Considering your Margin of Error

Wow, I'm quite surprised that few responses in the thread on serving to the T in singles took into consideration one's Margin of Error:

http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40934

I've known about the concept of Margin of Error for some time and have successfully integrated into my game, but it seems like many out there still do not understand this concept. For the ones that don't understand this concept, maybe I shouldn't be telling you this because I'll simply be making you a better player the next time you play against me

First and foremost, consistency wins in badminton. Period. Give me a badminton player that never hits it out no matter who he/she plays, and I'll point you to the fact that this player is the world champion. Of course, no such player exists but you get the idea.

If you've watched Tennis before, two of the most important stats is the number of unforced errors and the number of double faults. You will quickly notice a trend where the winning player almost always has less unforced errors and less double faults compared to his/her opponent. If you are astute enough, in badminton, you will also notice that the player/team that often wins is also the player/team that is more consistent.

Now for margin of error:

Everybody has a margin of error and everybody's margin of error will vary depending on one's skill. But for simplicity, professionals like Peter Gade, Lin Dan, etc, have a very small margin of error. Conversely, beginners in general have a very wide margin of error.

Now, as an excercise, from the back corner of the singles service boundary, get your partner or friend to throw a dozen shuttles up in the air and your objective is to smash each shuttle exactly down the singles line. You will notice that a portion of the shuttles that you smash will be to the right side of the line, and a portion of the shuttles you smash will be to the left side of the line. For simplicity, let's assume you didn't smash any shuttles exactly on the line. Furthermore, let's assume the portion of shuttles to the right of the line is 50%, and the portion of shuttles to the left of the line is 50%. Finally, where every shuttle contacts the court, you will mark the spot (of course, don't do this in real life because if the owner of the gym sees you marked up his entire court, he will ban you for life, LOL).

Now, repeat this excercise with 1000 shuttles. If you have marked the spot on the court of every point where the shuttle made contact, and you average out the distance of all these points to the line, you will start to get a rough idea of your margin of error. Notice that sometimes, some of the shuttles land within inches of the line while at other times, the shuttles may land a few feet from the line, etc. The average distance of all the spots you marked from the line is your margin of error. Chances are, you may even have a different margin of error for the shuttles that landed on the left side, versus the shuttles that landed on the right side.

Now, if we get a professional like Lin Dan or Peter Gade to repeat the same excercise, Peter Gade or Lin Dan will also smash a portion of shuttles to the right of the line and a portion of shuttles to the left of the line (although they are more likely to hit the line exactly, LOL!). The difference between Lin Dan and Peter Gade versus mere mortals like us, is that they have probably have a lower margin of error ... that is, the 1000 shuttles they hit have a tendency to land much closer to the line than mere mortals like us.

Now, how do we apply this to a real badminton match? Let's say your margin of error is 6 inches from the line because you conducted the test with 1000 shuttles as mentioned above and your margin of error averaged out to 6 inches. Well, if you know your margin of error is 6 inches, if you want to play consistently, that means that you should smash 6 inches within the line, to miminize the possibility of smashing it out.

Get it now?

You can easily extend the concept of margin of error to other aspects of badminton. For example, everybody also has a margin of error with respect to the net. If you aim exactly for the tape, a certain proportion of shots you hit will go over the tape, and a certain proportion of shots you hit will go under the tape.

Furthermore, if we exclude the effect of slicing & cutting, notice that in general, the less distance your shot has to travel, the higher the margin of error. Thus, if you are killing a shot from the net down the line, that is more accurate than smashing a shot from the base down the line.

Likewise, if you are doing a backhand serve close to the net, notice how it's much easier to serve within inches of the front T in the front court, versus flick serving it within inches of the back T in the back court.

Also, your margin of error typically widens when you are under increased pressure (ie. you are late getting to the shuttle). Furthermore, your margin of error is also related to your form, footwork, technique, and balance. Thus, professionals like Peter Gade and Lin Dan are better than us in all these aspects and that is why their margin of error is lower than us.

Viper_Mav

 

Yes, you may want to gamble on certain points. But gambling every stroke for the entire match? ...

Viper_mav

 

Nope, I'm saying that many players aren't cognizant that they have a specific margin of error and often tend to go for shots down the line, or very tight drops, etc, when they have a wide margin of error. These types of players often play very inconsistently.

Viper_Mav

 

Heh, well, as you said, Peter Gade had to hit 14 winners to make up for his 12 unforced errors

Viper_Mav