I have this problem, which comes almost entirely in singles, due to the fact that there are times when you are waiting for the opponent to play a shot. I seem to try and anticipate what they are going to do, and what happens is when they play their shot I am often heading in the wrong direction. Sometimes it's subtle, and it seems that I am just "tending" towards another direction, even though I'm not moving. One place where this really is a problem is when they play a drop shot. I somehow seem to react really slow to them because it's like I am expecting a clear. The reason I think the problem is my mind is because I can feel my mind think "oh it's a drop", or "oh that's not a clear"...so I am almost caught off guard in a way. Of course this tendency makes it easy to fake me out with deception, and makes me very much not behind my shots when they are deep, or late to the net for drop shots. I'm usually good for the first few points, but then I find myself sort of trying to figure things out. Anyone have this experience, or have an idea how I can stop it? I don't do it on purpose, obviously, and I don't seem to know that my mind has got an idea "in its head" so to speak. I just notice when I am going for the shot, that my mind had some other idea other than being open to any shot. Does this make sense? Thanks so much. Cory
I do that alot too, although I have been told not to 'cheat' and to get better is to play more singles and if possible, do scramble drills with a sparring partner.
partner A stands on one corner of one side practicing a shot, but can hit it anywhere using deception. partner B has to cover the whole half court (in the meantime practicing footwork)
The best thing to do is to practise the split step. Time a short hop so that you land when your opponent strikes the bird exactly. In the landing, your feet should be spread, legs bent, and you shouldn't be moving. The purpose for this is to destroy your previous momentum, destroy any lingering desire to keep going in a direction, and to prepare you for the next shot. With the split step, you shouldn't ever be caught off guard.
Gosh, I really thought someone might have had some suggestion or thought about the psychology here. Since the problem seems to be my mind causing me a problem, I guess I was thinking someone would have some idea of what I could for the mind... Or maybe I'm just solving my own problem...
You need to train your brain to expect a greater variety of shots. One simple way to do this is corners work, or "scramble drills" as mkwanster called them. Get your partner to stand in one corner of a singles court. You must return the shuttle to his corner, but he can place it anywhere -- in particular, he aims for the four corners. He must give you enough time to reach his shots: the aim is not to wear you out, but to train your movement, positioning, rhythm, and hitting skills under pressure. This exercise is great for your footwork, but it also helps to train you not to over-anticipate opponents' shots. Although your partner should not play unreasonably difficult shots, he should try adding deception to them as much as possible. The idea is to train you to wait -- to train you to be wise to these tricks, so that you delay your movement just long enough to prevent the deception working.
dont move until you hear it. I was shown that and it makes a big difference. Keep waiting and use the sound as a trigger. Stops you being fooled my hold and flicks too.
yes, but your still using your eyes, youll be able to hear if its a flick and it stops you from lunging forwards eagerly just because the shuttle is close to the racket. keeps you in check and attentive. i thought it was good anyway, as a training tip.
Oh for heaven's sake! Please don't spam random threads with links to your "Tai Chi badminton" discussion. Be relevant.
lol no, i don't really think it's that relevant. provided footimy is right in his explainations (and i'm sure many here beg to differ), i'd say the ideas (or lack of) is far beyond what cory needs to worry about back on topic, another way to work on anticipation is to use a physical and mental approach. for example, you've hit to their backhand corner, and they take it late. so their options are slightly limited to a cross court drop or straight drop (we'll ignore a clear for now). and you know it's most likely going to come straight. therefore your base will need to shift to favour a straight drop. this is your physical anticipation of your opponent. but he can still hit it cross court. so you mentally anticipate a cross court drop. this way, if he does play a cross court, you're mentally prepared, so you can react faster. if he plays a straight drop, they your physically prepared, so you can react just as well. by splitting your mental and physical, you can prepare for two shots at once. granted, in normal situations, there are many more factors, but the same principles hold. for example, after a clear, you stay slightly back to physically cover the rear court, and mentally prepare for a drop or smash so you can react just as quickly. it's a hard thing to grasp and use well, but if you can, you'll often find you're less likely to get caught off guard.
I also have this problem , My coach used to tell me when there about to hit a shotonly think - split , move , hit , middle. Then you keep repeating this. Sometimes a bit of anticipation is good , but not too much
I consider this an important issue in mental training. One thing you can try off-court is put down a 10x10 grid with the numbers 1-100 arranged randomly. Then, you try to cross out the numbers sequentially by searching for them on the grid. You'll find that the more you "try" and "think" about what you're doing, the more difficult it is to find the numbers. On the other hand, if you stay relaxed and "aware" of the entire grid, the next numbers "jump" out at you without having to think about it. There are different ways to achieve that kind of mental state. Some say performing extended isometric exercises are useful, others use meditation; accupuncture and brain entrainment devices might also be used.
