Strategic Framework : Six Steps

It seems to me that a lot of people know lots of bits and pieces of strategy and tactics, but it isn't always the case that they have an understanding of how it all works together. So here, I explain the framework for the strategies I use, which should be able to guide you to figure out what the best decisions are for any given situation.

What I do is define six sequential steps:
1. stay alive
2. get out of immediate trouble
3. get on the attack
4. stay on the attack
5. set up the kill
5. make the kill

When you satisfy one step, you should also be satisfying the preceding steps as well. For example, getting the attack also gets you out of trouble and keeps you alive.

1. Stay Alive
This means get the bird over the net, and in the court. At this level, it doesn't matter how it goes over, as long as it makes it in. This is the most fundamental objective; even if you've been completely outplayed, just getting the bird back any way possible is your last line of defense. If you can return just a few of your opponent's kill shots, the you can deal a big blow to his morale. Of course, if you find yourself stuck at having to do this all the time, then that means you're in trouble.

2. Get yourself out of trouble
One step up, now you have to be smarter about where you put the shuttle- you have to get it someplace where your opponent won't be in a position to make an immediate kill. Something like a high, deep lift usually fulfills this requirement.

3. Get on the attack
Now the objective is to place the shuttle such that your next shot will be an attacking one. An attacking shot is typically defined as hitting the shuttle downwards, though a more general definition would be to play shots to control play, like when you play attacking clears in singles. An example of how to do this in doubles is to return the smash to an empty space, such that your opponent can't hit it downwards anymore.

4. Stay on the attack
This is closely related to the previous objective. How do you prevent someone from taking the attack? With the previous example, if you were the attacking pair, what you would need to do is position someone where your opponent wants to play that drive; then there'd be no room to get on the attack. Or suppose you were the defensive pair - if your drive was succesfull, you would follow it up by placing someone at the net to solidify your attacking position.

5. Set up the kill
Now we get into the main attack - force your opponent to return a shot that can be killed. Note that this doesn't mean forcing them to lift - that was step 4. Now, you have the lift. Where do you smash? Should you change it up with a slice? Those are the typical options. It doesn't matter whether or not your opponent can return these shots; what matters instead is the quality of these returns. You want to force your opponent back from steps 2 and 3 down to 1.

6. Make the kill
Here we go. After all that work, an opportunity for the kill arises. What you need to be able to do is recognize where these opportunities arise, how to get yourself into position to take advantage of these opportunities, and to execute the kill perfectly.

Putting it all together
Notice that steps 1,2,3 are considered defensive play, and 4,5,6 are considered offensive play. Steps 3 and 4 are very similar, and are considered transition play.

Also, you can pair these steps into three groups:
6 & 1: kill/survive
5 & 2: set up offense/defense
4 & 3: transition offense/defense

This is because when one pair is in one mode, the other pair is in the opposite mode.

 

Drills

Knowing all the stuff from above, we can now put together some drills. I'll be using doubles as the example here.

Generally, you'll want to observe your players in open-ended situations, and note which step in their tactics is holding them back. For example, a player might have a terrific killing smash when the opporunity arises, but has difficulty getting set up for that smash. Or, maybe he has a great smash return, but has trouble following that up by seizing the attack.

A great drill is the 2 on 2 rally starting from a high lift. It simulates the the situation when one team is set up on the offence, and the other is set up on defense. So, the first team wants to set up and make the kill, or at least stay on the attack. The other team wants to get out of trouble and get on the attack if possible. This is a great diagnostic drill to see where your play is breaking down, as well as a good exercise in itself to develop the skills needed in this common situation.

After you figure out what strategic step is weakest, you can give more attention to it via more specific drills. Remember that the six steps can be paired up - you'll see that consequently you have 3 classes of drills.

Surviving/Making The Kill
The major factor in these skills is the limited time available to realize what's going on, make a decision to act and then execute the movement. Good positioning and sharp reflexes are needed. Usually this is done via multi-shuttle training -> this allows for faster rates of shots to be handled and forces good positioning.

For defensive work, it'll be something like throwing or hitting birds at the individual at a fast rate. For offensive work it'll be net intercepts/kills. You'll need a competent feeder for these drills. For optimal results, training intensity has to be adjusted for an individual. The difficulty can be increased by either using more variety in shots (change of pace, change of placement) or increasing the rate. So, first of all, increase the variety of shots until the trainee is handling the whole array of shots, then increase the rate. The feeder should increase the rate until the trainee's form begins to break down, then back off slightly from there - therefore you'll be training the at the threshold of technique breakdown.

Setting Up/Getting out of trouble
For these steps, I like to use uneven situation drills. What that means is each side gets some advantage so they're in control of the situation. This could be a difference in court coverage (1/2 court vs full court), people (2+ on 1), or shot selection (defensive only vs any shot).

A good one is the 3 on 1 defense drill. The 1 player is restricted from playing offensive shots, while the three players (2 back, 1 front) can play any offensive combination they wish. The one player gets to work at getting out of trouble, while the two backcourt players get to practice setting up weak returns by using a variety of shots from the back. The net person is usually just to keep the bird in play, though you always have the flexibility to adjust the drill as you see fit.

Get on attack/Stay on Attack
These two steps are characterised by a lot of flat play, with the one hitting from above the net the player "on the attack" and the one hitting from below the net the player trying to get the attack. What's key here is that the transition from defense to offense can occur very quickly, so the players have to react by seizing/closing off these opportunities.

Back and forth drives from an equal distance from the net works right at that transition, with players trying to seize the attack when presented with a weak drive, and the opposing player trying to counter that by playing the next shot with more skill.

One drill I really enjoy is the defense/offense drive drill, with one player at the net playing offensive drives and the other in a half court playing the defensive drives. The net player has to cover the entire width of the court, and is restricted to playing the shuttle to the defensive player's half court. Each player has to watch the other player to look for breakdowns in their positioning, and then play an appropriate shot to take advantage. When caught in a bad position, each player has to be able to pull out a highly skilled shot to recover (no lifts in this drill). You can also do a 2 on 2 version of this drill where you're able to fully transition to the attack.

In the end, what really matters is your ability to figure out what's wrong with your game. Drills are just useful tools to help you fix and sharpen up your game, but they're of little use if you don't know what needs to be fixed. Hopefully, this will give you some ideas of how to organize your skill training.