judging opponents distance from the back line and the net.

i assume you know WHAT an offensive clear is. you could also call it an attacking clear; a fast, flat, somewhat low but still high enough so that its hard to cut out, shot. you have to be in a good position or else your clear will become defensive.
normally with a clear you would aim for the ceiling or somewhere angled above the horizontal. with an attacking clear, i personally aim nearer to the horizontal to produce the flat shot.

they don't call em punch clears for nothing. they can be devastating. use them when you are in a good position and your opponent is expecting something else.

as for judgement, you should take into account what shot has been previously played. for example, if your opponent played a punch clear, they are more than likely still remaining farther to the back line (with respect to the base position). and if they've played a tight net shot, they are much closer to the net with respect to the base position. the most important skill, however, is being able to see your opponent while making your shot. this involves being in position and having good technique.

the dropshot is good for pulling your opponent to the net and then setting up the rally by pulling them away from the net.

the obvious answer to the last questoin is: have the vision to see your opponents, then clear it over their heads. if you're a singles player, no clearing makes your game, in my opinoin, too predictable.

hope this helps

 

Now, I'd refer you to the badmintonbible. a great contribution by fellow forum member Gollum.
http://www.badmintonbible.com/articles/singles-tactics/

How do you tell your opponents position: where his feet are (not just being silly, but it helps depth perception) but also where he's leaning towards, where his eyes are looking at, and where his racket is positioned.
Dropshots, smashes, almost every shot has more than just 1 purpose (badmintonbible!!! )

When/how to use an attacking clear: just high enough, or fast enough your opponent can't intercept it easily, and is forced to move back.

as for the anticipation porblem: just keep an eye out for your opponent, work on your deception.

As for all questions, I think gollum has wrote an amazing article, answering all those questions in much more detail any forum-post can ever hope to achieve... Or would want to

 

Thanks jerby. I believe giant_q_tip is talking about doubles, however.

You might like to check out my doubles tactics article -- in particular, the page about choosing attacking shots.

My singles article is much more detailed. I'm thinking of applying some of the ideas from my singles article to the doubles article. This won't happen soon, though.

These are great questions, by the way. I've bookmarked this thread, so I can think about the best way to answer them (later, in an article).

 

are u guys actually watching ur opponent during the shot? or are u visualising him in your brain? if you guys are actually watching him, how do u do that while playing a shot

 

i see out the "corner of my eye." I dont look at them when i play a shot, just aware of them and what there doing, cause there in your field of vision. Unlike jerby ,i cant see where they're looking unless we are both at the net. Hes got eyes like a hawk that kid.

 

Andrew, Yes good players actually "sees" their player with their eyes.
You could start learning to doing it when your opponent send a high shot to you.
Before the shuttle reach your impact position. Steal a glance at your opponent.
After a while you will get the idea.
I have train players that can actually look few times at their opponent before excuting their shots.
Some of the things you can look for when you look at your opponent:
Their position.
The hands & legs position (their stance).
Their grip they are holding (forehand or backhand).

Beside looking at your opponent while going to excute a shot. You should also learn to see if they are looking when they are going to hit a shot, If they are not looking at you when they try to make a drop, you can move in to kill that drop.
Also you can look at what grip they are holding when you are serving. Example : some like to hold a backhand grip to push down your service while other hold a forehand grip.
With this you will have a good idea where to serve your service. Or even flick the service to their weak handgrip.

 

thanks for the tips dave, i'll apply them as soon as possible.

 

I vote for 4 seconds

It's 4 Split Seconds. hehehehe

Look
Anticpate.
Think
React & Smile while you hit the shuttle to take your point and win the game !!!

= Winner

 

Fu's smash wouldnt travel the court that fast because i think the speed is actually the speed when it leaves the racket. It deaccelerates extrememly fast. Imagine traveling a court in .15 seconds. Thats just silly. Thats 8 courts end to end in 2 seconds is thus quite an overstatment. For a smash, i recon you have about half a second to react and start moving and hit it. For a big clear, about 2.5, but thats only my estimate.

 

For the high clear of 2.5seconds. An exprience player can look at his opponent 3 to 4 times. Even can see his footwork and his racket coverage and even his grip. If there is only 1 second, we can choose to see his position or we can choose to see how he grip his racket and attack his weakest angle.
If your opponent is a lady, you can choose to look into her eyes as Jerby says .. err or you can look at her "body movement"....