Reading through various postings..you will always come across people saying (or rather writing) 'do the basics' or 'basic skills'. Just out of curiosity, what is everyone's understanding of the basics?Where does a more advance shot start and where does a basic shot ends (i.e what falls outside basic skills?) Can you guys list specifically what are the things you do when learning your basics? I have a feeling everyone may be coached different type of basics depending from where you from. For example, we already see the variation in grips, i.e finger grips vs handshake vs panhandle grips. My understanding of learning the basics are as follows: 1) Racquet grip - I was taught the handshake grip 2)Footwork - doing the six point footwork around the court 3) How to hit the shuttle - i.e relax grip until moment of impact, then tighten the grip 4) Basic shots - i.e clears, attacking clears, drops, drives and net shots 5) Backhand - basically told not to use if possible..i.e use overhead, otherwise change grip (still can't master it..my arm tends to flop as I hit the backhand..any advice here?) 6) Basic singles, doubles and mix positioning..- i.e in singles, when straight lift, where to stand waiting for a smash or drop, or in doubles, how to rotate with your partner, attacking and defending positioning .. That's basically it..what about you guys? adelina
Gimme a few days, this is an excellent question that Raymond brought up sidetracking from the 'finger power' post. I have been thinking about this for a while.
Unfortunately like Cheung I don't have time to write a proper reply, so have deleted most of the bits that I agree with. However firstly grips There is no ideal grip for all situations, I prefer the finger grip for most and definately recommend you change your grip if you ever intend to get any power out of your backhand. I don't think panhandle should be taught at any time in your early basic training as it breeds bad habits. That being said though, panhandle grips do come in handy in at least two advanced shots that I can think of. Footwork Okay so there's the basic six-point footwork, however I think that corner-to- corner (as opposed to corner-base-corner) footwork should be taught as well, more advanced would be getting from back to front as quickly as possible). Backhand Most important thing is to have your thumb on the flat (widest flat part) of the shaft. For overheads, keep your elbow up. There's an article that was linked to the badminton central part of this site that taught how to do backhands, wasn't too bad I thought. Also there's another one that teaches the various styles of backhand.
Trying to summarize it: In essence I believe basics could be seen as how hit the shuttle (skills, technique) in the most efficient/comfortable manner. In order to achieve this I would divide them into 4 major categories: - upper hand strokes; - upper hand footwork; - under hand strokes; - under hand footwork. For example, you'll have different ways to hit upper hand strokes (forehand/backhand) in the front. You also have different sets of footwork patterns to move to net - usually base/net/base. Same can be said for baseline and mid court. In my understanding, the basics would then be the standard combinations of moves (footwork plus stroke) that cover the court. Like Pecheur mentioned, these combinations will get more complex as your level advances.
let's start with grip... i think most coaches will start off teaching the handshake grip, and then the backhand grip where the thumb sits along the wide flat face of the handle. one thing that my coach emphasize a lot isn't the grip itself, but changing between the two grips. to be able to very fluidly change between the two grips is actually much more difficult than one would think. the drill that we did was to have one player tap down the birdie at the top of the net, while the other one will hit the birdie back with underarm drive motion. the tapper taps to fore and back hand alternate. and then after that, the tapper can tap any side randomly. the goal is to switch between the fore/backhand grips instinctively. repeat 10000 times.
Hmm, good questions. I think that a coach will teach the basics on what you already have (raw materials). At least that was how my coach taught basics to me. The next coach will take whatever you learned and take it to the next level. Here are some basics that were taught (that I remember) when I was under a coach the first time: 1) grips - forehand/backhand and switching from one to the other. 2) footwork- from back baseline to the net with minimum steps. Those two basics were practiced for a few weeks (not even a month!) and had to do them 6 days/week. After that, the next basic thing was to play against the coach/best player in the club and try to win the matches (doubles/singles). Other coaches then chipped in to offer tactics, strategies, improvement on techniques, etc.
changing grips kwun, that was an important point u had raised but usually it got glossed over when people talking about proper grips as an stand alone subject. Proper grip for the proper shot is a given but getting the proper grip while all your shots keep changing on yah takes lot of practice on a very basic principle.
Grips, body and racket position prior to strokes, stroke technique for different shots, ready position, footwork around the court, types of serves. One basic element I often see neglected, even in better players, is keeping the racket up.
Something that might be useful is a the principle of "Keep it short and simple". viver's categorisation is useful but doesn't say exactly what strokes are basic. 1) grip - the hand shake grip and the backhand grip with the thumb on the wide part of the handle 2) serve - forehand high serve 3) upper hand strokes - clear, smash, drop. 4) upper hand footwork - turn body, side step to corner to play overhead with body rotation 5) under hand strokes - backhand and forehand 6) under hand footwork - turning body and using two step approach to net along diagonal i would say: 6 point footwork is not basic. The movement to the sides of the court are just a variation of movement to the rear of the court. Therefore, it can be simplified into 4 point movement. Keeping the racquet up is not basic either. The key is early preparation of the racquet and arm into the ready position. For each stroke movement, an important point is that there is a crucial point of the stroke which must be empasized. For the underhand strokes approaching the net, the shuttle has to be struck simulataneously with the leading foot landing on the ground. For overhand strokes, the main point is that on impact with shuttle, the fingers as used to pronate the racquet head. If I say anymore, we go past the "Keep it short and simple" philosophy.
Basics for the Beginner Cheung makes some good points, but I assume that what is meant by "basics" are skills you would instruct a raw beginner with. I'm sure we would all have somewhat different ideas of what is important to start out with. One factor that might make a difference is whether you are working with someone who, from the beginning, is committed to achieving a very high level of play, or with someone who is just going to start out playing recreationally. You want to teach good habits--such as proper grip--but how detailed do you want to get? How about it? This may actually be a new topic, but how would you teach a beginner?
