I have no idea what level I am at, but I have been playing badminton for 5 years. The first 3 years wasn't much. During the first 3 years, I would probably go to community centers once a month to play and rally a couple of times in my friend's backyard. It's only during the last 2 years that I have serious started to play badminton. I started going to community centers to play at least once a week. When I first started, it was all about smashes. The first thing all the new players in my area try to learn is smash. I did the smash pretty well as it was pretty fast, sharp, and angled. It was very hard to block them. I could do overhead clears too, but I would tire out after a couple of minutes of all clears. The reason why I got tired? I got a professional coach to watch me and he told me I was holding the racket wrong, and I was using ALL arm. So he taught me the "Forefinger and Thumb (Handshake)" grip a year ago and to swing my wrist as if I was turning a doorknob. Ever since I have started to learn this grip and wrist swing, I have lost all my power and cannot hit as hard as I used to anymore. For the past year, I have, in my opinion, "fluked alot of shots". My overhead clears are not constant, and all the smashes, drops, and clears I try to do from beyond the mid court is horrible, bad angled, and slow. Thus, I think my problem right now is I do not know how to swing the racket probably, or maybe I am confused everytime I See the birdy lopped so high up in the back. (Because I can smash well, drop well, and do almost anything well when I am on mid court or attacking at the net). I cannot overhead clear in the back. I cannot smash in the back either anymore and it is hard for me to return anything from the back. It is not my footwork, as I always get to the birdy on time. The birdy comes perfectly right to me while I am in the back and either I miss it or I return the birdy at a perfect angle back to the opponent so that he return the bird anyway he wants with it.
more practice You have to get used to the your new way of griping the racket. It'll seems to be very frustrating at first because shots you can do last time but now you can't. Also before the hand-shake grip you seems to grip ur racket with ur thumb on the sides not the front which is not a good way of holding. You need to put a little wrist power to the "hand-shake" grip. Don't worry.. you'll get it soon. As for the inaccurate shots now.. well... this may be because you changed the way you hold the racket and you're not used to it yet. More practice with similar shots will help! practice makes perfect!
I will post a list of changes ever since I made the drastic change in my style of playing by learning the "forefinger and thumb grip" from the coach and started studying technique from the internet and by observing others: I cannot go back to my old way of playing as I have forgotten how to. Before Now -96 Yonex Vf Racket with Titanium Mesh -Strings Strung Loose, used factory strings. -Panhandle Grip, using power from the palm and not the fingers -Cannot Overhead Drop -All out agressor. Every shot is returned hard. -Best Skill was underhand dropping -Could smash or drive the birdy back in doubles if a person served high to me -I put alot of power into my shots, and they worked. Now -T3 Yonex Racket with Titanium Mesh -Strings Strung Tight at 21 -"Forefinger + Thumb Grip" -I can drop, but I don't think I am Overhead dropping. I am dropping the bird by hitting it from the side -I pick how I want to return the birdy and then try to return it that way. The bad thing is, my aim is horrible and I cannot always hit it how I want to (even though it is a perfect shot) as my overhead clears, overhead drops, and overhead smashes are inconstant -Best skill now is attacking the birdy from mid court, attacking drops, and attacking all low serves -Cannot smash the birdy back in doubles if a person served high to me and cannot drive at all anymore -When I try to put power into my shots, I either miss (25% chance of the time) or return the birdy back like I had not even try to put any power in it at all (75% of the time) Things that Stayed the Same -I learned how to do my old underhand drop shots rcently again and they are great! -I am right handed and I have a tendancy to lift my right leg up whenever I try to do a powerful hit from the back of the court. (I know, it's strange) Even when I don't lift my right leg, everything I return from the back is inconstant. -I have been playing with the same people for the past 2 years. Maybe they just got better and I got worst. A year ago, I could have beat them. Now, I can hardly beat any of them.
Re: more practice I am so mad at myself and embarassed because I have been using this new grip for 2 years now. I am used to it and I am gripping it correctly. Something I forgot to mention. I am really skinny and not that atheletic in other sports and activities.
Start simple, the overhead clear from the outer back doen't have to be the first shot to be perfect. There are many factors that may affect your clears, such as your walking, swingtechnique, timing, your position towards the shuttle while hitting, the position of the shuttle on impact, etc. To improve your clear, start simple. Ask a friend (and better : a coach) to do a clear excercise with you. Preferably, start clearing from the middle of the court. Be aware of the basics, such as hit the shuttle in front of you instead of half a meter to the right, hold your racket in the starting position soon, not when the shuttle is already flying to you on your half of the court. Important one : do not try to put power in your strike. Just make the right swing, and when performed correctly, you will notice that the shuttle will fly half court. Also make sure that you do not slice the shuttle. Actually, this might be your problem at the moment. This happens automatically when you hit the bird to late without being aware of it. The shuttle will go up too high, has no power and can easily be smahed by your opponent. Er where were we ... still on half court... When things are going well, you and your practice partner can do a step back, and try to add some power to the swing. Be sure to do all other things te same as when you did on half court. Practice a lot, be sure that you learn the correct moves, so preferably ask a coach / experienced player to watch you.
