Drills

I'll give you a list of the drills I do.

Clears - Clear back and forth with your partner. I always warm up with this, unless I'm trying to impress non-badminton players who happen to be watching, in which case, I'll just do a few clears to go through the motions and then do smashes. I'd rather have them see smashes than five or so minutes of boring clears.

Drops - One person stands at the net and clears while the other drops from the back. If you want to liven things up, the feeder (person at the net) can go back to base and move up for every clear to practice footwork.

Clear - Drop - Dribble - Start with a clear to your partner, partner drops, you play a net shot back, partner clears, you drop, partner net shots back, you clear, keep going. First time doing this it can get confusing.

Clear - Smash - Dribble - Start with a clear, partner smashes, you return it with net shot or as close, partner clears, you smash, partner net shot returns. Same as Clear - Drop - Dribble but replace Drop with Smash.

Drives - Both stand at around a foot back from front service line, continually drive back and forth. Stand closer together for faster drill.

Net Shots - Both players continually play net shots back and forth. Use the whole net to make it more fun.

These are the most basic drills that I use. There are many more I have done but some require more than two people. Hope this helps.

Phil

 

Maybe the most comprehensive drill is the smash-drop-clear drill:

1. Player A starts by setting up to Player B.

2. B smashes.

3. A blocks it over low.

4. B comes up and underhand drops the block return.

5. A hits an underhand clear.

6. B goes back and hits an overhead drop.

7. A hits a net drop.

8. B comes up and re-drops at the net.

9. A hits an underhand clear.

10. B goes back and hits an overhead clear.

Now the roles reverse, with A hitting the overhead shots. This gives both players the chance to work on the same shots. It also gives each player alternating periods of intense and mild activity, as the overhead hitter will do a lot of moving.

These shots can be hit to random spots, or one particular side, or in some pattern, such as two-corner.

I think this most closely simulates a game rally and utilizes the most different shots in one drill.

 

Be careful which drills u do first!

Be very careful Jax which drills you carry out first. For example, the ones suggested by Phil are all good, but I don't think starting with clears first is a good idea. This is because your body is not warmed up yet..and doing clears, or indeed smashes while the body is cold means you are going to be another badminton injury statistic. Possibly, you may twist your ankles or tear a muscle.

So it would be better if you start with something that makes you move on the court, but without making you do too much where u can overly strain your muscles before they warm up. I suggest perhaps the following drills and they should be done in the order they are listed (all drills to be carried out using only half the court -vertically half that is ):

1)'Ins and Outs' - This means Player A serves to Player B, 'B' drops, 'A' nets, 'B' lifts shuttle to the back and now 'A' drops, and 'B' nets the shuttle, then 'A' lifts to the back and so forth. Do this for perhaps 5 minutes before going to the next drill.

This exercise enable both players to warm up slowly without any quick rapid movement that may injure the players while the body is still cold and slowly warming up. Also, the drop shot ensures that the body is not straight away taxed with any heavy duty drills which it may not be ready to deal with yet as the muscles are still cold.

2) Slow Drops, Fast Drops and Light Smashes - 'A' serves high up to the back to 'B', 'B' does a slow drop, 'A' nets the shuttle, 'B' nets back and 'A' lifts to the back again, this time, 'B' does a faster drop (like a slice drop), 'A' nets again, and 'B' nets back and 'A' lifts for the last time and 'B' goes for a half speed smash, 'B' blocks the smash over the net and now 'B', instead of netting back, lifts the shuttle to the back for 'A' to start this exercise by doing a slow drop..and so forth. Do this for 5 minutes.

By the time you do this exercise, you should be quite warm already from moving front and back doing drops in exercise no.1. Exercise no.2 is meant to up the tempo a little bit. You are still coming into the net and moving to the back of the court, but the intensity is slightly higher now.

3) Clearing - 'A' and 'B' clearing back and forth to each other.

By the time you've done exercise no.1 and no.2, your body should be warm enough and ready for you to do this exercise. It may also be better prior to doing exercise no.3, you do a stretch on your arms and legs first before doing this exercise.

4) Drives - Driving the shuttle back and forth to train fast eye-shuttle co-ordination

5) Net shots to finish off..you can also treat this as a quick warm down before say, you proceed to play in a proper match/game.

Hope this helps.

A

 

Re: Be careful which drills u do first!

Oh, I forgot to mention, I warm up before doing any of these drills, such as practicing footwork. Also, when I do clears and such, I constantly hop to warm myself up.

The reason I start with clears is because it is the same stroke motion as a smash or drop, and I like to go through that rather than drops first. But I think now I'll warm up with the drill you suggested, as it moves you around. (the clear, drop, drop, clear one)

Phil

 

As a volleyball coach and many good players have said, the best players do the simple things right.

Phil

 

Hi,

There are some good drills there, but please do make sure you warm up! Drills not only help you learn shots, but it also helps with consistancy. You will know when to hit it at the right time etc. And also, because you have done it so many times, it will become second nature, and therefore during the game you can think more tacticaly rather than thinking about the shot....

Matt

 

Kwun,

Some good points. But as i have said before, you get out of badminton what you put in, and if you aren't lazy and put in alot of effort, chances are you will come up on top.

Matt

 

I disagree with that. If you want to practice racket skill for a long time you have no choice but to stand right near the net. Return to base will make you concentrate on another skill at the same time + burn you out. As long as you have done other footwork drills you won't get lazy.

 

If your practice partner is hitting overhead drops and your role is to clear up or re-drop, you could just stand at the net. Personally, in that role, I always go back after the hit just as I would in a game because I want to use that opportunity to work on my own movement.

If the feeder is just going to stand at the net, he has to make sure his return isn't so good that the other player can't get to it.

It's strictly a matter of personal preference. Usually, coaches who are retired from serious play will stay at the front because they don't want to work that hard.

 

sorry I think I got my wires crossed. Kwun is correct, if you are doing a drill involving 2 people then you should move back to base and to the net.

If you are practising racket skill with one person throwing the shuttles then you just need to stand there and practice the skill.

 

this is a good resource!
another favorite drill of mine is one for footwork, that is done without the shuttle!
both opponents, start from their center and "pretend" to play

Player A leads, and Player B has to replicate the mirror image of what player A does.
So for instance if player A, lunges forward and does a forehand net drop, player B has to lunge to the same side and do a backhand net drop (as if returning the shuttle to the same place, where A dropped from). By the time, B does this, A has moved to another place to hit another shot, say he goes back to his backhand overhead clear, A has o rush back to his FOREHAND overhead clear.

The most important part is that, each player should always return to his center between the shots.
So if A does a forehand underhead drop, he goes back to his center, and then proceeds to a backhand underhead drop, then B who started with the backhand underhead drop HAS to return to the center and then go for the forehand drop.

This makes both players run around. After A makes B run around, B can seek revenge
This really helps my footwork, and I am able to chasse better during play

my two cents!

 

Get a bunch of shuttles and pratice serving...

I do that sometimes (usually at the beginning or at the end) ..... when there are more courts then people and no one else to play with yet....

 

wall practice!
yup!

the shuttle does not come back in the same way a tennis ball will, but you can be innovative.

draw a line representing the net, and make sure that every return is above the line.
try to get to the shuttle before it crosses you - improves reflex. If it does cross you, try to make sure that your return is not weak - useful in defensive play.
make sure that you get to move side to side (do not just stand at a place and play) - helps footwork.
and if it becomes too easy for you, try using two shuttles, keeping both in play and above the line!!
If you can handle three at a time, will you be my coach????