A lot of material is available on single vs doubles tactics ... however I have not found much written on specific doubles (mens) footwork. Questions: 1) How does it work? how is it different from singles? 2) how to train for this specific footwork? let me make it clear i am not asking for doubles positioning... question is specifically footwork specific.
I am not sure if there is a specific technical doubles footwork. I know that my singles footwork works in doubles very well.
Doubles tends to rely more on the pressure play (drives, smashes) as opposed to the movement play (drops/clears to the open spaces). This is because there is very little open space in doubles as opposed to singles. In doubles, a player must be in position to take the high pressure shot -> you really can't separate the positioning from the footwork. Singles players are often poor doubles players because their footwork is suited to covering distances as opposed to recovering quickly to get into position. The most typical example is at the net. The singles player lunges in, hits a net shot, and steps back a bit to wait for an opportunity to kill a net return. The doubles player takes a much shallower lunge (for quicker recovery), is more likely to hit a flat shot towards the opponent then positions himself immediately to cut off any flat returns.
Footwork depends mostly on distance! In single as well in double footwork at first depends mostly on the distance you need to move on the court. A good video with various footwork is this one: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6958888713354397380&hl=en although it does not tell when to use what, I hope you can figure out that. In general the distance "should" be shorter in double, but you can never be sure. If you do work with anticipating in your footwork, it will of course be different from singles as the tactics differ. That is the footwork then will be related to the aspects in tactics, but the actually techniques is the same.
This is exactly the point!!! singles footwork is different bcos the end objective is different!!! Example: when you smash from the backcourt in singles you have a forward momemtum as you must get to the center... but in doubles you want to stay in the back!! there is got to be more on this subject... how can one invite some coaches / senior players to this thread? any ideas?
singles your always on the move you have to be able to cover the whole court and to get to a shot that your opponent plays this is why we all have done those classic 6 corner footwork drills for extended periods of time to get the motion fluent and for our muscles to memorize it. now for doubles though its a completly different game theres 2 of you on the court and there are so many things. you both have to work together and theres a lil thing called rotation its a combination of footwork to an extent but more stragie im sure you all know what im talking about. the back player is attacking and the opposing team lifts weaker and the attacking back player comes in now the front player will have to give him this oppertunity and cheat outwards allowing the back player to come forward and continue the attack. another example is alright theres 2 players, 1 in the front of the court and my partner behind me were both right handed. our opponents lift the shuttle to our forehand corner and my partner being in the back goes to smash he smashes and they push/lift it to our backhand corner now this is where i would go back and attack that shot allowing my partner to come forward yes thats more stragety though but does require footwork and positioning you have to cheat back to an extent so you can still cover the net but if they lift cross court you can jump/move back and attack. so basically you have to train yourself to move and be able to get to the back fast either jump smash, one leg jump then smash so jump off the left leg smash and land back on that or scissor kick and hit your shot. there are more examples but dont want to go on unless this is kinda the things you were looking for. so yeah not really sure if thats the kinda footwork your thinking about the examples i listed are more footwork infused within a certin stragetic aspect of doubles. oh well let me know if it has any relevence to what you were thinking.
Thanks Smash master! You see the point i am making is that so little is written on this subject and as a doubles player you dont see that material at all. what one finds is how to position oneself...when in attack, when in defense... but how the footwork changes AND BELIEVE ME ITS VERY DIFFERENT!!! we all know that 6 corner footwork drill improves footwork... but thats not what you are doing in doubles!!! we will only improve footwork for doubles if we do shadow practice / footwork for doubles... for example: when you are in front you will move back to the center of your side of the court or towards the T if your partner is attacking from the back!!! waiting position is different, stance is different... i can go on. one can learn this the hardway ... but some good material written on this will definetly help!!
yes you are in line but we need more on this! is there a way to invite senio players / coaches to comment on this?
I'll be writing on this in the future (when I have time!). At the moment, my footwork guide lacks any doubles-specific advice, but that will change. I'll also be writing guides for specialist footwork patterns such as returning serve. I agree that there is little written on this subject, and I'll go further: there's little good instruction written on any subject in badminton! I intend to fill that hole.
gollum/ any senior player, i am a big fan of badminton bible... as a doubles player i am interested in this topic and the you got to write on this ASAP. maybe you can share some of your ideas in this thread.. it will really help all us doubles players!! i find all the movements to be different from singles as the court covereage is completely different.
From my observation and musings: 1. Doubles have different base positions compared to singles. The footwork required to get behind the shuttle then return to base is therefore different. For example, the rear player in a front-back formation moves sideways to his rear forehand corner to play a smash. Most likely he will use a block jump instead of a scissor kick, because his racket foot can push him back to the center rearcourt after his smash. A singles player would probably opt for a scissor kick to give him forward momentum to return to center midcourt. 2. The pace of the rallies in doubles is faster, so quick travel and recovery is more important than covering the entire court. Now chasse steps are better than regular steps in doubles because the recovery is faster, and it is easier to split step while moving.