how do can you improve your defense?

Well, you have to be prepared before the shuttle arrives. You have to bend down a bit but ofcourse not like Quasi Modo . If you play against heavy smashers, the best method is to do a block or drive back to regain the offensive position.

Just practice your flat drives which will also give you a better reaction speed. But remember that your racket has to be UP all the time and never let your racket down for fast exchanges.

 

for body shots just adjust your body in a back hand attacking position and push it back or when i mess around i just block every smash by almost sitting down still works though haha

 

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This is what sorted me out mate. I played against a strong player who smashes at u more than anything else & he is hard hitter. I jus cudnt return them. Then I thought about it and put my racket up infront of me when I lifted and i definitely returned a lot more smashes and put him under lots more pressure!

 

Keep your racquet at around waist, torso level, and widen and lower your stance. These will help you react better. Mostly, it's a mental thing, get ready to react, and you'll be able to defend well.

 

i think the putting your racket up is one of the best things to do.. just put the racket at the center. this would let you be ready with any shot the opponent would give you. also, facing the opponent would be best (being square). i think this would be best applied in doubles. if the shuttle is coming from a cross court player, you should face that player so that you would have better coverage for the shot.

i also practice these by hitting the shuttle on the wall. i think this would improve the reaction time and the time you need to change your grip for each shot. i hope this helps.

 

Won't add anything more about improving the actual defensive reply to the smash but comment on the preceding shot.

If your clear isn't deep/steep enough then your making it easier for your opponent to make that smash harder/steeper/accurate.

Make sure they're having to smash from the back of the court on a vertically dropping shuttle.

 

Bending the knees for defense is important , If you watch a lot of international players - they will be under net height.

There was a picture of JR somewhere on this forum , which showed how much he really bet his knees!

 

It's not a strategy. You can practice your defense all day long & end up having lightening reactions but if your clear isn't good enough it's just not going to help. Even pro's have difficulty getting back a decent smash from the mid court.
Some pairings have great defensive games because their clears are deep & steep not because they're fast.

Making them smash a vertically falling shuttle from one foot further back could be the difference between taking the shuttle one foot in front of you or digging it out of your hip/chest.
Better defense is either increasing your speed or giving yourself more time. Why not do both?

If your really putting your clears right to the back of the court & still having trouble defending then it would be best to concentrate on getting your stance & reaction time up. If your not, then practice/drill both.

 

i dont know if its the "proper" way to do it, but I place my grip closer to where the handle meets the shaft. I find that i am able to swing and react quicker.

 

is this defence for singles or doubles? I think they have different defence stances, but i'm not sure b/c i don't play a lot of singles. but for doubles, i think you have to stand and face the smasher square on to cover your side. stand on toes, bend knees a little, racquet in front, and mentally move forward.

drills, maybe practice with a good smasher on half court, and alternate between smashes and drops, and really focus on your footwork and stance

but i think having someone that can smash very hard to practice with is very important. once you get use to that speed, your eye-hand coordination adjusts to that speed, and it's easier for you to chase after fast smashes. but if you practice with someone with slow/average smashes, playing hard smashers they'll seem like rockets

 

Honestly the only way to increase your defense speed and consistancy is through training and practice.
Fast feeding ~ Someone feeds you 20-30 shuttles quickly from either standing on a step or chair. So the shot is like a fast drop or slow smash. The continuous defense shots will eventually increase your speed and consistancy.

Smash defence ~ 2 people on 1 side of the court attacking and you on the other side defending. It can be halfcourt or fullcourt. Halfcourt is best to begin with. Your main aim is to flick the shuttle of the smash above the net player towards the rear player. When the opportunity arises you can put in a block to the net player. But be aware they can easily kill it if they are of a reasonable level.

These drills are best to start of slower and increase the speed and power of the shots overtime. It takes months of training but thats the only way to increase your speed and reaction times successfully.

 

Yeah, it's quite common :/

To improve reaction time, play FPS game! Equip only sniper. Once you see the enemy, gotta kill them in a split second! I have read in an article that playing video games for at least 1 hour a day helps improve your awareness of your surroundings.

But just wanna say that if a smash is aimed at your chest, it helps to take a step/hop backwards to give you more time and room to hit the bird, since the angle of the bird would not be at your chest anymore, but maybe in front of your waist.

Or you can lean backwards (sorta like the matrix) and drive the bird back.

 

Keys to great defense

Here's a free video that gives great defense tips:

http://www.badminton.tv/content/item/backhand-block/13.html

 

that's why when you do the drill, have your partner not just just smash but also do some drops. it's about anticipation and eye-hand coordination. you can't just wildly swing your racquet and hope to make contact.

 

Don't forget to move your body! I think something a lot of players get stuck on is they think that once they come set (i.e. they're "prepared" for a smash), that from that point on, it's just about moving your racquet fast/early enough. While this is mostly true, don't forget that, especially for smashes that are particularly well placed, you can move your body slightly to help you get a better shot.

In singles, when the opponent smashes towards the line, you take a step in order to hit it right? Reverse application. If the shuttle is coming towards that awkward area around your armpit, you can shift slightly to your left or right (depending on what you're more comfortable doing) and it'll make return easier.