I'm coaching some girls and kids. I'm an intermediate player, but I believe I can teach them at least the basic of badminton. The problems that these girls have is that they hit weakly, they try, but when they attempt to run, they're falling all over the place. Their strokes are bad, but improving very well. They can't clear from baseline to baseline. So These girls have the problem of strokes and footwork. The strokes are not strong enough and not proper. The footwork is just plain bad. What can I do to improve their skills?
I would recommend to show them how to hold a racket properly first. No matter boys or girls. I always teaches the shot closest to the net first. Therefore, the sequence will be net shot, push shot at the net, drive, high clear at the net, high clear from baseline, net drop from baseline, smash from baseline. Also, the footwork is then added after the stroke is demonstrated. However, I would have them practiced the shot and footwork separately (less confusion and they can concentrate one thing at a time - rather than run and hit the shuttle at the same time). Once they can do OK to decent footwork, I would introduce full court length running drill (i.e from centre, move to baseline, swing an overhead stroke, move to the net, do an underhand clear stroke) or the side to side full court width running drill. Note: no shuttle is used. Next step, add the footwork into the stroke (again start from the shot closest to the net first). The kid will stand at the front service line at ready position (ie. racket up). Move forward with proper footwork to hit a net shot. And so on. When a shuttle is used, I usually hand toss the shuttle to the kids to hit (except the mid court and the baseline shot). I hope this helps.
These are the exact same drills that my coach forces me to do. . I'm having a problem getting them to move because they like to stay stationary. They're also having great difficulty producing shots that have any accuracy or enough power to avoid a lift. They are also being very stubborn because they're high school girls surrounded by boys and they have to keep their attractive 'I'm so cool' persona. Also, should I be playing mixed games with them frequently in order to give them the feel of a competitive, yet fun game?
Hmm, can you separate the boys and girls when doing the footwork drill? Do the girls play any other sports? I will still concentrate on the footwork first. If they cannot get there to hit the shot, power and accuracy will not be as important. If they are not moving and they are concerned with their appearance, then are they reaching out for every shot? Because if they are stretching to reach the shot, it means their butts are sticking out at the other end. Do they think that is an attractive posture? If they do not want to do anything, mixed double will really frustrate the boy (assuming the boy is the competitive one). I was trained that the girl's forehead is my target. The non-competitive girls will not like that idea since every shot is going straight between their eyes. May be competitive sport is not for them. I have kids joining the badminton team/try out because their friends are there. It is a social event for them. I end up coaching only the kids who want to play (which was 15 out of 28). The other 14 just play games during practice.
Well, both boys and girls share the same gym but are on opposite sides. The girls however are very determined to make the school team next year and are very dedicated to practices. So I should start off with footwork drills then work on strokes?
I would do the footwork first, but they may find just footwork alone is too boring. Therefore, you may be able to use a quarter of the practice time for footwork and a quarter for strokes. Then the remaining half is for games with their friends. However, if you are lucky enough, you may find a few who would keep on doing the footwork and the strokes practice while others are playing games. Then you can teach these kids more than the other ones. I guess you can call those kids the dedicated ones. I hope this helps.
Thanks for all your advice, I'll try it out next practice. And I just played a few games with them yesterday, suffice it to say that they are improving with the stroke advice. Thanks again.
No problems. We need to keep coaching new players into the sport so one day we will see prime time TV coverage on badminton. Then we can say I remembered when .....
The school season has just ended and I've come back to report some news. The team for kids that I was coaching was cancelled, therefore I was better able to concentrate on the 3 Girls. However, there were minimal drills, but plenty of games played. Out of the girls, one made team A Mixed after not even making the cut on club (Players that made the cut here were pretty bad, so if you didn't even make club...). The original girl playing Mixed A had exams, therefore she had to drop out. I was quite content to hear that a girl I helped made team and although I had my doubts, one of my friends was her partner, and he is a high quality Mixed Player, so I was somewhat relieved. Since she joined team, she and my friend have a record of 3 wins 1 loss(matches) (7 - 4 sets) in the regular season and made 3rd place overall in Mixed A in our region. I was ecstatic to hear that they had done so well in the end of the season, and they were well placed for the playoffs. However, I think nerves got the best of this girl in the playoffs and our Mixed A lost in the first round of the playoffs. Nonetheless, I remain happy that she had done so well when our team needed her and remain confident that for her coming high school years, she has no where to go but to improve her skills. Thanks to everyone who offered advice.
That is great. Keep at it - and be patient. We were all beginners at some point. The best we can hope for is to pass on what we know and they will absorb the info.
I have been involved with coaching young players from ages 12-19 for the last 4 years and in my experience so far girls have the most trouble with over head shots. This problem extends from them not throwing objects in early life ( I know this sounds mad but hear me out). Most young boys have lots of experience throwing objects be it balls or stones ( especially at windows). This makes it very easy for them to get them to play clears correctly as they have the basics on arm movement above their heads. For girls, teaching them the clear/smash/drop is problematic. I work around this by getting them practising throwing the shuttle. I have one person stand at the net and another at the back line. I have the person at the back line throw the shuttle as high as possible to the person at the net. I then have them to run to retrive the shuttle and move back to the back line and repeat. This helps them get the footwork needed to move correctly. From this lesson they learn how to use their arm and feet correctly when making an overhead shot also they learn how to reach with a lunge (they have to lunge to retrive shuttle from person at the net) and they learn how to move correctly back to make the next throw at the back of the court. From this they now have a basis where I can get them to understand the footwork and the arm movement to making a clear effective. Sometimes coaching can get you down when you don't see any improvement in the players but stick with it. My favourite part of badminton now is seeing people I helped coach playing and enjoying the game I love.
This is the same training excercise I was taught. I found it particularly useful in improving my returns, footwork, and drops, not to mention my stamina. I tried this excercise with the girls and although they were hesitant at first, they did it and I'm quite proud of them.
