Hi, I'm helping out with my old high school team and they really need to better utilize their practice time. They mostly play games and do simple repetitive half-court drills (clear-drop-drop etc.). Could you describe any drills (with birdies) that they can do? General drills, drills for consistency and footwork, drills specifically designed for singles/doubles/mixed. These are for average (junior varsity) to pretty good (high varsity, league level) high school players. Your suggestions are much appreciated!
For Singles: 1) The all-short drill. There are only two people needed for this drill. Lets name them player 1 and player 2. Player 1 serves, and player 2 must perform a drop. Either a netdrop, or a normal overhead drop. Player 1 will either lift it or drop it. Player 2 however, is only allowed to perform drops. Player 2 also, must not always stay at the same place, eg: the baseline to drop. He/she must always return to the original position, then use footwork to get to the correct position and perform a drop. 2)The all-long drill. Almost the same as above, but player 2 must always clear or lift. Player 1 has the option to lift, drop, or clear. After 15 mins, switch.. 3) Like the same as the ones above, but this time, player 1 will stand in the front corner. Either left or right. He will perform a high serve to either side of the court. Player 2 must then perform a drop/sliced drop to the corner that player 1 is standing at. Player 1, has the option to drop it or lift it anywhere. This is quite confusing to begin with.. For doubles.. 1)2vs1 drives. 2)Net-kill drill 3)All-smash, all-lift, 2vs1. The pair will only defend ( lift or clear ), while the person by himself/herself will smash or drop. 4)The smash->drive->netkill drill. The will be two people on one side of the court. The feeder will do a high serve to the right ( another high serve after a second ), and player1 will smash it. The feeder will then feed the shuttle to the left ( and again, another one after a second ), so player 1 must move to the left (midcourt) to drive the shuttle back. The feeder then feeds the shuttle to the forecourt on the right hand side for player 1 to netkill. ( once again, he will have to do it twice. ) Player 2, just does whatever player 1 has done, after he has already performed the shot. This drill is quite fast-paced. Helps develop the pair's attacking speed and precision. Sorry if some of it was quite hard to understand. I might need to find a video on youtube for an example.
thanks jhirata! those are some singles drills i didn't think of! if you could elaborate on the doubles drill that would be great? anybody else with recommendations?
There's a good deception drill you can do. Player 1 feeds a shuttle just over the net, very tight and in to the corner of the court. (like a good drop/netshot). Player 2 then has a choice of three shots - a lift, a straight netshot or a cross-court netshot. They must try to deceive feeder/player one as much as possible. If player/feeder 1 can catch/return the shuttle, depending on the way you run the drill, then player 2 must do a forfeit. If the shot deceives the feeder/player and makes him/her unable to catch or return the shuttle, the feeder/player 1 must do a forfeit. I guess it works better if you have 3 people - one to feed, one to return the feed with deception and one to return that return. You could also do the same drill with the feed being a lift deep in to the forehand singles corner and the shots being a smash, a drop and a clear. I know a lot more but can't seem to think of them right now. I'll post them when they come to mind.
ATTACK / DEFENCE PRACTICE DOUBLES FIRST TO SCORE 100 POINTS Decide which pair will be attackers or defenders before game starts. Both pairs begin in a Sides formation. The defenders begin every rally with a high serve to any area in the opponent’s court. Rally ends on winner or if attackers give defenders the chance to smash/netkill – scorer must shout out “End of Rally” when this happens ATTACKERS SCORE POINTS AS BELOW SMASH WINNERS AND NET KILLS = 10 POINTS ALL OTHER WINNERS = 5 POINTS LOSE ATTACK/FORCED TO LIFT = MINUS 5 POINTS DEFENDERS SCORE POINTS AS BELOW: ALL WINNERS = 5 POINTS FORCE LIFT 5 POINTS (attackers lose 5 points also) Notes for coach. 1) Its up to you to call “End of rally”. Sometimes a neutral situation occurs where the defenders have managed to get into a drive rally or net returning, don’t end it too early in this case. 2) If the attackers don’t assume the correct position the defenders should be able to turn defence into attack with blocks or drives. Give the attackers time to work it out for themselves 3) After the game the score sheet will have recorded the number of times the attackers lost the initiative.
player1 feeds player2 to any CORNER on the court while player 2 only gives weak returns, concentrating on footwork and especially the split drop
I recently did this drill with my coach. At first I didn't understand it - but now it makes sense and why he made us do it. O.k , you are only aloud to block , lift and smash. If your opponent lifts the shuttle - you have to smash. When you smashed at , you have to block. When your opponent blocks it you have to lift. Lifts , blocks , and smashes have to be played straight or to the middle. This means the game is intense and you practice : smashing defending placing the defense to start attacking (counter-attacking) and lifting consitently. But their is also one more rule , when your opponent is smashing you go sides! At all times both pairs should be sides. So when you smash , your opponent will do either a straight block or middle - it is you who has to run from the back to the front and then lift it! This drill is intense! I have pains from yesterday , and couldn't do pe today! But pain is gain. So why do both people go sides? Because if you did a weak smash , you wouldn't be able to get the return. Because you are both side on , you HAVE TO do a good smash because otherwise you will not get the return. At first I didn't understand this drill. But now , I do and my coach was correct! I have learnt a lot
are there any doubles combo that men's double can use? like once we gain attack we smash to one corner...then drive, then hope for a net kill?
