Help!! Training with people much worse than me!!

Do you play at a club as well as your school? This may sound harsh on your school friends but you might want to ask one of the coaches for some direction towards a club that challenges/matches/exceeds your ability.

My experience at school was that schools in general aren't bothered too much about badminton if there are other sports in the foreground that appeal to more people and can cater for many at once (in England, these are football, rubgy and cricket). Also, let's face it - the chances of finding four very good badminton players in a very young population of, say, 800 are slim to moderate. The chances of finding four of the same *** are poor. The chances of finding four of each *** are close to nil.

I have to ask: what is the main content of the training sessions? E.g. drills, games, drill-challenges, etc.

The one solace you can take from your scenario is that you say the coaches are top quality. You need to get the best out of this. Everyone can benefit from drills. If you ask your team mates whether they would be OK with not playing as many games and focus on drills instead then you'll know where to go from there. Games may be enjoyable for others but they are probably not pushing you, whereas drills that involve feeders only require one feeder to push you along. Your coaches will recognise what they need to do.

If your guys are not OK with shifting the focus then you have your answer - take the school team scene as a bit of fun and look for a club outside of school. You can't force people to be as dedicated as you. On the other hand, if they are OK with it, try it and see how it goes.

 

It's not conceited to be thinking this: the only way to get better is to watch and play with people who are better than you. Playing games with people who aren't as far along with you is pointless for you because you won't improve (though they certainly will).

I agree with Aleik: in the absence of challenging opposition, see if you can get yourself onto drill. Professional players' training includes a LOT of it, so you can only benefit from it. It might also help to have a coach's undivided attention.

 

One thing you can do is find multi-shuttle drills where your partners only need to toss the bird over, instead of stroking them. For example, you can do side to side net shots by having your partners toss shuttles over the net. You can do basic defense by having them throw the shuttles right at you at a fast rate.

 

I'm going to have to agree with Aleik, I'm also on a school team, although it just got cancelled now, and the members on the team are all weak. There is only one of player there that can be even considered good, but i still beat him quite easily. I find that i tend to get weaker by playing them, so when i do play them i focus more on strokes that i already have problems with, and work on fixing them. WHen i play them in a match i TRY to not take it seriously and think of it as a chance to allow myself to master shots that i'm struggling with. In the end Aleik is right, you can't make others be as dedicated as you, they have to want to get better, otherwise they see you as a jerk.

 

when i play against weak people i practice my placement by doing clears to the back corner, net shots in the front corners, cross-net shots, slices, deceptions