if im not wrong.. most people would hold their rackets up to hit the shuttle at the highest point.. but i hold the racket a little differently.. when im receiving the shuttle...my racket would be down and my hand would look lifeless... its soemthing new which im trying out because i find that that position would help me be more deceptive in my shots. Any views on that?
Never a good idea. Search in this forum about threads on positive and negative deception. What you are describing is negative deception, i.e. sacrificing response time for a little bit of an element of surprise. Against average players this probably won't hurt, but against players with very good attacking serve and attacking clear, that fraction of a second delay in response time can mean a dramatic degradation of the quality of shots that you can generate. More worth while to invest time into learning positive deception...
Hehe. I used to do that. I changed it because of a few reasons: 1) YOu hit your own hand 2) To avoid hitting your own hand, you use up a lot of strength not following through, or concentrating on where your lifeless hand is so it won't get hit 3) Balance wise it's not as great. 4) you look better with your hand up. You can be deceptive with your hand up too. I have my hand up, but it's always my elbow jutting out in front, and my hand is almost resting on my shoulder (hense, no giveaways, but it came more or less naturally since I couldn't get used to pointing at the bird)
It irks me when a few of the kids I play with do this. I blame this fully on the one of the best player in the crew (footwork, technique, tactical) who always hold it this way. Since that he's good, all of those kids end up holding it downwards. I had to shout to them so often "Up up!". I kept telling that Guy C is a superior player to most of us and from observation they can see that he can pounce on the serve very quickly even with the racquet downwards, front or back. Still, they end up with the racquet down and can only lift the shuttle up when it is served low. Not to mention that some of these players are school players who would be going against opponents the level of Guy C. It leaves me frustrated very often when I see the opponent kills off the shuttle when the only reply they can give is a lift, going into defensive mode almost immediately. Oh, where were we? I hold my racquet with the head above the net, ready to go and pounce the shuttle, but cautiously as flick serves can happen.
Probably works on lower level players. When you start to play against people who can play fast drives, you'll find it difficult to get the shuttle back properly.
I keep my racquet up when recieving the serve. Usually the bottom of the racquet is just above my head on a slant to the side. This allows me to dash forward and scare my opponents when they mess up a serve and give me an opportunity to drive or smash. If I'm a the back in doubles I get lazy and I do keep my racquet half down. If I decide to get serious - as in I've got a challenging game - then I keep my racquet up like I normally would when recieving a serve. When playing a game it ends up half half. Unless I'm in a serious and good game or unless I'm conciously reminding myself about the player's driving style or whatever, then the racquet does end up down usually (my reactions have been trained faster because I kept my racquet down before, and had to get it back up to recieve smashes at the face etc.). So keeping a racquet down does have it's good sides. When I want to cut the 1/2 second, then yes, I do keep my racquet up so I can concentrate on getting to the bird without having to think also of lifting my racquet and finding I have to drop it again to do a lift because I was too late. Keeping the racquet up is definately crucial. It's saved me many on occasions. But when you want to train your reaction, or when you're in a rally, maybe keeping it down might be good just to get the other side of the game. Games that count, don't take that risk. Experiementation is good though. The stuff you learn from your experiments you'll remember whereas what you're taught to do you might forget. When you decide what you enjoy as your style, then hopefully it will allow to you maximize your potential.
It's a standard... for obvious reasons. Hmm... I wonder how this "holding the racquet down = deception" trend really started. Perhaps it started during the heydays of Indone doubles legends Ricky S. and Rexy M. when they're so talented and so fast that they kept their racquet down most of the time... looking relaxed while always manage to make the needed shots. Those guys could get away with anything with their sheer talent and otherworldly shot anticipation. They looked cool doing it... so I guess a whole generation of casual badders took after them. Either that or it's a nice excuse for sheer laziness. Now for us mere mortals, keeping the racquet up protects us from get smashed right in the face or on the body. In the game situation, it helps shave precious seconds off your strokes/swings -- enhancing offense as well as offense. In a way, it also keep us mentally and physically alert... sorta like a warrior's pose. Any further development as a serious badminton player depends on keeping this habit. I can say that any decent player worth his salt (club, tournament or professional ones) would have it down pat. If it's standard already, why bother experimenting it? IMO, every player should start it from day one and keep doing it. Constant reinforcement is crucial for making it a habit.
I once held my racket at about waist level when waiting for my opponent's next shot. Sorta like what Kaneko Yonekura does, if you have watched her play. Not because I wanted to be deceptive or was lazy, but because I did not know I should be keeping my racket up. Until I trained for an interdepartment game with this guy with very good attacking clears. He is the one who told me to keep my racket up at higher than shoulder level when waiting for shots. At first my shoulder tires out very fast keeping that posture, but I got used to it. And most importantly, I found that I had quite a bit more time (a fraction of a second) in countering attacking clears. Very important habit to develop in singles.
