Yesterday, I joined a big tournament. I partnered with someone who's level is higher than mine. In our club, I was in level B and he was in level A. But in the tournament, were were in level C, as the players who joined there were really good and the levels were from A to G. He was the one who invited me, with the reason that he likes our rotation and our partnership. The first match was great. My defense and attack was spot on. However, during our second match, everything went into shambles. And the big reason for this is because they channel attacked me, with our opponents knowing that I was the weaker player. I kinda expected this already, and I was mentally prepared that that was gonna happen. However, my partner was not. He tried to intercept every shots from me even if it was clearly mine, causing great error. He always flick serves because he's afraid that the receiver would push the shuttle to my backhand; therefore, I always got a smash to defend. He said I stick to the front because I'm an aggressive front player, but I disagreed because I wouldn't want him to defend all by himself. And now, he "sort of" mildly or unconsciously blames me for losing, just as I predicted. I understand that channel attack is one of the many tactics used in doubles. But I think the main issue here is confidence in your partnership. It's hard to perform well if you're always intercepted. How about you? Care to share any channel attack experience?
this tactic happens a lot of the time in doubles as the 'weaker' of the two players is exploited more often and often 'blamed' for the mistakes which clearly cannot really be helped. it happens to me a lot of the time too as i am the 'weaker' of the combination. even pros have a slightly weaker defensive player in the team and you'll notice they will get attacked more often. what you need to do here is to improve your D (defense). when you get channel attacked, make sure the attack is limited to no more than 2-3 smashes. don't just merely flick the shuttle back, place it back in a difficult position so that ur opponents can not have the opportunity to smash again. this can turn defense into attack. also if you play quite regularly with ur partner, you will learn more trust and he will not 'interfere' with your shots as much if he sees you getting more back. as there is a sense of 'trust' in the combination, you will feel more comfortable/relaxed returning the shuttles. trust me, when there is communication breakdown between partners on the court, the game can get pretty bad.
No one would get channel attacked in the first place if no one lifts the shuttle. Offense should be maintained as much as possible in doubles. Overhead "attacking" clears should only be done from time to time to catch the opponents off guard, to get them off balance. This is the setup I was expecting. Apparently, being the weaker player, I could not dictate our tactics.
You can try to lift the smashes/drops cross-court so creating a less ideal situation for the attacker to attack you.
yup, agreed, if you need to lift the shuttle, try lifting it cross court so that your opponents find it harder to smash at you, especially if it's on their backhand side. it gives you more time to defend and your partner will start to share some of the defensive work.
hmmm...assuming you guys are standing in left-right formation when being attacked, how on earth would your partner actually intercept, or attempt to intercept smashes aimed at you?? if his flick serves are constantly getting you guys into trouble then you should really tell him about it cos there's no excuse for it. Sometimes people tend to need a gentle reminder. or you can ask a spectator to tell him As for asking you to 'stick' in front, i'll ask you what's the extent of doing so-- whether you meant playing like a mixed pair or just preferential positioning when given a choice. If it's the latter then it's fine. Some people forget that rotation is necessary when putting the 'weaker-in-backcourt' player in front, and they'll still lose 99% of the time. (esp if the level disparity is so large in the first place). Finally, the best thing to do is work on your smash return.
Yes, cross-court block or cross-court drive is very effective when they channel attack you. Follow up to the net when you block cross court successfully, ready for net battle, or they'll have to lift and your partner has a chance to attack. If you watch international doubles match, you'll see this defense -> offense transition clearly. Your ready stance and court position is critical for this to be possible, if your reflex is ok. Ask your partner if he thinks you should adjust the way you defend.
This is so true. Even in a mixed pair, whilst the best attacking formation is to have the lady in front, being too desperate to get into this position tends to be disastrous. I have played 1 set when the better player thought I should just stay forward and we inevitably faired much worse. Once the opponent saw that they started attacking the tramplines and I just watch that better player crumble under his own ploy. Unless there is a very serious flaw with the players backcourt, e.g. cannot clear full court or very unstable attacks, staying in front the whole time is always a very bad idea. The stronger player may cover 60% of the court but the offensive/defensive rotation must still go on!
