Badminton singles tactics This is a long article -- over 17,000 words! I don't believe many of those words are wasted, however. I hope you will find some new and interesting ideas in there. I've also updated the singles serving tactics page from my serving guide.
+1 for great writing I'm still reading through it, liking it a lot I must say. Though, when it comes to tactics, I can't say I disagree with it ("movement pressure" is indeed important) But to make it sound like "picking corners to play" is tactics... I'd say "up to a certain level". Luckily, you explain all the building shots (is this from jack Downey? I seem to recall something) in great detail. And you go into much more detail... In my mind, I'd say a reference to later chapter would be nice. If only to stop us cocky players thinking "oh...I know this beginners stuff already, I'm way past it" And, now I'm nitpicking, maybe a small reference at the drive-drop about it's effectiveness when hit to the center... Love your work, and keep it up! (I confess, I'm also guilty of not reading the full 100%.... though 75% is a fair guess)
My thanks to Neil, whose eagle eyes spotted several spelling and stylistic errors! That was quick. You deserve some kind of prize for best student. I suppose it's a foundation for tactics. It's good to understand some reasons for picking one corner over another, rather than just pick them randomly. But as you say, there's a lot more to it than just picking corners. I believe Jake Downey deserves credit for inventing, or at least popularising, the term "building shot" in badminton. I didn't actually follow his tactical framework for this article -- I wanted to make a fresh start -- but I did use his term. Good point, but I do challenge readers immediately in my introductory paragraphs. This bit: I'll think about this idea some more. Perhaps I can make it more apparent. Excellent suggestion! I haven't said anything about angles for drive-drops. That was one of the parts I most enjoyed writing. It's my inner failed novelist screaming for attention.
lol, i read really fast, but i was reading in the morning, and badminton happens to be one of my favorite subjects. hahaha
Great job again Gollum! Nicely arranged and well written. But, gosh-darn you Brits, by the second paragraph I had to reach for my trusty old Oxford dictionary (1964):crying:. Anodyne is right there on page 47. Same page as an old favourite, anserine--as in, "I've inflammed my anserine bursa. Aren't I a silly goose". So thanks for teaching badminton and vocabulary. Looking forward to the next article (and any future novels).
Thanks for all the answers Gollum, and all the best with your article! (and just one more compliment for the road) It's great to read a guide that's is so descriptive and usefull, hardly without pictures. It doesn't even need any
Thank you both. Glad you enjoyed it. Ah, sorry about that. It was the perfect word for the job, and I couldn't quite resist it. In my defence, the context made the idea clear enough even without "anodyne"; if the meaning were entirely dependent on understanding that word, I wouldn't have used it. Nevertheless, it's an indulgence. It's not a peculiarly British thing. In England, I'd estimate that less than 10% of the population know the word "anodyne", and less than half of those really understand it's meaning -- which is a shame, because it's a lovely word. Thanks jerby. I will add some pictures eventually, though. If nothing else, it would really benefit from some shot trajectory diagrams.
gollum--really very good! I'm reading it slowly, ever so slowly because of other things...but on a quick run through, the only thing I thought might be useful was some kind of overall summary, a list of basic principles. At 17000 words it's pretty long: there's a lot to take in, not just for a beginner but for an intermediate or higher.... I think you've done something like this at the beginning but it could be made a little more explicit?
That's a good point. I think I'll make the first page more of an overview. Actually, this is something I've been meaning to do with other articles too, but in this case the need is greater.
Okay, I've added an overview of the guide on the first page, and shifted the strategy onto a separate page.
bravo! just a thought--really to exploit the benefits of the interweb, and also because now there are quite a few articles in "BB"--but have you thought of adding hyperlinks to various shots, or create some sort of set of references to particular shots (like an index)? so clicking on 'clear' would lead to say a new page in which you had "clear: in doubles; in singles; as an attacking shot; as a defensive shot; grip" etc etc It's just a thought: I like the idea in theory, but wonder if in practice this would overly complicate matters (do we need that many links and interconnections? possibly not--it could be really annoying).
It's a good idea. I've already started to add "Related topics" at the bottom of some pages, but I should go through and do this more thoroughly. I quite like your idea of an index, though. This is something for me to think about. Thanks. Why, thank you, kind sir.
last thing....I'm sure you've thought of this--how about a more printer-friendly version? have you ever thought about publishing this? because if you do an index it seems to me you're halfway there.....