Hi! I need some help in getting direction for my training. I'm preparing for a major tournament three months away. Right now I'm trying to raise my fitness and skill levels by following the program below: Stability Ball Exercises MWF Skipping MWF Pushups MWF Flexibility Training TTh Rotator Cuff Exercises TTh Skills Training TTh Practice Games Sa I'm also watching my diet and making sure I get as much rest as I can around my work and social commitments. Is there anything in the program that I need to add or remove so I can make the most of the coming months? One other thing: I don't have is a regular partner. I want to compete in the men's doubles event. So should I spend more time on practice games so I can "scout" for a partner this early? Or continue on with what I'm doing? Thanks, everyone!
It would be advisable to find a partner fast that suits you. Some people i've played with, i can play with well & others not. You need to find those who you can play well with and start practicing with them so that you know how each other plays and works on the court. I'm no pro or nothing buts i would say that is very important. No point in doing all this training if your partner is rubbish or doesn't know how to work with you!
Agree. From what I see, most partnerships that win tournaments are partners who play/practice together regularly. There are many good club players out there but not all of them are committed to tournaments. You have to look out for that too.
Why don't you write out your objectives for this 3 month period, then break it down into monthly and weekly goals. Then you can explain how exactly each exercise you've listed above is selected to bring you closer to your goals. Then, we can debate whether what you've chosen works.
It's difficult to quantify the goals for the fitness aspect. For one thing, I don't know if being able to do 40 pushups in one go is "enough" for me to achieve my goal. I selected the exercises based on what's been said as "good" in general. I basically start with the intensity I know I can do (taking pushups for example, 20 reps x 3 sets) then aim to overload gradually. I've read Excelling At Badminton, and from the book I tried to select exercises that that will address the fitness components of flexibility, strength, power, stamina and speed. For skills, my weak points are not getting behind the shuttle often enough (so it's a footwork thing), smash angles not as consistent as I'd like (stroke technique), high backhand, and not attacking the return of serve (tactics and technique). I figure if I get these skills dialled in, I'd be in good shape to face off against the local pool of players in my class.
Any physical weakness? Technical issues? Poor tactical play? Mental issues? The trick to training smartly is to fit the training to your training needs. Otherwise, your results will just be hit and miss. Depending on where you are in terms of strength, sets of 20 pushups might not have a meaningful effect on your playing ability. The result could then be wasted training time and needless fatigue on your arms. Stability ball exercises: when you lose balance playing badminton, is it because the ground shifts away from under you or because you have a problem absorbing your momentum quickly enough to change directions? Training to deal with one type of instability is different from training to deal with the other type. Flexibility training: How do you define good flexibility? How about overflexibility? Keep in mind that excessive flexibility in some joints is not desirable - do you know which joints? Rotator Cuff Exercises: Any specific approach to these exercises?
Wow! I didn't realize I'd opened a pandora's box! Well, let's see... Physical weaknesses - hard to say. I can last during long rallies, and my consistency suffers when I haven't had enough rest the night before. My knees creak a bit when I flex them. Technical and Tactical issues - quite a few. Backhand is on top of the list. I also need to tweak how to control my smash returns, footwork to the back court, regaining the attack after the serve return, and maybe...adapting to a partner with less than perfect rotation sense. Mental issues - when my stamina goes, my composure follows soon afterwards. I'm known to switch into "comeback mode" when my side is down by a lot of points, where I commit minimal errors and can dish out more set up shots that either I or my partner can hammer down easily. I'd wish I could get into this flow state all the time! I haven't worked my upper body strength in a while. I've been doing nothing but playing so I figured pushups might help. Stability ball exercises are for core strengthening. I do situps, back extensions, and leg lifts with it. Not really for increasing my sense of balance. Flexibility training is only to maintain my flexibility. I don't do extreme exercises like splits and the like, just to keep my muscles supple. I stretch calves, groin, thighs, shoulder muscles, trunk, etc. I don't plan to do any overloading for my rotator cuff, I just want to prevent injury. So I do side lying adductions with a dumbbell, internal and external rotations with tubing, flexion and extension with tubing. I had a slight dislocation on my playing shoulder last February, but it's okay now. I don't either of my shoulders to pop out in the middle of a rally like it did then. Stumblingfeet, I read in other threads that you're a proponent of fast feet exercises (jumping side-to-side over a barrier, ladder drills, etc). Do you think that will help me even more? Regarding getting a good partner; I think that's a given. For this thread anyway, I was hoping I could get tips on how to train more efficiently, as I have complete control over my own time. Thanks for all your replies!
3 months for skills training? That's rather ambitious. Realistically, your consistency will improve more than skills. Let's say you practice with a coach one hour per week - That's only 12 hours of on-court time to refine shots. Not very much. I think you'll get better from consistency training (using routines with shots that you play well), small refinements in technique, and using a coach to spend sometime practicing rotational play with your partner. As for the physical part, if you had a tough trainer on-court, you won't need to do so much of those supplementary exercises. I do find calf exercises particularly helpful though. Longer term planning is required for skills and that will depend how much time per week you spend on with a person who can teach you techniques. Same as any skill, you'll get more from 52 hours of training done twice per week over 26 weeks, compared to one per week for one year.
I train with a coach twice a week, two hours each time. Maybe I'll trim down on the scope I want my coach to cover?
Really? That's so good. Wish I could do that again:crying:I used to do 1 coach with 2 students for two hours. I suggest you get your partner down and practice some rotational routines. Sort out who covers what shots. Also play in different halls and with slightly different shuttles. This will help you adapt to the sometimes variable conditions in the competition arena.
Waaah! Two sessions of two hours each is not something I can do every week, I've found. I'll definitely focus on getting a decent partner!
