hi every1, i'm a girl playing mixed doubles in a comp, i usually play doubles or mixed at club sessions where i rotate front and back, and am much more comfortable at the back. however for this comp, my mixed doubles partner who is quite a lot better than me - he's B grade and I'm C, the plan is that i stay at the front. which makes sense except i'm not one of those girls who are usually at the front and really good at net and drives - in fact when we played against another couple where the girl is one of those 'net specialist', even though i can beat that girl in singles and normal doubles, we lost because she totally dominated at the net and setting up for her partner. does anyone have any suggestions on how i can approach this and become more comfortable at the front? or should we just play normal doubles style? thanks!
Mixed doubles is probably one of the hardest to coordinate, much more than doubles. The attacking formation you want is with the guy at the back, that just makes sense to have the more powerful player at the back. You even see this in mens or womens doubles where it's preferred to have the stronger smasher at the back. What you need is practice and drills at the net. The advantage is that it will also help your womens doubles game.
thanks, i guess most of my practise so far has been focused more on footwork and shots from the back. I've never paid much attention to the role of the girl just at the front - sorry if these questions have been asked before 1. are there any specific shots and placement e.g. push to middle of the two players, drive to the corners? 2. if the shuttle is quite close to the net, i usually just lift it and then split side to side - is there a different way to approach these? 3. should i try to intercept shuttles whenever i can or only the easy ones as to not confuse my partner at the back? what about the mid court shuttles, is it better to leave it? 4. any other things specific to the format of play for mixed doubles besides the girl just staying at the front
1. The strategy to fight mixed is to push to the middle of the sides because the guy is in the back and the girl is all the way in front if u push to the side/middle the guy will have to move up or the girl will move back. 2. There are many ways to approach it but the lift is the safest bet for u if ur net game isnt up to par with the girl. You may drive it back if u get to it fast enough other than that you would have to learn to cross drop. 4. Intercepting shuttles is something you would want to take with ur partner I will normally play defensively and let my girl in front attack untill she misses or doesnt reach for it then I will go for the bird. mid court shuttles I suggest you leave that to the guy to smash or if its at the sides like i said before in the 1., you should let him get it unless u can reach and drive it. 4. Advanced mixed is different you can switch back and forth for side an I formation. My partner is quite strong so I let her play back from time to time but rarely. The only time you would go side to side is when ur opponent has smashed to a far corner in the back and ur partner cannot get to the other side in time. However you need some chemistry for that to work because you might go back even though he can get it or sometimes u dont go back when he cant get it.
The problem is if ur playing a comp now, play to ur strengths in the competition so I wud tel him, let plays doubles esp if ur very weak at net. I wud definately use this tactic if you are losing a lot using mixed tactics but you will need to work on this over practice and play net al the time til you know, I GOT THIS!!
Well.. ..here are a few similar threads out of many which discuss abt the same situation you're facing. Hope they'll be of some help: http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50386 http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65830 http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58425 Btw, welcome to BCDF, scoobydoo123!
I have to disagree with ginger, learn how to play mixed properly, don't try to play doubles. The problem is that you may win a few matches this way but rarely a tournament, there are just too many XD teams out there that play extremely well. In XD if you ever get the girl to the back I will typically keep lifting to her until you get a shot that you can attack. I agree with Canti in what he says but will also add that you need to have very good situational awareness, which you should already have if you're playing competitve. So here are my comments for your questions (in addition to what Canti wrote). 1. Pushing to the mid sides of the court is the right shot 80% of the time but pratice a tight net shot as well, keeping in mind the placement of the other girl. If other girl likes to be close to the net then a push is the best shot, if they stand far back then a tight net shot is a great shot. 2. As in 1, it really depends on how good the other girl is and how high up you get to the shuttle. If you can get to it soon enough then a return net shot would be better, if it's lower than 1 foot from the top of net then clearing, then a split is the best shot. Keep in mind that you should plan the lift and split so that the opponents have to smash cross court at you. A longer smash path gives the shuttle more time to slow down and for you to react. 3. In practice, try to intercept as much as you can. As you get better and more confident you can do them in tournaments as well. Always remember to keep your racket up. 4. Like in doubles, if you know your partner is out of position then try to cover the cross court drive/offensive clear as well as you can. As for drills, get someone with 15-20 shuttles to toss them over the net while you hit them (always returning to the ready center position after each hit). Do a set only dropping, do a set pushing and do a set doing one or the other based on the height of the shuttle when you get to it. Get the person who is tossing the shuttles to vary the height, especially on the third set.
Thanks for the welcome and suggestions everyone i've been 'stalking' the forum for quite a while but haven't really posted anything. I guess I can't do much for the comp now, just have to try my best not to get smacked in the face hehe. Mixed doubles is quite a different game, i think i've been trying to play too much like a guy! I need to try and work on my net skills and finesse, thanks for the drill suggestions, i'll try them out soon!
If anything, here are a few tips I got from various players that gave me a lot of help. Racket up whenever you are in front; Stay about 1 foot behind the short service line and on the same side as your attacking partner; Move along with your partner's shot. If he smashes, hold your ground. If he drops, move forward a little to cover the possible netshot. Dun have to go for the perfect drop shot. A fast slice is much more effective; Lift only as a last resort; and finally Racket up!!
I agree that mixed doubles is quite hard to coordinate but in doubles (singles as well), net play is vital. Nowadays, its hard to just smash your way to victory so the net player needs to play a massive role. Especially in mixed, since the girl is usually at the front, this is even more important. I would say, just keep working on the net play and take note on what others have said in the above posts.
my best advice is to watch the gameplay and style of professional mixed doubles. you'll get a good understanding of what to do and expect. edit - youtube is a good source for this)
the best thing in mixed double is for the girl to have almost equal ability in drive, smash, defence, etc Otherwise it would sour on your male partner the opponent will target the female like literally piling and spamming her if she is weak.
"almost equal"... what does this mean? I have yet to meet any girl, and that includes some national college champions, that smash as hard as I do. Defence sure, drives maybe, smashes no.... And if you understand XD at all you'll know the girl gets picked on 99% of the time when you can do it.
Just have to play more to get used to it. If the system doesn't work, then you'll see something different in the international scenes...
I know the girl gets picked on 99.99% of the time? That's why i'm saying if the girl is almost equal in defence drive then the opponent will have to target the one off-guard instead of the weaker player. Girl don't need to smash like males but taking male's smash is a must
XD sucks! or maybe it's just me well the comp is over and i SUCKED at XD! hard to get muscle memory by reading although i tried my best hehe. I felt completely useless at the net and wasn't able to get any good shots in... couldn't intercept any cross courts either. it was weird.. altho in theory my partner and i individually were better than the guy and girl opponents respectfully (at singles).. we still got thrashed thanks to me :crying: btw r there any girls out there who like playing mixed and playing at the net? can someone explain to me the fun in that? i'm still grouching after today's experience and how much i suck thanks again everyone for the replies!
Lol staying at net is fun especially waiting for the halfcourts or instant-kill shot. Maybe you don't know if your partner in mix is weak then it is advised for her to stay in front if not then the 2 of you will move according to how the rally develops. Lots of people misunderstand that girls have to stay at the front because guy's smash are stronger but instead you change positions from front to back accordingly depending on the situation.
Spot on mate.... Usually I will encourage the female to take the front when attacking and take half the court when defending. Actually I don't mind playing the front if my partner can cover the back... Usually this keeps the opponent under pressure
