Here's something I learnt over the last few weeks. I was told that the quality of my lifts and clears were not good enough. (hey, that's why I feel uncomfortable with my reactions and positioning. Just not enough time to recover). So many times, I would feel rushed. So my first step was to concentrate on playing these shots better. Next thing, I learn is the slow hand, fast hand sequence. What's that It's something to do with pace and rhythm of the game. If you play a game using the same shots and speed of hand, often there is a constant rhythm to the game. However, in order to disturb the opponents rhythm, I was told to do normal preparation, and then do a fast swing using mainly hand, finger movement. I was trying both of these out last night. One opponent commented the game against me was so much harder than before. Much less predictable game. From my perspective, I played fewer downward shots (my strong point) but still felt in control of many of the rallies. I feel this is another step up in my understanding of the tactics of badminton.
Maybe this relates to point 5 from the following thread. http://www.badmintonforum.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7 But consider the very last sentence......................
Cheung, you make interesting points. In singles I believe it is crucial to control the pace of the rally. Once a rally is underway in singles the players should try to maintain the rally whilst playing efficiently. Taking the shuttle early but at the same time always reaching an appropriate base to cover the possible replies. If a player is presented with the chance to win the rally they may then speed up their play, even risk commiting to killing the shuttle. Conversley the other player who has presented the opportunity will look to slow the rally down and reach a neutral situation again, by blocking into space or lifting defensively. If however in a rally one player simply decides to "get out " of the rally by trying to force the game I would agree they are more likely to lose the point. The basis of this kind of point is usually when the fitness (mental or physical) of that player cracks. A classic example of this is the player who, after a hard rally, starts trying to play a jump smash off of the high serve even though they have no real expectation of hitting a winner, just because they feel the need to play shorter rallies. Of course players have different styles and favour different rhythms of play. It is important to be able to play at different paces. The classic matches often occur when there is such a clash of styles. For instance Hoyer against Dong Jiong or Arbi , Sun Jun vs Gade, Frost vs YY. Sometimes it is better to stop your opponent playing well / hitting winners rather than trying to "play well" yourself.
I think that is why it is very important to have the same swing movement every time you play a shot. The ideal play would be that your opponent cannot tell whether you will drop or clear or smash unless the shuttle leaves the racquet because your movements for all three types of shots are identical. A lot of time you can fool your opponents with fake or extra movement, and change the pace of the game that way. Ben
I remember one time someone told me that when you extend your arm forward for a shot, always go with the shoulder and upper arm first, then last minute decide which directions and the power you want to put into the shot with the forearm, wrist, hand, and fingers accordingly. This is very deceptive because the movement looks like you will be taking a full swing to clear everytime.
changing speed of play is a very effective weapon, in both singles and doubles - sometimes you can find yourself drawn into the opponents game especially if they are big hitters - it pays to use slow shots and deception here - i have been 10-0 down in a game and changed style to dramatic effect.
Having your arm swing go in one direction and using the wrist to send the bird in another direction can be very effective. So is hitting overhead drops with a quick wrist action.
I think Sun Jun is a master of the devious shots described by Cheung, the olympics Quarters when he played Hendrawan is a good eg,every shot was calculated in terms of speed and trajectory. Pity on that day Sun Jun ran out of steam and had to deal with someone as cunning and tactical as himself.