet, they had superior technique than most of the bigger boys and their footwork almost perfect. Their strokes were so clean, I did not notice a single *twang* of shuttle hitting the rim, but crisp and powerful sounds of *bang* and *pack* from their side of the court. And once the return is high enough, the leap and bury the shuttle down onto the wood, all the way from the baseline accompanied by that beautiful sound of metal punch. One played against the other and it was full of joy to watch. Being so young, they did not rely on much power but more play with the shuttle, and most delightful was their variety of play in which they used both the overhead strokes and net to outwit each other. Just wait for another three more years, they'll be too hard to beat, with thieir physical and technical development going full swing. Future champions in the making. State Player? If the little dudes caught the attention of some, then one tall guy with legs that rival those of Xia's (from the pic in the post somewhere) would catch everybody's attention. He was so quick, so powerful and so accurate in his strokes that he made others look too ordinary. He really looked out of place at the badminton hall, where there are simply nobody who could match him in terms of technique and skill. Keep the shuttle a little too high and you're dead; first hearing the sound, then the shuttle appearing magically on the floor. The opponent tried to give him a fight by attack through drives but even when a very rare mistake came, the opponent made a ferocious drive that he returned without looking with a backhand to the other side of the court. I was . I think he had wrists made of titanium and vectran woven muscle fibres... 100% of his smashes and half-smashes were unreturned. Young Yang Yang Not the legend himself, but perhaps close to how YY was when he was 15. This boy was different to most of the usual great players on the court one whom employs a lot of control in his arsenal of attacks, so good in his footwork that the shuttle rarely gets over his head and all shots some two inches over the net will be killed with utmost prejudice. What I like however, is how the racquet seemed to grow out of his hands, the way he controlled the racquet is using his own arm. Net shots and drops was done with minimal arm movement and plenty of last minute changes in direction of hit. His movement was so fluid, it was almost graceful. Mind you, his opponent I would rate as very good and yet he was in trouble trying to reach those super sharp smashes that fly one-two inches over the net whenever the chance arises. His trademark - net shot to force the guy to do lift, a graceful body rotation and leap, *bang*, the shuttle flies down the line, razor edged accuracy. Alas, a control player amongst all the brutes... More to come this Friday...
