Swinging exercise

short swings are not always a bad thing. getting a short, snappy and explosive swing is actually very good. but yes, you should start off with a full swing and body rotation.

try get a friend to feed you nice high shuttles and practise from there. get him/her to see if you're doing anything wrong.

 

I disagree.

Starting with a short swing is the most effective way to learn about the essence of the technique: the use of grip tightening with a snappy, "wristy" movement.

Using a full swing and body rotation adds lots of unnecessary complications, which greatly hinder your ability to learn the timing and feel of the correct technique.

 

I agree with Gollum.

Good excersies to start with is players standing at the baseline clearing base-line to baseline keeping the racket up above the head and use a very tight small swing, only using the forearm, is a very good excersise to get a whippy racket movement..

This is also key to being able to make shots deceptive.

When this is done more "body etc could be added", to get better power and to get your legs in good position footwork-wise after the shot..

cheers,
Twobeer

 

Yea the full swing can hurt your shoulders and arm..

BTDT!! Ouch!!

 

I also agree with Gollum. Ensure that you use correct technique and grip. Sometimes what happens if left to own devices for too long is that you'll end up using a pan handle grip, great for netkills but bad news for the majority of forehand overheads.

 

And I disagree with Gollum. Footwork always comes first. Always. Rotation is part and parcel of your footwork. Train your footwork and rotation first, worry about the rest later. Separating footwork and hitting training too early makes it harder to have the two combined as a cohesive package.

Wayne Young

 

Furthermore, in principle there is no difference between the full stroke and the short stroke. However, Gollum is right in that it is harder to coordinate the timing of all the elements of correct footwork and the full stroke compared to simply work on the short swing. Which is why in my experience, it is far better to work on the full motion right from the start.

By the time I start to work specifically on the short swing, within 1/2 hour people are able to clear end to end with just a quick snap and no body rotation. Funny thing is, no one is more surprised about it than they are at the time.

Keep working on the full range of motion overhead stroke. It'll be good for you.

Wayne Young

 

i think it all boils down to what you are comfortable with, wether it be a long or full swing or short snappy wristy movement, imho one could try them both and see what works best for you, me i use both in every game i play depending on the situation, hth

 

My ears are burning. Gollum this, Gollum that; Gollum, Gollum, Gollum.

Coaches frequently disagree on the best order to teach skills. It often depends how much enthusiasm a coach has for a particular element: coaches who think footwork is "the basis for everything" will teach footwork first; coaches who think grip is "the basis for everything" will teach grips and hitting skills first.

I've experienced many frustrating discussions with coaches who refuse to accept that their particular fixation -- footwork, grip, fitness, whatever -- is only a component of a complete ability set. This applies to any subdivision of coaching too; many coaches have vehement opinions about the order in which to teach strokes. Although there are good and bad orders (low service is a good early skill; backhand reverse slice drop shot is not), there is no best order.

In reality, no element is the basis for everything. All elements must be developed, but we can't teach everything at once.

Because many technical elements in badminton are highly counter-intuitive, it makes sense to isolate them in the initial stages of learning. This is why I use extremely short swing hitting practices -- carefully adapted, mind you, to avoid some pitfalls -- at the start, always with the understanding that we are building skills that may be adapted and used elsewhere. Just because we practise an extremely short swing does not mean that I expect them to use it for playing at the back of the court. I don't, and they won't do it yet no matter what I say. Nevertheless such practice serves the important purpose of developing awareness of basic hitting techniques.

The purpose of these exercises is merely to introduce players to the essential feeling of good hitting technique. Personally I prefer initially to concentrate on hitting technique rather than footwork, for the pragmatic reasons that: speed and efficiency of movement is useless if you can't hit the shuttle effectively; and while most beginners have a crude semblance of movement skills, few have anything resembling effective hitting technique.

Early focus on a short swing need not neglect other important technical elements. The development of a complete overhead throwing action should follow swiftly -- sometimes even in the same coaching session. Players must learn to connect these elements. I find it helpful to alternate between practices that isolate an element, and practices that give an overview of the skill. In this way players can "join up the dots".

Most importantly, it is essential to assess players and adjust your teaching to suit them. If a beginner is naturally good at hitting the shuttle (it does happen, occasionally), I won't start his coaching with grip; perhaps his biggest weakness is footwork. Similarly, a well-moving beginner with poor hitting skills should not be taught footwork before grip! I will look for the biggest weaknesses, because fixing these is the most efficient way to improve: a weakness usually functions as a bottleneck; or one might say as an embolism: clearing the blockage has a profound vivifying effect.

 

Teaching strokes first might motivate them further to get into other less preferred skills.

 

The discussion has sidetracked from short or long swings first to footwork first! lol.

In my experience if you asked a complete beginner, somebody new to the Club, to do some footwork drills before anything else they'd look at you as if you've got 3 heads! They've turned up at the club, new racket and all, wanting to hit shuttles. Doing footwork patterns/drills for those that haven't been hooked to the sport previously are boring.
Shadow footwork drills are essential, if you cant get there you cant hit it. Even with footwork drills you pass the racket to the player and say "hold it like this".

No my turn to sidetrack the discussion.

I watched a TV program the other day about Chinese State Circus Acrobat Schools and Juniors. The respect that the coaches demanded was incredible, the discipline frightening, bordering on Child Abuse. I wouldn't wish to aspire to this coach pupil relationship. It seems in my experience that our way is more fun for the majority but can lead to mediocrity. This is a problem with a minority sport that we're just pleased to have someone taking up the sport and hoping they'll stick with it. Keep it fun, keep them interested as apposed to "do what I say or leave"

 

Indeed.

