My Net Kills dont go down, they go too far and fast. Sometimes the go out or look like low drives. They are kind of high. They dont go before the service line. Some serves I know I can kill, but then it looks like drives. But I can kill it if it goes a bit higher, weird. I'm pretty short(if this has to do with anything) and for some reason my kills used to be able to do that, but I lost it.
When attacking the serve maybe you could stand a bit mroe forward with your racket in front of you giving you more time to react to the shuttle. I think your racket angle may be the problem with your net kills , focus on the angle and rerember never to use too much power , this normally results in the shuttle going out , just control your power. NO BACKSWING - use your wrist to kill the shuttle at the net , if you backswing then the shuttle will go lower down , and by the time the shuttle is in front of you it is too low and more likely to go out. Just your a quick wrist flick to kill the shuttle. Sometimes you have to play the safe option - if the shot is too risky , choose a tumble shot , or a normal net shot.
i'm not sure i follow. you want more reaction time. so you stand closer to the net? wouldn't that reduce your reaction time but decrease the distance you travel to the shot? when you're attacking the net, it might be better to step back slightly and walk into your shots. i think you've banged the lid on the jar with your other points though. don't hit too hard. placement is often more important. shots to the right hip (of a righty) and shots to the right shoulder and shots that travel across an opponents body are all very good ways to pressure your opponent. sometimes, placement will get you the results that pure speed and power cannot. remember to keep changing the angle of your shots and target different areas. unless the shot is ridiculously bad, you're standing on top of the net or both, you will rarely kill a drive or half decent net shot. the aim is to apply pressure by attacking your opponent so he/she a) does a crap lift your partner cleans up, b) does a crap return to the net you clean up. don't expect to kill anything off straight away. attacking their bodies is a great way to do that. it doesn't have to take their heads off. just a well placed drive to their hip will suffice.
well, if your net kill is going out, or even looking like drives, i believe your technique is to blame. A net kill can be done with only the power of ur fingers, the kill doesnt need to be strong, just angled...of course this depends on your opponent's net shots. A way to improve and find ur own technique is to have a partner feed you birds while u stand a couple of feet back from the net. Practise net kills with ur finger power or wrists (if the net shot is high enough that it allows the use of wrist)...
this is the issue which needs addressing. your obviously having too much movement in your shot. should be a little simple tap hold your racket losely then tighten your hand and thats basically what the tap should do. then slightly increase with more power etc.
Take a bigger step(s) towards the net, or even jump. I'm usually airborn when I make my net kills. When you have an oportunity to make an actual net kill, you need to put everything you've got into getting to it before it's too late.
Other subtle things that you might want to take notice is footwork. Getting there on time and in position to hit the bird at the optimum height is sort of important. Doing net footwork will help you become more agile to the net. (It can be side to side net footwork, or back to front footwork) Another thing is anticipation. What shots are more likely to force a drop from your opponent? When you are anticipating the shot, it is much easier to move to and kill. This skill of correct anticipation will take time to develop and doesn't happen overnight. With experience in playing more games, you'll naturally gain insight on what will happen next. Lastly, what most of the other people have said about using your wrist is quite accurate. The angle of the shot is much much more threatening at the net than the power of the shot. Even if they return it, it will be a defensive clear at best. Most of the time it will lead to a half-court clear if they don't get it well. The general rule of the thumb to remember for net kills is that Angle>Power. ------------------ About standing closer to the net, yes, it does give you less time to react, but if you think about it, if you stand closer and hit it earlier, it gives your opponent, the person who served, even less time to react. Training yourself to react faster and better on serves helps in changing and keeping the momentum of the game on your side. There are ways to attack at the net while being close to the service line. The only drawback is that you also have to learn to move back quickly when your opponent does a flick serve to the back. This'll involve practicing footwork as well. If you're not sure what's the most efficient footwork for front-back movement or side-to-side movement, check out some professional tournament games on Youtube (All-England, Thomas Cup, and the Olympics are places to start searching)
Very well said, and useful practice. If net stroke are way worse now, you can take the practice into 2 phases. 1st phase is to stand still (in the comfort zone) in front of the net, and only focus on the strokes. Once #1 is improved, stay away from the net (say serve line), and practice net strokes with the correct footwork being involved.
errr lol this is not particularly good or smart advice. #1 the worst thing you can do is rush. #2 the only time you should jump is in a jump smash instance from mid court to the back court. Never put yourself oout of position or off balance when its clearly not needed. #3 putting all you can into it will cause way too much movement and create the high flat effect which is what he wants to fix. Best way to practice is by taking your racket. Hold it loosely in your hand. get someone to feed you some slightly higher net shots. when you go to hit them simply tighten your grip and tap the shuttle downwards. Taps do not involve any kind of swing or rotation. if its high enough to swing take it like a normal smash but do not jump there will be no need to.
lol bradmyster, I didn't mean to give you (or anyone else, for that matter) the wrong impression! Here's my break-down of your response (post #10) to my original post (post# 7): In response to #1: Generally, I agree. Rushing is bad. However, I have noticed that many people are lazy when it comes to getting to a potential net kill. They will take their time and play a drive or even a drop instead. I don't think that it is a bad thing altogether in singles, where you need to be somewhat conservative in order to make sure that you have time to get back to a ready position But especially in doubles - as I assume CkcJsm is refering to when he is talking about killing serves - a team can't afford to have a player who won't put the effort into being able to make an agressive play. in response to #2: Again, generally I agree. Actual vertical jumping is to be reserved for back-court jump smashes only. I was referring to the period that a player spend in air while doing a long lunge to the net, as in a horizontal jump rather than a vertical one. If you need more convincing, see "badminton techniques - forhand net kill" here, specifically at 1:20 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uj7UoR7YJ8 in response to #3: Notice that I wrote "you need to put everything you've got into getting to it before it's too late" and NOT "you need to put everything you've got into your swing." I just mean - as in response #1 - that you need to make the effort into getting to a net kill opportunity, rather than letting the opportunity pass you by. I did NOT mean that you should wind up like major league pitcher, and try to break velocity records. This will more than likely result in a shuttle in the net, or a drive that will end up long (out) by several meters. Sorry for any confusion. I should have made myself more plain with my initial post.