Thanks Yong for replying You're right, if I am doing the technique correctly, I should be clearing without that much power at all. I was playing against someone today who could clear everything with just the snap of his wrist without even swinging his arm at all. I have a couple of questions 1. What is a slice? What is considered hitting the birdy late? 2. What is the "step back" you are talking about that adds power? And with which foot, When I learned footwork from a coach, he told me that if u swing with ur right arm, ur right foot should touch the ground as you swing. And vice versa if it is with ur left arm. He said it is natural that way as you are hitting "forward" and the right side of ur waist is turning, so the right foot should follow through like that too Unfortunitely, the old coach I used to talk to no longer comes to the place I play anymore and I had a small argument with him on a different issue a year back. (He did not stop coming because of the argument, he left because his friends stopped playing at that particular community center) All the adults here who play badminton where I play are selfish moochers. I was at this community center once, and I wad admiring the player's experience. I asked them a specific question about drives, and they started talking bull and fooling around with me. All the other people I play with are just at my skill level or better, but they are only good because they have played for 2 years. None of them knows any sort of technique or badminton theory. They've just been swinging the racket for a while now. What should ur positions be when hitting the shuttle, should the shuttle be hit right in front of you, or hit from the sides. Is the position of the shuttle on impact at 135 degrees (sorta like pushing it up)? I've seen people make contact with the shuttle with the racket hitting the birdy at 90 degrees too (Pushing it forward while it is still very high up in the air) I can't do the 135 degree hit and I think I fluke my over head clears once in a while doing the 90 degree hit (I fluke or miss it because I might be slow on reacting the birdy turns in such a way that u must push it up with the racket at 135 degrees)
Tonten, A slice : instead of hitting the bird flat, you hit the shuttle in such a way, that it scrapes the racket, making longer contact and therefore putting some effect in the shuttle. First, with 135 degrees, i assume you mean hitting the shuttle half a meter in front of you, and with 90 degrees, exactly above you. In that way, with late i mean hitting with less than 90 degrees, causing to slice the shuttle. The step back doesn't add any power by itself, too bad I mean when you go well half court without using power, you can add some power to your stroke. The shuttle will go farther, so you both have to do a step back. Your former coach is right, sounds like a good technique. While hitting, you step forward back to base, starting with the 'follow through' of your right leg. Make sure you position yourself in front of the shuttle when hitting. In advanced play, doing as little steps as possible can be the purpose and therefore not standing exactly in front of the shuttle, but forget this now. You better have a hard time to get there in front of the shuttle than doing a difficult hit. The degree thing, an advanced player can do strokes from almost any angle, smashing from behind etc. But for clears, i think 135 degrees is a bit overdone. For smashing this sounds ok, but for clears i think something between 90 and 135 will do.
Tonten, I take it you play tennis (?) because you use your whole arm for shots. The thing that has happened here is the 'bad habit' phase. You have gotten so used to playing shots with your whole arm you have concidered this to be correct, but badminton is a very wristy game. As mentioned, the key is practise, start with simple drills like clearing from the back, it will come after plenty of practise. But you have to be dedicated and wanting to get better, as this simple drills CAN become tedious. Matt
I used to play tennis before And before I could use my arm for smashes Now I can't seem to smash using arm power, it's all wrist
Hi, Thats why then, because you have got used to playing tennis and now play badminton. Badminton is a wristy sport and tennis is all arm, thats why you are having problems. Get some short drills (and no jokes about black & decker etc, you know what i mean!) Matt
I don't think it is the arm. I've stopped using my arm two years ago for badminton. I can't even put arm into any of my swings anymore. Today, I tried overhead clearing the birdy with a wrist snap and "swinging" the arm too, but then I stretched my arm out too far and I felt a sharp pain jab through my elbow. I found that for some reason, I can preform sharper and harder smashes today from the back if I put some force into the palm (Basically grip harder with the palm and also using the thumb and finger technique) Any comments? thanks.
