Here's something that came up while i was reading the "do you smash at beginners" thread. this happens a lot to me at club. i'm probably one of the better players there, and sometimes, i end up partnered to a beginner or fairly weak player. and the opposite side always, always hits it to me. everytime i try and play a shot which will let my partner come into play, they hit it back to me 70% of the time.so mainly 90% of the time, i'm playing, and my partner stands there looking bored/frustrated/awed. and i feel crap cos it's not all about me. it's about having fun, because this is club, and i hardly ever take it seriously. but my partner's not getting to play much, so they probably feel it's a waste of time, and i feel it's a waste of time. so what would you do in my situation? btw, this isn't a complaining post or something that's keeping me awake at night. i'm just curious to see what you guys think...
I experienced this before when I just began playing. My 'more-advanced' partners were hitting all the shots for me. But to be realistic, they were doing all the work because they could get to the shuttle faster, or I just didn't go for it and I made them do the work. That's just my opinion.. I'm in between the advanced-players and the beginners at my club, so I can just call myself an intermediate player, C-grade interclub in Auckland. Maybe it feels like you're doing more work simply because your 'weak-partner' doesn't go for the shuttle and makes you get it instead ? I don't experience things like these anymore, because the people I get paired with are generally about the same level as me. Funny thing, if I get paired with my 'weak-friends', I make them do all the work. Good training for them.
"Hitting to the strong player" is a pretty unusual tactic. It seems more likely that, because you are faster and cover the court better, your partner is standing out the way and leaving many shots for you -- which you then take. Are your opponents winning these games?
As one of the weaker players I agree with this. We're still learning how to get to the shot. Since I'm the weaker one most shots are at me. But many times I cant get to it and my partner can get it. If everyone is have a good time no worries
If there's too much of a gap in skills, and your opponents are not about winning, they might choose to send the shots to you, to get the rally going. They might think with another beginner involved, the rally may be done too fast, therefore, they are not having fun. If your partner really want to be involved, and you want him/her to do so, talk with him/her in advanced. You try to hold yourself back to play with a normal double game, instead of "one man cover the earth". So, if you hold back, and your partner is really trying (and have the proper skills to go with the heart), then s/he definitely should be much more involved. Of course, you may end up losing the game, but it's your call.
you can try to smash to your opponent all the time till they get scared and send the shuttle to you partner instead.
That's what I did. Sometimes I just want to smash the hell out of the shuttle , it's great fun although not the best strategy to win; and Yes, they then hit all the shots away from me.. :crying:
Play against your friend/partner so you can control some of their play time. If you're talking about random partners, I'm not quite sure you can do other than play shots that force opponents to play to your partner.
good tips Lazybuddy the thing is, i usually play sides when i'm paired with a beginner, and then i get whatever shot on their side they can't cover. of course, we still play front and back sometimes, but generally, lower level players like to play sides, so i go with that. but they're always hitting it to my side. i don't even have to move to hit the shot. these games we usually win because they hit to me i'll have a talk to them, sounds like a plan. but i just don't want to either sound like i'm bossy and want to be serious, or make it too complicated...i'll give it a try and let you guys know. any of you ever had this happen? like gollum said, it's pretty strange. i think it's just that their control of the shuttle is not as good. and it's a lot easier to hit back to where the shuttle came from in the first place. much harder to change direction. so maybe i hit to them, and they just subconsiously hit back to me lol
well, i don't know about you, but i've never taken club seriously. if you're going to prove how good you are, you don't prove it by blasting away some beginner. at least i don't.
Haha, playing by sides, that was pretty annoying when I first began playing badminton.. "oi!! it landed on your side!! why didn't you get it!?!?!" "you were in my way!!" a blah blah blah.. now there's nobody to blame on.
It's not about proving how good you are. It's about maintaining (and improving!) your standard of play. If you are regularly playing beginners, then your development is being hindered by them. If you regularly play in a lazy or "nice" style, then your development is being hindered. Practice makes permanent. If you play too often in a casual style, you will develop casual habits. The only way to develop an intense, committed style of play is to do it as often as possible! This has happened to me recently. I've been playing socially with a friend, at clubs of a much lower standard than my normal one. Then, when I get back to my usual standard of club, I get blasted off the courts and it takes some time to adjust. The difference between these two styles of badminton is just too great. It's not so bad for singles, but doubles positioning really gets screwed up when you play at radically varying standards of club. So I've now stopped playing with my friend at the lower-standard clubs. Instead of socialising with him on the badminton court (which isn't terribly sociable anyway), I'll socialise with him down the pub. Those low-standard games are dragging you down. Dump them, and go play with higher-quality opposition!
"oi!! it landed on your side!! why didn't you get it!?!?!" "you were in my way!!"-ha ha i heard that every week. I will always get myself in front and let my friend( beginner) do the work for me at the back somehow. In fact the opponent will not hit to me cos i can easily net them and my parther always complain they have to work extra hard even with a better player like me. Guess i love the torture more than winning when i parther with beginner. They must work extra hard
That's fun fun fun.. especially if the beginner-partner is a friend of ours. I shout at them, "why didn't you get it!!!" "lift higher and further!!" etc.. They actually improved
Yes thats really fun, fun to help partner take some difficult shot, hit tougher shot to stronger opponent. ALL this to prolong their torture, boy thats hard work too, but i enjoy it with all the crazyiness
Bullying I started playing again after many years of dormant in this club once a week, the men double like to play competitively. Unfortunately, my smashing lack power and sometimes I totally miss the shuttle when directly overhead under pressure The opposition pair realise this and bullying came into play. Even when there are probably other shots or position placing, the opponent do not do that but lift the shuttle back and high for me. They even serve high, knowing my weakness. I see this happening when these guys play in mixed double with the weaker girls too. They bully them. They just want to win & get the game over so they can return to their men(Better pairing) double. Ther are many occation, the girls can't find partner to paly because the men just ignore them and want to get the men double on. This is not healthy in this club but who am I to say? This is very unsporting and not beneficial to the weaker player nor any improvement to anyone. In fact, I find that those that had been in the club longer are not friendly, at one point I heard that they wanted to choose only those that can play can join the club but one of the better(more reasonable) member objected. Although I am not a beginner nor an advance player, I held a reasonable sense of playing. If I am pair with a weaker partner, I always try to "teach" or correct their weaknesses. Sometimes after the game had finish & I ask him/her one side and let him/her know our faults & the best way to counter the faults. I like placing my shots so whether winning or loosing, I place my shots and so the opposition have to work & I think they get the "kick" if they succeed and "accept" that it is a good shot if they don't. End up all having a "good" game Positionng and simple logical playing will enhance the enjoyment for all. Playing with juniors too require sensible playing otherwise the juniors do not learn. Sometimes they get bully and sometimes they can't get into the game. I like to involve them and encourage them to do their best, if nothing else developing a positive mental attitute. I hate "Bullying" but then even in the olympics, they do that Do you all find "discriminating behaviour" where you play? whether it is level of skill or race? I see some really odd behaviour against some other minority(Maybe it is me (too sensitive))
