Being tall an advantage?

There are pros and cons.

The pros of extra hight.

1. With extra hight you have a better angle of attack if you have proper technique. Much better angle for net kills.

2. It is harder for your opponent to push the shuttle over your head because you have higher reach.

3. You have better reach to the side lines because of longer arms.

4. Longer legs make the court seem smaller if you have proper foot work. Court movement is much faster.


The cons of extra hight.

1. It is harder to defend body shots. Longer arms means further distant to bring the racket closer to the body to defend.

2. Fast and hard drive shots could be aimed at your face or head. Harder to get the racquet nice and low to try and win a drive contest.


Thats all I could think of, anyone else have something to add?

Cheers,

D-man

 

I would assume having longer arms would aid in getting body shots?

also drives to the head can be done my any height. If your taller and you see a fast drive coming at you, wouldn't it be out?

 

being 1.98m myself, here's what I think:

-it aids in reach (last tournament at least 8 people 'complained' they can't do a low/fast clear)
-it aids in angles (watch out when I jump)

-it makes around-the-head strokes a bit harder...and never as low as the short people
-coordination is harder
-speed is harder, because most long players get lazy quick. playing a reach-around game.

thinsg that aren't true, if you ask me:
-court coverage hardly changes. for me "every" corner is basically two steps, but each steap requires greater muscle power and coordination
-body shots are only hard when unprepared
-drives are just as easy..But hardly taken overhead

My Advise to tall players: work on your speed, speedy and tall is deadly...work on your footwork and coordination. and aim to intercept every low shot: only for the highest of lobs should you move all the way back

 

I think the perfect height for Badminton is about 5'10 - 6. I play with 3 guys one is 6'3.5, two is 6.3, three is 6.2. I am only 5'7 but I have the best net play and touch (out of us 4). I try to play a tight net game and I don't really lift the shuttle much I find this stifles them and they make errors. One has a very good smash and when I play my tight game he always gives me short lift's which I smash at his body and upset's his flow. I find my movement is faster around the court then theirs also. I am not saying every tall player is like this though, just the guys I play with. Their style can look lethergic because they use their reach too much rather than good footwork.

 

great strategy..but kind of stereotyping tall players...
my netgame isn't that lacking, nor is it with many other tall players...

being tall isn't an advantage...but it could be (when training right)

Placing myself in your opponents shoes I'd place my base a half a foot forward and keep waiting for your dropshot. sending you a message of "I dare you to clear" (offcourse minding you cóuld clear, never just waiting at the net, just a bit)
If you dó, I get funny ...if you drop, at least I'm in a good postition for the netgame.

offcourse not the best strategy, but walking the extra mile to gain an edge (or draw equal) at the net seems right to me..

 

I wish I was 3 inches taller as I wouldnt have to physically comensate for be shorter by running harder and doing a lot more jump smash which can be very tiring. But what it has done is made my overall game very good and my drop shot's are very tight to the net so my opponent can't get a clear to the back of my court. I am more than happy to exchange little dink's at the net with people.

 

Well, being taller doesn't make the game less tiring by any means because as a tall person, you have more body mass to move around along with more momentum to to change, which means if unprepared you have a slow reaction time. Also, the whole being taller means awesome angle isn't all that true because you have to realise that the bird is only hit so high, so while taller people may be able to hit it without jumping, they can't jump because there is no vertical height difference left to cover. Deceoption is also slightly harder because movement is slightly more exagerated when your arm is 20% longer then the other guys.

 

I'm about 5'9 - 5'10...Well I don't know if I'm classified as being tall, but I'm sure not short. I find that I have less time to get to a clear because I need to make contact sooner than some people because of my height. So I end up bending over a lot just to make contact.

 

Tall is definitely NOT an advantage in footwork.

Having a lower centre of gravity is more suitable for quick court movemetn. Additioanlly, the legs must be much stronger to support increased upper bordy weight. Also, it is more difficult to strengthen muscles on longer limbs as the surface area to increase muscle density in is much larger.

 

stretch

i disagree being tall is and advantage because youll be able to reach a shot if you hv long hands youll be able to stretch same with long legs you can stretch.

 

But getting to a shot by pure arm extension is pretty unhelpful if you lack the footspeed and position to make a quality return and recover appropriately.

If being tall was an advantage, wouldn't we see more 6'6 pros?

 

not that tall

you dont hv to be that tall like hendra setiawan 5.10 tan boon heong they arent 6 something tha too tall you should be like 5.10 to 6.1

 

Being tall doesn't give you much of an advantage. I'm around 6" tall, and I'm still outplayed by people that are like five or more inches shorter than I am. I have a longer reach/longer strides, but like others have said, that gives me a reason to be lazy. If I'm tired, I don't like to take the extra two strides to the backcourt - instead, I just jump up and reach for the drop shot. I have to say, my footwork does lack what others have. I'm not as nimble as the people who are say, 5"7, but I don't have to take as many strides as they do.

 

Tall is an advantage, being about 5"9
I get a better smash and better dives.
The netgame thing is totally false for me, my netgame is good enough. The longer legs help with footwork, but I have to keep them conditioned in order for it to be an assest.

 

hmmm...interesting discussion, am only 5"5' and have a very good smash and pretty good footwork. Opponents alwasy complaining that I smash too fast/hard and not giving them "chance" to play rally.

IMHO, think it's knowing how your "opponent" is (tall/short) and use their "advantage" of being tall to against them.

When playing against tall people, the most effetive way is to do lots and lots of fast pace body attacks....seem to work for me....

Only me....Short player with lots of smashes....and body attack..!!

 

I think that there is an advantage to being tall, just like there is an advantage to being European instead of Chinese (I want my dang ice cream!!!!!!!), BUT there is also advantages to being short. So since being tall or short provides an advantage, it cancels out (to certain limits of course). So what do tall people have...they have a different style that is played influenced by their positive aspect. So no, there is no advantage to being tall.

 

I completely agree. I am 6'4 and for some things it helps and for some things it hinders. There are certain things where you have more advantage if you are short, but at the end of the day you can't really change how tall you are so you've just got to find a playing style that suits your body shape and play to your strengths!

 

feedback from a pro on this topic:

http://sports.indiatimes.com/He_is_tall_but_always_falls_short/articleshow/2915203.cms