There is no differentiation. Every player should learn the same basic stokes/grip/footwork . If learnt well, the potential to improve will be there for that individual. Hence the importance of finding a coach has the understanding of basics. "Advanced" players who do not have these skills reach their maximum potential at an earlier stage with lower standards of play. If these players go 'back to basics', then the level of play will initially fall, but the potential for improvement goes up. So are these players really so "advanced" in the first place? Even the international player will say 'gotta have good basics', even for those comitted to very high standards of play.
Yes, all players need to have the basics down pat. They are the most important ingredients for executing more advance "techniques". I won't elaborate more on what are the basics since everyone has contributed in somewhat comprehensive form what the basics are. Now, let us see what was the original question as Adelina eloquently presented (as I understood it): At least from my experience (for competitive badminton), a coach will not teach what a player already possesses. Ie, if the coach sees the student has the basic down pat, the coach will then teach other "basics". In other words, the coach will train or corrects on what needs to be improved on. This is where I think the basics that were taught would vary, depending on what a player has (raw materials). That is why it is imperative to get a coach that knows the basics and also can teach (a good player is not necessarily a good coach ( and vice-versa?) and this is a separate topic all together ). A definite yes.
Gosh.. Thanks all so far for your very informative replies.. When I first got coached (prolly 10 y.o) our training was more physical fitness and footwork rather than anything else. I think the grip was taught at the very beginning, but never really stressed. It didn't help too that my coach's english isn't good and he was more prone to speaking in Mandarin with very rich traditional intonations! (I can understand mandarin reasonably well but I couldn't understand him!) So our level of communications were sadly reduced to a lot of pointing, tounge clicking, head shaking, demonstration and then frustrated sighs from both him and me! *giggles* Plus, it didn't help that at 10 y.o, all I wanted to do was play badminton, not skill 2000 times, and 1 hour of footwork! I know, I know, they're all necessary and important for my game development, but alas, I was a very impatient and playful and basically, didn't pay too much attention to my basics. Boy I'm so regretting it. I stopped my coaching when I was 13 I think due to study pressure etc and getting bored with badminton (I know, how could I?!!) Anyway, I just want to say that at present, due to my inattention to basics, I think I'm kinda not doing too good...i.e I'm not using the finger grips and I have been playing using more of a shoulder and upper arm strength as opposed to forearm and wrist. My footwork also needs improvement. My backhand..well, where do I start?! So without beating around the bush, any one of you with really good basic foundation would like to come over to NZ for a month and offer your coaching service to me? Hehe..okie, so I can't pay you..but I can show you around Christchurch and feed you good lamb chops and steaks?! Takers?!
Good job Cheung. You describe well the strokes that usually a beginner have to go through. You are right when you say it's essential to know how to move to the 4 corners. However moving to sides it's a little bit different. I would include them to the basics - when moving to the 4 corners is done well.
Re: Gosh.. That kind of training regimen due to pressure from parents, coaches, or others might produce optimum skills in young players...maybe even produce a champion, but it probably results in a lot of cases of burnout, injuries, and--especially for those who fail to meet other's expectations--depression. I question its ability to produce people who play the game for a lifetime with joy and passion. That's why I said it makes a difference how to approach coaching.
Re: Gosh..(correction) Okie, correction..what I meant with " not skill 2000 times" is not SKIP 2000 times.. sorry, forgot to edit earlier
Re: Re: Gosh.. This is a very good question. In any professional sport, unfortunatelly there will be a lot of disappointed potential players. In China, there are a lot of young players trying to get into the national team. Every year, there are many hopeful players (thousands??) trying to get into special schools, city/province or national team. And surely, the disappointed will outnumber the happy ones. Remember the 'piramyd' structure? What to do with them once they are too old/no interest to candidate for that spot? All their life, the objective is to get into the national team. What now? But this is not only happening with those who would like to have sports as a career. In other 'fun' sports suffer the same fate. Here in Canada, for what I know - say soccer - it's the fastest growing participant sport. Every year the clubs struggle to fit all enrolled players into teams, sometimes exceeding their intake abilty. But all share one common problem: it has been challenging to make up teams from U16 age group onwards. Most coaches/parents do not carry too much expectation from their kids since soccer it's a low profile sport here. During the match the parents talk about anything but soccer. They clap their hands when somebody starts clapping and then ask what happened? Why still so many drop outs after the initial enthusiasm? According to some studies, their success (those who turned pro) depends mostly on 2 factors: encouraging parents and stable family environment (read somewhere not long ago but can't remember where). Not coaching, though it acknowledges that competent coach do play a part. But it's really that simple? I really don't know.
"According to some studies, their success (those who turned pro) depends mostly on 2 factors: encouraging parents and stable family environment (read somewhere not long ago but can't remember where). Not coaching, though it acknowledges that competent coach do play a part. But it's really that simple? I really don't know." I would think, at the very top level, talent and good work ethics are the deciding factors.
Actually the factors pointed out were referred as the most common that helped potential players - starting from developing stages to turning pro. If not in error, they did some survey/research on pro players and these were 2 of the most common factors found/mentioned by the interviewed pro players. It was not referring to factors of the players at top level.
I have developed many bad habits with all round technique over the past few years. I was wondering how effective it would be to go back to basics...not completely, but with most elements of my game. It bothers me that I'll shrug off the basic ideas, mainly because the bad habits will take over without my consent! I'm looking for almost perfect consistency, but is starting from scratch the right idea? Aleik