Ok. Let me put some more details on our game. I'm an aggressive player. Maybe that's why he chose me as a partner. I have always been good at the front, at least I think so. The problem was my partner liked to do an attacking clear to the backhand of our opponent, as he noticed that it was their weakness. But then, they usually got it back with a smash on me, as every time my partner lifted the shuttle, I backed up to defend. I'm not saying that I have a weak defense. As a matter of fact, in our club, they say that my defense was really hard to penetrate. However, after a few defensive errors, my partner felt like I was incapable of returning their smashes, so he intercepted by quickly moving forward with a crouch defense. And from then, he intercepted every shot that our opponents directed to me. Here's more. Because our opponents realized that I have a weaker smash, they usually lifted the shuttle to me, so I often backed up to smash. But my partner wouldn't go front because he wanted to intercept the returned lift. Most of the time, he was just a couple of inches in front of me, so I was really having a hard time smashing/strategizing. (I couldn't see because he's taller.) Also, if you're gonna count the numbers of errors, I think he committed more mistakes than I did. That's because it was like he's playing singles. I usually got stuck at the rear corner. And yet, I was blamed for losing. Well, I thought that after the game, everything would be forgotten. But when I came back to our home court last night, I heard that he told people that we lost because I refused to go front. As with him telling me to stay front ... yes, he really meant we play like in mixed doubles. I told him to trust me at the back of the court (where my opponents usually place me) because I knew that even if they could easily return my smash, I could vary the phase or deceive them with slice drops/half smash or attacking clear. But like I said, I couldn't strategize 'coz he was blocking my view. And who am I to dictate tactics? I'm just the weaker player that caused us our defeat.
i think best suggestion is dont partner with him. No use you have better partner if he doesnt have trust on you, you will not win and even will not improve anything. Better get someone in same level and fight against better opponent, much more value added
It all depends on your objective. If you and your partner wanted to win the match badly, then a combination that minimized your weakness and maximized your strength could have been better. But if you wanted to play a game in which both of you had an equal share of the exchanges, then what your partner did was probably not desirable. But a combination like yours, one weak and another strong doubles player, allows more ways to "skin the cat". Perhaps playing something like mixed might have produced a different result. In doubles if you cannot handle a lift or a drive deep into your backhand, then it might be better for you to be the front man, even when your partner is serving. Being in front, you could kill or finish off weak returns to your stronger partner's shots, or you could tumble the birdie to force your opponents to lift so that your stronger partner can take control. It all depends on your opponents. Opponents who do not know how to capitalize on your uneven combination re chanelling attack on you, even if they are as good, your preferred method may be better. The game of badminton is fluid. There is no one strategy or tactic for all situations.
I could very much do an overhead backhand lift/drop/half smash, given that the service is really good ... something that's hard to push. Service is very important. Like what Gail Emms said during the Olympics, the serve of the Koreans were really hard to attack. Unfortunately, that was not the case during the tournament. Besides, I'm also adept at doing around-the-head shots (not that I'm bragging, please don't misconstrue). Defensively, I don't think it's a good idea to go front-back. I don't know. Maybe I just didn't want to play like in mixed doubles. Pride perhaps. But let God be my witness, I really love playing front during offense. It's just that defensively, I didn't want to be vulnerable at the front court. Besides, my partner could cover 60% or 70% of the court if he wanted to, 'coz I'm not denying that he's a better player. I only think that it would have been better if he left shots that were really meant for me. I also know how to strategize. I could manipulate the rally so I would be able to go forward. However, I was not given a chance because of his constant interception.
i think you guys just need to work out what's the best way to work together then. it may be your partner covering 70% of the court is best in your partnership, but if his interception is putting you off, you need to discuss this with him. working out who best covers which shot takes time and experience playing with each other.