If you're a national China coach, you don't need to worry about this. If you want, teach the kids footwork for years, without ever letting them hit a shuttle.

The rest of us need to be a little more down to earth. I prefer teaching skills that players can use quickly. Of course, there's a balance: you must develop solid technical foundations, and these take longer to construct than flimsy ones.

 

Well, the state acrobat schools are like other badminton schools in China. State funded schools that churns out professionals. You would accept nothing less than perfect adherents in those programs: they have to stick it out as it'll be their future livelihood. Motivation is not a problem there.

However, badminton in other parts of the world is more recreational so you can't really be too strict with your pupils if they're not in it. They could leave or could waste your time when you could be helping other more serious players.

So the comparison is not a fair one unless you're comparing how easy it'll be to coach in those schools. Then again, the criteria and calibre of a coach training professionals differs from the coaches training recreational players.

 

Yes, I often hear that it's hard to make beginners do footwork. However, I have the luxury of only helping those who want to get better. I don't have to worry about improving overall standards and trying to get kids interested in badminton. Quite frankly, it's not my concern. There are other people here to worry about that kind of stuff, and they do a good job. So yes, anyone who asks me for help will be doing a lot of boring footwork. If they lack the discipline to help themselves, then I'm not interested in helping them either.

An interesting observation I have from playing county badminton in the UK for a couple of years was that on the whole, racquet skills were very good, but footwork was poor compared to the equivalent level players here in NZ. This was reflected in what the players preferred and were good at. Basically, proficiency in doubles and mixed was far higher than in singles. I wouldn't be surprised if this is at least partially a result of people's attitude to training footwork. Of course, the lack of playing facilities in the UK for the vast player base probably doesn't help with producing singles players.

Wayne Young

 

No-one is demeaning the importance of good footwork. I'm keen on coaching it myself, and I've found ways of overcoming the "boring" factor for even casual school juniors. For example, many of them love practising footwork to music (I know one boy who, after the first session, wanted to do nothing else!). Older teenagers enjoy the physical challenge and the music. I start with a very slow beat (say, Thea Gilmore, Avalanche) in order to introduce or reinforce the patterns, and build up to something insanely fast (say, Darude, Sandstorm). I try to get the use of a dance studio so they can see themselves.

I maintain that your contention -- "Footwork comes first. Always", and that dedicated players should always start with footwork -- is dogma. Footwork is not necessarily the best immediate choice for coaching a dedicated player. It depends entirely on the nature of that player's current weaknesses.

The latter reason seems more likely. Clubs frequently prohibit picking a singles game on a club night, unless no-one else would be left waiting. You don't see much singles at all in many UK clubs. If we don't play much singles at club level, how can we expect to develop top quality players?

I see my role rather differently.

I teach a wide variety of students. I see my job as providing a service; I'm not a kung-fu master training his disciple, so I don't expect total commitment from all different players. I adapt to fit them, not the other way around. They are the customers, after all! I do my best to encourage them and pass on my enthusiasm for badminton, but ultimately it's up to them how hard they want to work.

I've taught primary school children, the full age range of secondary school children, adult club groups, and individual adult club players. I've taught people in wheelchairs, or standing but with motor restrictions, or with limited vision, or who have the use of only one hand; I've taught people with learning difficulties, coordination difficulties, or deafness; I've even taught some people who are almost totally unable to communicate, and some who can communicate but choose not to.

I've never turned my back on a player because of his circumstances, or because he's less passionate about badminton than I am. I never make a final judgement about a player's potential (as in, "she has Down's so she'll never be any good"). I've met paraplegics whose ability and competitiveness were awe-inspiring (their wheelchair skills beggar belief).

All of these people have different needs, different motivations, and different abilities; and, in order to assist them, I must adapt my coaching. If I can't or won't do that, it's not their failure; it's mine. And for every time I have to adapt, I learn something new.

(For a start, I'd love to get my hands on one of those £3000 wheelchairs, so I could practise my chair skills! See what fascinating things "no-hoper" players can teach you?)

 

Maybe just swing loose and relaxed. Hit though the shuttle. For me it helps if in warming up for doubles- 4 players- i always have my raquet up and do a short backswing motion when my partner gets a shuttle -- as if i had to hit it. this helps in knowing faster where a shot comes and how to make good timing. cheers

 

Gollum, it's excellent that you're willing to teach all kinds of different players and it's obvious you love the game a great deal. I'm not trying to be sarcastic. I think it's great and we need more dedicated coaches such as yourself. However, I'm not one of those types of people and I don't have the time to teach everyone that asks me for help, so I'm a little more, shall we say, ruthless. The last thing I want to do is to make things fun and to be a motivational coach. Otherwise, I'd never have enough free time to enable me to engage in badminton banter on the internet.

At the end of the day, I find teaching physical skills is easy. Imparting mental toughness, now that can be quite a challenge.

Wayne Young

 

If I were a coach (I'm too young right now), I would first teach clears with a shorter swing, then incorperate footwork into it; but at the beginning and end of each session, have footwork drills and exercises. This is probably because though all of these skills are important in badminton, footwork is the key skill which ties everything else together. So I'd say; prioritize footwork over the long run, but develop proper skills that can be used now along the way.