I'm an intermediate player, have a pretty hard smash (but not necessarily good placement), and can do all the basic strokes well except for a consistent back hand clear/drop. I'm 174cm (5 foot 8 i think). I can execute footwork in singles pretty well because I'm familiar with it and practice it. I lack a bit of speed/frequency with my footwork though but I usually manage. In doubles when we're playing front and back and I'm at the back, I suddenly don't know how to move around. I'm used to shuffling backwards on the court towards the shuttle, not moving sides towards the shuttle. As a result I cannot hit the birdie as well as I can in singles (a bit ironic perhaps?). What's worse is that I don't feel confident about myself at the back of the court. Can anyone offer some advice? Thanks guys.
tryin to help... Ok I'm really not an expert but I'll try to help you When your in the back position, in doubles, you should not be so far in the back so that you have to move sideways. In fact, you should almost be in the center of the court so that you can cover all the shots that go behind your partner and intercept low lifts etc... So the footwork to the back is really similar to singles, but you just don't worry about the front part of the court. There is a pretty good video explaining this on IBBS and it's still free for a short period of time, you should check it out! Mathieu
badminton.tv has a video on doubles attack (back-front) formation that may be useful. Basically, the "base" for the back player is the middle of the rearcourt. This base may vary a bit depening on the attack shot played by the back player, particularly where it has been placed. But the concept is still the same with singles that you have to return to your base to cover the replies. The back player during service usually tends to be just behind the midcourt center to cover drives/clears to the back as well as the area beyond the side singles line and just behind the front player (an effective reply to a low serve). During gameplay, the back player can move further back a bit since the front player has more time to maneuver to cover front and midcourt shots. This also gives the back player more time to get behind the shuttle to continue the attack. You can stay just within the doubles long service line. As for footwork, you can do drills with a partner giving you a variety of shots to play at the back. One drill I've trained on is with the partner staying on the left forecourt of the other side. He can lift the shuttle to your right rearcourt, you smash, then he drives it to your left rearcourt and you use a BH drive to your drill partner who lifts it again to your right rearcourt and so on. Shadowplay as a back player can also help if you can't get a partner to help you.
hey hey i think the key to this is to jump sideways if it high and if its lower just move la lol i dont really understtand what is ur problem
Check out the 3 Doubles Tactics videos on the IBBS.tv site (still free until the 18th of this month). They are not specically on footwork per se, but they should give you some insight on doubles coverage and movement.
