Hello, I'm a very decent badminton player. I have good technique with various shots and smashes. I can make shots! but i suck at defence! I don't know why. In doubles, i find if i stand square to the net ready to return a smash i'm always late or too slow to return it back. However, if i stand sideways ready to hit with my forehand or backhand i can usually return 95% of the time. Is that an okay technique?!?! Mainly what i am asking here how should one stand for defence? Also, for court coverage im slowly improving and beginning to move like a real badminton player (after studying Peter Gade on badminton tv). HOwever, i have troubles reading shots so i'm always really late!.. Especially on drop shots. Should i always watch the birdie, or the person?!?! I don't know.. I asked a few people at the club and well... bleah they dont really give me a straight answer. Thanks.
My coach told me that you should lean forward and be on your toes. Maybe that would help. I would say that you should watch the bird rather than the person, but you should also watch the person a bit.
Few tips from me. 1. If you practice hitting the bird to a wall with your backhand, start slowly, and keep it at high speed once you get used to it. You'll see your defence and reflects improved pretty quick. 2. You've got to practice what my traineer called "shadow drill". I'm not sure if I can explain it here, I could explain it easily on the court. Well, basically, you stay in the middle of the court, then run to the all 6 sides of the court pretending that you're playing, keep the pace high as much as you can, repeat it few times, take some rests, then do it again. It's going to be very tiring though , but it definitely helps. 3. You can also run in stairs, I usually do it at least once a week, I go to the gym and use the stairs equipment there. I normally do it for 20 minutes, and go up on stairs around 100 stories. After a couple weeks you'll see the result. Good luck.
standing sideways for defense is a good technique. i think this is being taught by indonesians, your racket foot should be in front with you facing the side of the court and most of the shots should be returned by your backhand. your returns may be weak at first but with practice you'll get to lift smashes back to the baseline. i believe i saw a pic of a danish mixed team defending with the non-racket foot in front which is opposite of what i said above. i havent seen it in action but it could work too. youll be returning shots mostly with your forehand tho. for reading shots, if the player executes drops like smashes, you'll have to wait for the shot. try watching the racket and arm motion rather than just the player. if a drop is evident with his body motion, you can often rush them for easy kills.