Tonten, From your descriptions, 1) it sounds like you are still at beginner stage. 2) Once/twice a week (IMHO) doesn't produce a vast amount of improvment in anybody. 3) Although, you may have sorted out the grip issue, I suspect your are not using fingers and wrist pronation as effectively as possible. 4) your body movement for an overhead clear sounds like you have confused the issue. Yes, the right foot should touch the ground at impact, but this is on certain shots. Sometimes it is impossible to do. For an overhead clear with you in the optimal position with plenty of time, it would look strange for somebody to land with the right foot as they strike the shuttle. 5) the right foot does go forward but the left foot goes back a little bit (rather like switching legs), so your whole body only moves slightly forward. The timing of foot landing is also important. 6) your adult 'moochers' may not have a clue about how to hit a drive. So getting a good description from them would be domed to failure. 7) Although your friends may seem to have improved a lot over you, they may be doing some strokes more efficiently without realising. This is a matter of luck. You probably have some strokes which you are better at than them. Unfortunately, you may not be using them at the right time to help you win the match. 8) Try practising clears with somebody as warm up. See how many you can hit to the back of the court. Try 5 continuous clears, then 10, then 20, then 30 all without a break. If you mishit, you have to satrt from zero. 9) Don;t get disheartened - good badminton isn't easy to learn!
thanks Cheung I think what I need to do to get better is to actually practice a "technique" like an overhead clear over and over again. But none of friends want to do that, they just want to play or rally. Also, the community centers are jammed pack, so we don't get that much time on a court anyways. We must rotate every game etc etc. I want to seriously learn, and the only place here which I can do that in my city is probably at VRC (a private club) But I don't have the money (costs 600 bucks annually) I don't have the time to put 8 hours of badminton a day like how "other" people I know who has never played badminton with me because I am just not at their skill level. I do not know anyone who goes to VRC If only I was a little younger, then I would have put more time into the game and made a better committment to learn. I guess for now, I'll try to practice as best as I could during games. All the people I actually play with "do" get better. They can do overheard clears "constantly" or drive and drop "constantly". I can't do overhead clears properly or smashes properly but I have been practicing aiming for the past couple of months and it is working. I can also attack anything mid court and serves really well. (When someone short servers, I can drive it back, angle it back, or drop it back where and how I want. When someone lob serves it up high, I struggle to get it. Basically I struggle whenever the birdy is HIGH up in the air) I think I am just a slow learner as I have been playing for 5 years, and the people I am playing with have only been playing for 2 years.
Tonten, Some of the community centres do offer badminton training sessions where you will get a coach (certified) who will be there to show and teach the various basic strokes and footwork. For example, Badrad run a session out in Guildford Comm. centre and I know of some sessions out in Cambie Comm. centre (Richmond). Have you check out the various community/recreational guides (e.g. Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, Surrey, Delta)? http://www.city.richmond.bc.ca http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca
I play twice a week, 2 hours per session I'm gonna try playing at least 3 times a week now, and I would play more but my friends aren't as fanatic as I am and it is costly Hmmm.... Winex, I have never heard of a community center which offers badminton training sessions where you will get a certified coach who will be there to show and teach the various basic strokes and footwork. Most of the community centers in Vancouver just have drop in badminton, and any other place besides Vancouver is too far for me, as I don't have a car and my abilitiy to get transportation is limited.
Hi, Concentrate on getting the shots rather than playin games all the time. U have to be dedicated to get better. I mean as of Tuesday i am turning professional, playing and training about 30 hours a week. Dedication will see you through. Talk to a high standard player in your area for some tips and traning. Matt
Tonten, You maybe right about the comm. centres in Vancouver. Here's one that I found available at the Bonsor Sports Complex (Bby) by Metrotown. I don't know how good the course is or how good the instructor is. "These badminton lessons are given by a qualified instructor who teaches the fundamentals, including serve and return strokes, rules and game strategy. All equipment is provided. Bonsor Complex $51.50, 5 sessions W, 8:00-9:00pm April 3 Bar code 8239 May 15 Bar code 8240 July 3 Bar code 9167 August 7 Bar code 9168" As for playing, Matt is right in a sense. If your techniques are not right, it's hard to improve by just playing. BUT you can improve by playing against better players. The games will give you a sense of your weaknesses and strengths. The club that I played with is closed for the summer but they have a Monday night session during the regular year where volunteer coaches teaches badminton. I don't have the details but will contact the Exec. to get them and post them here.
thanks winex I think that's why I don't improve, because I play with the same batch of people. I've been playing with this batch for 2 years. Maybe I am improving, but at a VERY slow pace. Everyone does tell me that to get better, you must play better players and more challenging opponents if I am just only playing for fun. The problem is, these types of opponents usually don't want to play with you. Even if they do play with you, it is only going to be 1 or two games. What club do you play at? Is it in Richmond?
