Switching...

I have played doubles for the last two years and know the basics pretty well but I am thinking of playing singles this year at my high school. In the past, when I've tried to play singles, I've found myself slow and fatigued. I think the problem is my footwork and shot placements. Can anyone please give a few suggestions on how singles footwork and shots are different from doubles? I'm sure this will improve my singles game significantly. Thanks.

 

Difference of footwork in singles and doubles:
In doubles, you dont move diagonally much. Whereas in singles, moving diagonally is done very often. So if you think that your footwork is the problem, learn to move diagonally.

What you can do, is stand on the center of the badminton 'singles' court (aka the base) and then start moving towards the corners accordingly. I'd say you should start by moving forward right and touch the net where the corner is with your racket, move back to base quickly and get yourself into position and then move back to your left corner and immitate the action of a lob/clear and then move back to base. Then from base move forward to the left and touch the net again and once again move back to base and get into position and then move to the back to the your right corner and immitate the action of a lob/clear.

Now, in this drill, you MUST make all moves from the base to a corner in just two steps and same with moving back from a corner to the base. What kind of step you prefer to use is up to you.

Personally I prefer to slide, like from base to front corner, I'd jump forward and land my left leg first to lunge with my right leg leading I'd drag my left leg when I lunge. And when returning fron the front corner I'd jump back and land my right leg first and then make another jump back with my right leg, land with the left leg and get myself into position.

Its a bit different with moving back though. To move back, I'd jump and change my body position from right side being forward to being back on the first jump and when I land on the first jump, I land with both legs only to jump back again to the corner. Then when I hit the shuttle, I do it with a jump to change my body position again. That way Ive already done the body rotation to get more energy for my shot and at the same time I'll be in position to get back to base quickly. To get back to base from the back corner is quite easy, very similar to moving forward.

I think this is one of the best drill to get your legs into shape and your movement to be xtra smooth =)

 

I know getting anywhere on the court from anywhere else has to take less than 3 or 4 steps but I'm not that tall...only 5'4"...barely taller than the net haha. Our badminton coach makes us drill on the court moving side to side and front to back with racquets but never diagonally. As for shot placement, how are the shots different? Do I only hit the corners and mostly use offensive clears? I need to learn to think singles because I "think" doubles even when I'm playing singles. Maybe I am lazy and forget I don't have a partner there...

 

This is a nice article for you to read to get an idea of how singles is played. Btw, I don't know how tall 5'4'' is but I am 168cm and I cant reach the net from base with two steps but I can do it in two slides easily.

 

5'4" is equal to about 163 centimeters. I tried out my diagonal movements today and they seem to work fairly well and place me in good positions to return the shuttlecock. How are you able to slide wearing gum badminton shoes on clean surfaces?

 

Well, my version of sliding is just a really low jump just enough to get the feet off the ground with most of the jump power used to travel forward. It looks almost as if you're sliding when its done right because you really only notice the horizontal movement. Makes your movement look real smooth and nice too haha

 

Re: As a reply to Nick and Iwan's post

Well we do that...but not nearly as much as the side-side and front-back movements. We do a lot of other exercises though like lunges, hops, skipping (height and distance), squats, and toe raises...many of the exercises I see the pros do. Unfortunately I don't get much court time alone to do shadow exercises because there are a lot of people on my team...60+ with only eight courts. Does anyone know how to stretch the foot muscles between your sole and your heels?...they've been killing me lately.

 

Re: As a reply to Nick and Iwan's post

This is what I posted in the beginning.... INCASE, you didn't notice ;p

What you can do, is stand on the center of the badminton 'singles' court (aka the base) and then start moving towards the corners accordingly.

Anyway, from the way you describe your shadow training, it 'seems' to me that it involves building up your endurance, but doesn't really involve propper footwork, (no offense there, correct me if I am wrong.)

The shadow training that I described in my first post, involves drilling into the person the proper footwork and the idea that you should always return to base into our instincts as well as building up the player's endurance. We usually begin this training slowly and as we get better, we do it more rapidly and for a longer duration. If you think its wrong, you're more than welcome to. But as far as I know, this training has been drilled into almost all players from where I come from (Sulawesi, Indonesia).