Hi, just thought I'd join your community as you all seem very helpfull and I have lots of experience with online forums. I have been playing badminton very casually for about 6 months and have just recently started going to more recreational clubs in my area. I am interested in taking my game further and just wondered what would be good to study. I understand that I need to take grip, footwork and fitness etc. into mind, but was just interested in how I should make an approach. e.g. I despirately need new footware and could do with a new racket (my ageing graphite Slazenger needs regripping and will need restringing soon!). I also have a friend who I play with regularly but we just can't seem to win a game! He is a realy competitive sportsman and often trys to play my shots. I'd like to be able to play well with him as he goes to all my clubs with me and we play at colege together. Any advise? Big thanks to all posts!
Welcome to the forum. Where to start, shoes, yep get some decent court shoes sorted out as a priority, you can spend anything from £10- £90 for court shoes HI Tec Squash are about as cheap as you can get (£15) and provide a good level of grip for a lightweight shoe. Yonex make some excellent lightweight supper absorbent gripy shoes but your going to be looking closer to £70. Racquet, if you need to regrip get some new PU grip tape (couple of quid) as theres no need quite yet to change your racquet (unless you want too) whilst its still got string in it and your improving, a new super racquet wont make a lot of diference to your game whilst it costs a great deal. What too improve first, general fitness and mobility round the court would be the things I would work on first, sustained cardio exercise for the first bit, court exercise for the second bit, half court singles is a good way of increasing movement. As for playing with your friend you need to communicate, work out a plan and keep reminding each other where you are and what your doing, a “yours” or “mine” often is enough to prompt your team mate to either go for it or leave it alone.
There are plenty of advice threads around the column regarding techniques, etc. As for equipment, you could try some slightly cheaper but decent rackets like Carlton, etc. Try practicing with plastic at first, as they last longer, and try feather later. Play people with skill levels around yours, and slowly try to play against increasingly harder people who are slightly better. Once you can beat or match those you used to lose to, you can keep moving up. Good luck. I'll try to provide more stuff later, or maybe other people will. Search around the deep, winding, halls of badminton central for help, it's hard not to improve with all hte experts and resources around.
getting better at badminton To get better at badminton and thus enjoy the game more, you can start with learning the fundamentals which will ensure you can... 1. hit the shuttle to any location you want; 2. hit the shuttle with power and touch The fundamentals that will allow you to do this are the right grips (there's more than one), strokes, stance, footwork. After you learn the strokes, learn the basic tactics: court rotation, and where to send your shots: generally choosing to exploit gaps in your opponent's court or sending shots that will force your opponent to hit a weak return that you can pounce on. Here's an excerpt from "Advanced Badminton Techniques" (available on-line at http://instructoons.com/book/) that'll explain the basic court rotation (this'll help you coordinate better with your partner): "You just need to remember three simple rules in doubles rotation: 1) if you or your partner hits the shuttle in a downward trajectory (whether that downward trajectory shot is a low serve, a drop, a smash, or a push) that lands in the mid-court to the net area of your opponent’s court, then you should go front-back: with the one nearer the front when the shot was taken going to the front, and the one nearer the back taking the back position; 2) if you or your partner lifts the shuttle (whether the lift was due to a high serve, a clear, or a drive) and it lands in the mid-court or to the back area of your opponent’s court, then you should go side-side: with the one nearer the right side going right, and the one nearer the left side going left; 3) if you or your partner is pulled to one of the four corners of your court due to a deep shot (usually caused by your opponent hitting a steep drop or a deep offensive clear), the one not taking the shot should go to the middle of your court and cover the three other corners of the court until his or her partner recovers from taking the deep shot and the two of you get back to side-side position. There! All you need to remember are these three basic rules and you’ll be fine!"
Yeah, I agree with most of that. If your racquet needs restringing and regripping (and to be honest I've never seen a Slazenger racquet in my life ) then you may as well just get a new racquet. Also if you really do want to get better, it would pay to take part in a few tournaments from time to time, or watch some Badminton videos on the web. Tournaments are useful because even though you may get thrashed to start with, you'll always be taking in what the other good players are doing. It's good experience and you'll find it's easier to see what you should be doing by watching these players than just being told what to do. Of course the best way to improve would be to get a personal coach but if that's out of the question or a bit extreme then I do recommend taking part in tournaments!
Nowt wrong with a Slazenger racquet, I've got a couple in my spares bag for beginers to use on a Friday night, for a low cost racquet there far from bad.
Ah ok, never heard of, or seen one . Do they still make them? I've just never seen them for sale around here (then again, where I live we have very, very little range anyway ).
