Just wondering, there are so many players out there. Pro's, Intermediates and beginners. Many different styles of play and different techniques. Badminton is not only just a physical game or a technical game. It is also a mental game too. I've have been taught footwork exercises and stroke techniques before from a coach. Technically it did wonders for my game both in singles and doubles, however the element that i had to learn by myself was the mental factor. Learning to focus on the game, calming oneself under pressure or the power of positive thinking. One of the main points was knowing how to probe your opponent for weaknesses. What techniques are taught by coaches here and abroad to help players find weaknesses in other peoples games? What should you look out for during the first few points in a game in both singles and doubles?
Ah, the mental game. If only there was a magical formula.... One thing people can try to help with concentration is a little training exercise we use to do. Simply get a deck of cards and keep all the cards from ace to 5. Each player takes a card without showing the other player what he/she has. Whatever card they have represents how many points they need to get to win the game (ie 1 through to 5). The idea is that you must concentrate on getting the points you need to win, rather than worrying about what your opponent's score is. To make things harder, you can toss in one or two 10's in there as well. As for finding out weaknesses in an opponent, the job is much harder when you're on court. The best thing to do is to watch them play other people. If you're really serious, you can video them. Do they always block straight? Are they a little slower to a particular corner? Any favourite shots? These are all very simple things to look for when you're watching from the sidelines, but in the heat of competition, even seemingly obvious things can elude you. Wayne
the mental game, much easier said than done! there are imho, two aspects of the mental game. firstly, is to know what to do in each situation and scenario. the scenario is dynamic and ever changing, and there are way way to many factors: formation of your opponent, formation of you and you partner, flight of birdie, you own ability, your partner's ability, your opponents' strength and weaknesses, everybody's level of tiredness, and the list goes on and on. part of these is gained from experience, part of it is the reactive smartness of yourself. and mysteriously, human beings are smart beings and can often learn moves from one situation and apply it in another. that was the first aspect, given that you know what can be done in different situations, there is also the question of whether you can make the decision and act fast enough to perform the move while you are in a game situation. most often, you will have more than one choice of shots. eg, if the opponent lifts high, you can smash, drop, clear, drive, etc. you must, with a vividly clear mind, have a clear view of the whole game situation, after that, you have to pick from your arsenal the best shot to make that will maximize your reward. most players have a "default" shots, this can be the smash when playing doubles, there are players who close their eyes and just smash it down, without thinking whether it is a good choice or not. those are not using their heads. in a lot of situations, a drop or clear or drive may be a better choice. and it takes calmness during the rally to do the right thing, it also take a vision of the whole game and a clear game plan. what is the reward? a reward can be a winning shot (you hit the birdie to the floor), or something that will give your side an advantage, perhaps putting the birdie in the "hole" in your opponent's formation, or a weakness in their defense in which you know will likely to result in a weak return for you partner to kill off. or sometimes the reward can be long term, hit the birdie furthest away from your opponent, wear them out. this is similar to chess. for each board layout, there are certain moves that can be made. in each situation, you must weight the advantage and disadvantage of each move. the service is akin to opening a chess game. when you have gained a certain advantage in the rally and produced a weak lift, that's akin to the end game of chess, there are a certain set of formulae you can follow to kill off the king/put the birdie to the floor. the hardest part is the mid rallies. no body is continually at an advantage and each side is trying to gain one. one wrong move will be fatal. the decision making at mid-game is the hardest, most of the computing power in chess playing computers are spend at those times. badminton is more difficult in the way that there are more undeterministic factors. you lift, the birdie may not go as high or far as you want to, you smash, it may be flat and not be sharp enough, and thus not achieving the effect you intended to and can be detrimental to your "game plan". these are just something i brought over from studying game theory and non-deterministic decision making. all just paper talk. not directly applicable, but certainly something to think about since you asked. as i mentioned, it is much harder said than done. before we can talk about tactics, most of us need to be able to perform the shots, when you are like me, 9 out of 10 drops are either too low and fall into the net, or too high and slow. it is very difficult to talk about making a certain move. the difference between the pros is that they can do those shots very competently, 9 out of 10 shots are perfect. then they can really start thinking about tactics.
Agree totally. Only thing I would say top pros could hit 10 out of 10 perfect shots in practice situation. Saw my coach hit the light switch (size about 3" by 3'') with the shuttle, striking it similar to a backhand serve at a distance about 5 m: it was 5 out of 5 shots.
Well one thing I learnt from some ex-internationals in tournaments is that when you play an unknown quantity one starts off with a bang by playing at a fast pace and rapidly killing all shots and finishing game before opoonent realises what hit them. If some resistance is met or fails totally then a longer term strategy is probably needed such as pacing.
For my own case, I've never been formly trained by a coach. When I was in jr. high school, I did try to participate in my school's club, but happened to find out I was way out of shape and a very slow learner Lucky, I did not really quit badminton, even though I DID QUIT that club. Somehow, I start to learn everything by myself (watching tapes, asking for advise, play 10+ hr per day for a period of time, etc) After real expereince built up for years, I think I did gain some advatage for noticing my opponent's tech and move very quickly. I can somehow figure out what they are going to do faster than most of others, even though that still not guarantee to give me a victory. Therefore, I think experience counts a lot in this case.
Mental game...hmmm, don't go into a court over-confident or doubt yourself. When you are feeling frustrated, just breathe and recollect your thoughts, stick to a game plan or change one if the existing don't work. As for weaknesses, try to watch your opponents play from the sideline and pick out their tendencies from there. In the game, try different shots and see how your opponent respond and act accordingly. e.g. if they always drop instead of clear, gamble a little and step up when you hit a clear.
