How To Handle Blockers

im about teh same as you, cept 1 yr younger, work on your stamina more, i had the same problem, in that situation dont jump smash, its not all about the offense, make him run more instead of smashing and he'll eventually get too tired and screw up instead of you getting tired from jump smashing, after train your stamina.

 

I'm sure that others will have more concrete advice on tactics etc, but I have one suggestion - watch more Women's Singles matches where they don't smash as much.

In Singapore we have a ladies singles player who is only 15 years old and pretty short around 5 feet tall as well (Gu Juan). Yet in Singapore Open 2005, she managed to beat Wong Mew Choo (current World Rank 14) and a much, much taller and muscular Rachel Van Cutsen (current W/R 57).... and needless to say, the smash is not her main weapon.

 

I'm the same height as you, and from 3/4 court, I don't have to jumpsmash. Just work on angle, placement of the bird, and in singles, you should be able to smash and conserve your energy at the same time.

 

If your opponent can return your jump smash then obviously your smash is not hard,fast or sharp enough,try to improve on the placement of where you want your smash to land. don't jump smash unnecessarily too, use other strokes e.g cross court drops or if your opponent has weak backhand then baseline shots to his backhand.
Playing without jump smash is not defensive either. You gotta think how to outplay your opponent with all kinds of shots. I don't use jump smash a lot but can still win singles matches.

 

Think of it this way, my friends coach could beat him without smashing.

 

The situation here is the opposite, magiadam was beaten by someone who apparently cannot execute an end to end overhead clear (either full swing or short swing) but relies on his smash to keep him out of trouble.

If you are able to do full court clears (straight and cross-court) and you know that he is unable to perform a full court clear, then you can stand forward a bit and punish his replies, you shouldn't have any problems beating him (unless his smash is like Taufik's which then begs the question why he doesn't have the ability to clear full court).

 

A smash is more effective if your opponent is not able to anticipate it coming. If all you do is smash, it becomes too easy to predict and in the end you tire yourself out, as what happened here.

The key here is to mix it up. Hit drops, attacking clears, smash occasionally. If you can do all this and disguise your shots, you'll have a better chance of winning. Remember, even the top pros with the best smashes don't smash all the time.

The other thing is this, you should give your opponent a little more respect. If he beat you, he's probably got more to this game than just 'blocking back'. Have a close look and see what he does well, I learn a lot of badminton from watching my opponents, especially those who beat me!

 

I concur...... magadiam's inability to tell why he lost to a significantly lower standard player can only mean that the opponent is not as weak as magadiam believed.

8man

 

A blocking style of play or "playing fetch" as I've come to know it is a definite "style". It's a defensive style of play where fitness and outlasting your opponent is the name of game.

Henry Paynter Sr of the Kelowna club and (from what I've been told, I've only seen him play briefly) Patrice Ritchie of Quebec are two that use that syle. They chase everything down until you start making mistakes.

I would suggest that Gopi, M. Frost and Kaldau are along these lines of style. Counterpunchers with amazing cardio.

I've found that a guy who is really good at fetch can really grind you down - and whenyou get tired those smashes that might sneak by start coming back more often.

Whenever I've played someon like this I seldom find that I can smash my way through them. My smash has to be painting the lines and well, I'm a big old lugnut, so I tend to run outta gas if I try to keep that up.

If anything, I've found two techniques that seem to work.

1) Rally with the person for a while and pick your spots. Get them moving before you go for the kill. Lots of high clears to get you out of trouble. Most fetch players don't have the power to go though you with a smash, so the high clears to the back offer little risk.

2) Go for the body. Yes - go for the body. Most times guys who play fetch are used to scrambling all four corners to return the shuttle. When you go to the body I've found that I'll get points or a weak return that I can put down.

That and you take away a lot of angles that can lead to points against you. It took me a while to get comfortable with, but I played a final last year against a fetch player - hitting all my drops to center. It atook lot of his angles away on cross court flicks and raised the percentage of my shots going over (I simply dumped it to center).

 

Agree as well. If the opponent can block and return your shots consistently, then they have to be pretty good...at least they got your number.

 

Thanks V-Wolf, really good advice, I'm going to print out your post and use it.

I play against a few defensive players that used to be top players in SoCal in their heyday. Since then, they gotten older and now use their experience, strong defense and net game to win. It's really tough smashing through them. In order to beat them, if at all possible, I have to be very patient.

I'm especially going to use the body shot method you mentioned.

Thanks again V-Wolf!

 

if this is meant to be taken literally....then surely it's logical to hit shots *away* from him?

ie over, to either side, in front of him....rather than at him so that he can block it back?

how exactly does he block it? does it go close to the net, does it go high over the net, does it land before or behind your front service line. if u drive the shuttle, does he block the same as a smash or drop shot?

how good is his footwork....how good is your footwork, especially after coming out of a jump smash?

 

Hi magiadam,

- Don't jump smash, because it drains you and it takes longer for you to get ready for your next shot,
- Serve high and deep, at least between the base line and the double service line, of course closer to the base line is better
- Make use of the 4 corners, by 4 corners I you it has to be pretty close to the corners, make him run and especially attack his backhand
- work on your accuracy and consistency

Hope that helps.

Pat

 

When I played at the San Gabrielle Valley club about a year and half ago I ended up going against a couple doubles players who were definitely fetch players.

They were also smart enough to realize that I could dail up a pretty big boomer, so they ended making sure to put my partner at the back, who was pretty good, but he certainly seemed more comfortable working the front.

I can still remember the one rally where my partner hit six or seven smashes in a row - he was done after one game.

 

V-Wolf: Do you remember who you played?

 

No, not all. I met so many people that week, it was all a blur.

I played as SGV, with the Koreans every morning in Koreatown and a couple times at Thai club at LA college whiel I was in L.A.

 

When's the next time you're coming down to SoCal? I'll make sure to gather all the "Pot Players" and try to give you a good match.

 

Don't tempt Vining! His knees aren't in great shape yet .