Hi, i played on really slippy court recently and had great trouble moving around while others didnt seem to slip much at all, i was often completly losing my feet. i was wondering if it was my height? i am 6ft3 and i was thinking, when i push off my foot will be at a steeper angle or something? so not as much friction as others have. im not sure.. but more importantly does anyone have a similar problem which they have overcome? im a much better player on a nice sticky court, its killing me losing to weaker opponents, and im surprised i havent picked up an injury already sliping while lunging etc. this is a problem! also.. i clean my shoes by wiping the soles with a wet cloth, which helps a bit but its still bad on a poor court surface thanks in advance for any helpfull suggestions
Maybe your shoes or your footwork. I don't believe height has anything to do with it other than the fact you may have experienced more loss of balance than shorter people due to having a slightly higher centre of gravity. Still, careful - you could roll your ankle really easily if you're sliding around a lot.
If the court condition is really bad, then you should look for an alternate court somewhere else. A dusty or slippery floor is not fun nor safe at all.
I am not certain if this applies to the OP but it applies to me. Until recently, I have a lot of problems with slippery court because I rely a lot on the extra friction to start/stop my movements. Since I took up lessons, I am starting to rebalance myself so now have a lot less problems on slightly slippery courts. Now, there are still courts that are very very bad (like those recently waxed) but I do not find myself sliding around as much anymore.
yup alot of people rely on the grip of the court and their shoes to stop them because they lunge in the incorrect way and it just all stuffs up. Whereas correct footwork teaches you to absorb the impact different ways with proper lunges and technique. Then you dont ever slide unless you slip on sweat or something.
cheers for help, i guesse the only solution is to improve footwork? i have had lessons, but a few years ago- for the lunge i get my left arm right back, pointing my right toe towards the shuttle, and i always try and get my right leg round, playing from the rear court, - but when i land after a smash and push forward my left leg will sometimes slip away, and for the lunge my right leg will sometimes slip forward, and pushing off to the side to recieve a smash, my pushing off leg will just slip.. while you are quick to say my footwork is crap (thanks), on a grippy court i can reach almost every corner in 2, sometimes 3 steps, i stay in good balance, and im rarely tired after a game.. but still, agreeing with you - i have seen better players play very well on bad courts. im not sure.. weeyeh could you share some of the points you learnt in your lessons?
Sure thing. bradmyster correctly pointed out how proper footwork will teach you how to absorb impact. You will notice that those players that survive bad courts tend to have very fluid movements. Pay attention to how they spread out the change of direction and use gravity to their advantage. Essentially, start every movement with a tiny leap in the opposite direction to "fall" towards where you want to go. i.e. if you are moving towards the net, take a tiny leap backwards. This creates an inbalance that will cause you to fall forward. It allows you to put all your weight into the pushoff. When lunging forward, kick the racket foot out and contact the floor with the heel. Next, land the feet. As a follow up action, soak up the movement by compressing your racket leg (but make sure the knee never move in front of the heel) and at the same time sliding your non-racket foot forward. This creates the backward biased balance that starts your recovery. After a baseline shot, land with a forward bias on the balls of your feet. In my lessons, we were taught to land on both feet. Once again, the forward bias allows the landing feet to naturally absorb the backward momentum and to easily introduce a forward movement towards the base. I used to reach all corners with 2/3 steps when I was in my late teens but age is catching up so I have to learn to prevent injury. Now, I can again reach the net in 2 strides again but I'm getting there faster -- seriously.
Well...It didn't occur to me when I play on rubber mat courts. But I do feel the sliding force when I play on wooden floor.
i wear badminton/general court shoes, with the proper sole also, thanks a lot weeyeh - i will try this out tomorrow. am i right to say you should use both feet to push off in most situaitons? rather than just pushing of with the one opposite foot? same with recovery?
My pleasure. Not really. I still usually push off with 1 main foot. I use both feet when starting a forward movement and when landing from a base court shot. Even then, it's closer to a 80-20 split instead of 50-50.
depends. correct technique sure helps big time but up to certain level, at fast pace of badminton game i dont think u can getaway with it. at slower game, the force friction tend to be vertical which relying on the downward force, but at fast pace, you need to apply more diagonal or sideways friction. (forgive my bad explanation) back to topic - has nothing to do with height, if there is, being tall should help you rather than going against you. shorter player need to apply more sideways friction to more at the same pace at taller player. suggestion - mop the damn court. or if u are playing on wooden flooring, what some ppl use in indo here is "sabun colek" which is some kind of detergent paste to wash clothes and dishes. apply very little amount on the sole and test it till it squeaks. no court maintenance?
About the height, I think it actually does play a role in the sliding. I you are tall, it means you have more bone mass than shorter people (not counting the bone density here) and therefore your are heavier. If you are heavier, you carry more momentum than shorter and lighter guys when you move and so the friction between your shoes and the floor takes more time to stop your movement and so, you travel and decellerate on a longer distance before coming to a halt. (It is also true that when your heavier you apply a greater pressure/force on the ground which means you also create more friction against the floor than lighter/shorter players. However, I don't know if that friction is significantly higher enough to compensate your greater momentum in comparison with light/short players.)