Hi everyone, I'm a student in teacher's college at the moment and I have been given the task of teaching grade 5 and 6 students badminton. It's supposed to be an introduction to basic skills, nothing too in depth, as they don't really begin learning it until grade 7. I haven't played badminton since high school when we did it in Phys. Ed. class, so any help you could give me as to what I should teach would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.
Well the most important thing is to show them the correct grip so be sure to have the correct one or they will never learn correctly. I have seen some ugly thing like the index finger directly on the back of the racket! Here are some thing i remember my coach made me do when i started -show them how to pick up the shuttle with their racquet ( it is a very great drill for mastering the grip and the general racquet handling) then you can make them catch the shuttle in the air. This video is perfect http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQ5jRzaL6fA here another one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Amkwzk5qtNg If they can master this, the rest will follow easily, make them play and try to correct the bad habit before they become grooved, if you just can make you whole class have the correct grip this will be a succes. hope this will help
As said above, grips and the basic forehand shots are very important. Teach the forehand and backhand grips, and in most circumstances, discourage panhandle. Once they have the grips, move on to basic stroke making. As much as you want them to play for fun and don't have to teach them, IMO, they'll have much better games and so, more fun if they can play a little bit first. Look at the three basic forehands - Forehand drop, forehand clear and forehand smash. On second thoughts, clear first, then drop or smash, then the other. Teach a little bit of net play, maybe just straight netshots on both sides. Lifts and basic backhands wouldn't hurt either. Then, just let them get on with it - try to set up games between people of equal skill levels and see how it goes. Oh and don't forget the rules - a basic knowledge of the rules is essential in order for any games to actually work.
If that's a formal class which last for a while, I agree you may want to teach the "right thing" to begin with. However, if the number of session is very limited (a few hours in total), then you might want to let them to have fun, rather than "bored them to death". As an introduction, you might want them to see the fun part of the game, but not repeating task of "footwork" and "Grip". They are kids who are 10 years old, they might want to run around, smacking the bird, but not standing there, looking at their own hand... Also, no offense against your own skill. If you do not think your own skill level is capable of providing all the right technique, you may not want to "teach the basics" to begin with.
Hi Leeshy, As others has mentioned, teaching the proper grip will be important. This would be my suggestion: Class 1: >> basic universal grip, understanding which face of the racquet is the forehand side vs backhand side (don't worry about the backhand grip) (a) hit the shuttle straight up continuously to oneself using only forehand face of the racq, counting how many times without missing (b) repeat (a) using only backhand face of the racq (don't change grip) (c) repeat (a) alternating the face of the racq (d) with a partner, alternate hitting the shuttle straight up (players stand on the same side of the net, and is not hitting the shuttle over the net) (e) same as (d) except in a group of 3 or 4 players but they must hit in a certain order (ex Player 1, then #2, #3, #4, back to #1, etc), see how many times they go in a complete circle without missing Class 2: >> review grip (a) freeze tag; - all players must (run around) with a shuttle placed on the forehand face of their racq - the person who's "it" (also have a shuttle on their racq) must tag another player - when a player is tagged is considered frozen, he must stand still with arms out and their shuttle on the floor beside their feet - a player can become frozen if they drop the shuttle by themselves - a person can become un-frozen, if a player who's not it, can pickup the shuttle off the floor and place it on the frozen player's racquet - Teacher can automatically freeze a player if the grip is wrong - you can also add, changing the face of the racq, or whomever drops their shuttle has to do 5 jumping-jacks before they freeze or to continue tagging >> teach underhand serve (short serve to front service line) (b) with a partner, serve over the net and their partner tries to catch it, then serves it back, thus counting how many continuous times Class 3: >> review grip (a) in groups of 2-4, relay race; - Player #1, with the shuttle on forehand face racq, walk fast to the other side of gym, touch wall, flip over to backhand face, walking backwards back to team, then passes shuttle to next teammate, etc. If the shuttle is dropped 5 jumping jacks - when back to player #1, player must hit the shuttle up in the air while trying to move forward to the far wall, if he/she misses, just continue trying to hit the shuttle up. When reached the far wall, walk backwards with shuttle on the face of the racquet, if the shuttle drops 5 jumping jacks, pass the shuttle to next team mate >> review & practise underhand short serve (b) using 2 stations per court (half court); - station 1; four yoga mats (2'x4') lined-up together (thus 8'x4') along the front service line - station 2; three yoga mats on the front service line, etc station 3 & 4 - Players must serve the shuttle (straight across the net and not diagonal) onto the mat before being able to move to the next station. When they serve onto the mat on station 4, they get hand stamps (or points). If players miss, back to station #1. You could add a special target (smaller 18"x18") on station 1 & 2, if they get it in, they automatically go to station #4. Hope this helps! Cheers!
That's a very good point, Grandmaster LazyBuddy. Some basic badminton knowledge will be needed in order to teach the basics.
I would suggest that you teach BASIC footwork, with the main emphasis on the lunge. Most beginners will have a tendancy to keep their feet still, and reach with their arm to intercept the shuttle. It is important that they learn how to properly plant their racket foot. This will give them a stable base, where they won't overbalance by overleaning.
If they are serious about learning, the most important things when you learn as a beginner is form. You teach them form by teaching them correct grip, correct footwork, and correct swinging motion for each shot. When I trained back in Taiwan, we were not allowed to do shots with actual shuttlecocks until at least after 3 or 4 training sessions, and even then, we began each training session by practicing swinging the racket without a shuttle, and doing footwork drills. If you can really drill the form into them, even if they don't play for a long time, the form will come back when they pick up a racket again (which is what happened to me--I stopped playing at 6th grade after training for half a year and picked it up again as a freshman in college).
Remember, this is - an introduction to the sport and not an official badminton lesson - this is North America where we try to make it "fun" (yes, that's why we are where we are ) - this is not an Asian country where we are trying to field out the "diamonds in the rough" (technically, gr 5 & 6 is probably too late) and immediately put them on an intense 24x7 training program Cheers!
Nevertheless, I was merely pointing out the importance have having correct form, as having incorrect form is a pain to change later on.
I'll drink to that, that was my earlier point regarding footwork. I was playing semi-competatively for 2 years before anyone even mentioned footwork. I was alway baffled at how fast my opponents were, but they weren't all that fast, they were just using proper technique. Now that I know the secrect, I'm not baffled anymore, but still frusturated at the lost time.
