Hello, I play social (non-competitive) badminton twice a week, with each session being 2 hours. In one of the groups that I play with, there is one player who is ALOT better than everyone else. His smashes go at crazy speeds and likes to play aggressively by pushing/driving/drop the shuttle consistently until you have no choice but to clear/lift it. As soon as he gets a high ball he will jump smash it, which I cannot defend against since they go twice the speed of my smashes. In attempt to not give him a high ball, I would play a drop shot, but since he can get to the net quick, he will just push it right back at me, giving me no time to do anything but clear it. He would then finish me off with a huge smash. If i drive it, he does a huge swing and makes that smashing *bang* sound, and drives it back to me twice as fast as my original drive - which i cannot hit either. I am an aggressive player myself, and when I play people worse than me I can do what he does to me to them. But since he more aggressive than me by hitting and smashes harder than I do, I can't really do much to him. In summary, this player can easily outplay me playing extremely aggressive forcing me to give him a high ball and resulting in a smash which i can't defend against. Is there any way I can play against him without letting him out play me so much? (defensively? but in what ways) By the way; i forgot to mention this is doubles.
Go for the weaker player. If this was me and this was a proper match, I would keep it away from him in which case he will get frustrated and annoyed and start making mistakes but because its just playing socially, you wouldnt want to use that tactic all the time. But try it a game or 2.
practice your drives/flat pushes/net play. That's the only way to avoid letting him gain the attack easily...
Definitely look to play shots to his partner. He can't be in all places at once. He must either take on the back attacking role (smashes, drops), or the front attacking role (kills, net play, intercept). For the attack to be effective, his partner must cover the other part of the court. So let's say you play to the net, and he rushes forwards and counters with a net shot. He must now stay forwards to cover the net. Otherwise, you just play another net shot, and they will be forced to lift it. So if you lift it, his partner will have to take the shot. And if his partner's smash is less strong, you can counter-attack at this point. I'd also recommend thinking about your "placement" shots. Look for the gaps that he leaves on court, and try to place the shuttle into these spaces. You don't always have to hit hard, especially against a player who likes that kind of game.
Personally, I'm one of the best, if not the best, players in both clubs I play at and to be honest, I don't play my hardest because it just isn't fun that way. I'll play drop shots more often than smashes in most of my games just to increase the length of the rallys. As to what to do, play to his partner.
When they are in the formation of front and back, and he is at the back and his weaker partner is at the net what shots could I play to the weaker partner? Since dropping it would be an instant net kill... Thanks for all the replys I'll definitely hit it to the weaker partner when they play side by side formation.
No one has mentioned this yet, but how is your anticipation and footwork? If you are late getting to his shots you are left with fewer options for good returns. This was certainly my problem in my social club a year ago. Once I started getting to the birds a little sooner, life became a whole lot easier against my Nemesis. Best of luck.
The best way will be to play aggressive drives to his partner. If he does push the shuttle to you then clear it high upwards to the dead centre back court or towards his partner's direction. There is a limit to where he can move around the court (unless that he actually shoves his partner around with his non racquet hand in order to get more coverage space to move to the shuttle ).
Also, I would work on my defence. Although his smashes may be much faster, you can still defend against it and move him around at the back of the court. But it may take some time to get used to the speed in order for you to better defend against his smashes and drives. Other than that, do what the rest of us haver suggested, such as aiming towards his partner and trying to get him to cover the net instead.
I have trouble with this too, its almost impossible to win unless your partner is just as aggressive as you are at playing to his partner. I think one of the keys is forcing him to play the net and his partner to play rear. Flick serve his partner, and either play net return or lift to his partner when he is serving. The problem is when they play mixed style, and his partner is either shorter than the net or has good reflexes, and just runs to the net after every shot. There he can spinning netshot, drive or netkill your drops and even block your smashes by just sticking his racket over the net. So drop and smash don't work, and clears are suicide. If someone can solve this puzzle let me know.
Not all puzzles can be solved. There's an extent any strategy could help. If one of your opponents is truely awesome, there's not much you can do but to lose. However, I suppose there's a difference between losing big time vs. marginally. Under such a pre-text, if you can bring your opponent's success percentage closer to that of the weaker opponent, I'd think you may consider yourself having done a very good job.
1. you get better 2. Study your own lifts to the back of the court - can you confidently say he has to stand at the back two lines when he smashes? Making him smash from an extra 2 feet back in the court can give you a little extra time. 3. Lift to him very high and cross court and make sure it goes to the back of the court a) it makes a jump smash harder to play b) the shuttle will go more to your partner so you if you lose the point, blame it on your partner!
No, you won't be able to just flip a switch and beat him - you'll have to slowly become better. What the others here said, works, of course - try to target his partner, and instead of trying to get them with killer shots, try to make them run a lot more. You could also simply avoid playing him all to often. As you're in a social setting, there's no reason to get yourself vastly outplayed all the time. Obviously you're not having much fun there, and the point of social play is fun, I guess. There will always be people playing vastly better than you, so it's not shameful or whatever to admit that it simply does not make sense to play him (he obviously gets his fun from his very aggressive play - so let him get his fun from someone else who is up to his level).
Why dont you smash directly at the player, he will squirm and struggle to hit it if that doesnt work i vote you train
For me I know I wouldnt be able to beat him since the difference in level is so great. Hence I would just try to improve myself =)
Sounds like the guy is a complete arsehole. Wait, it's not me is it? It's not really feasible if he's that good that you're going to win, unless you find a playing partner that's just as good, then it's GAME ON! You need to work the angles and create holes in the defense, work the front of the court and the weaker player. It can be really frustrating I understand, but to be honest I don't know why players that are that good bother going to social hits, especially if they're way above everyone else. It makes things pretty sh!t and they aren't winning any friends and nobody is impressed. The best social hits are when there is someone there organising things so as to keep the games even and interesting.
I kinda agree with Crimz, one side i love social games to have lots of fun, but to improve your game you really need to play and learn from stronger opponents
first know your own weaknesses, which it seems you do, and then learn from him. find what is strong in his game, and try to incorporate it into your own. In the social setting, that's probably the best outcome - i.e. your game improves. Playing with stronger players is a good experience, and chance to improve technique, whether it be footwork or pace etc. In doubles, and in particular for return of a big smash, it is important to "borrow the strength" from his smash, and block return. This reduces your error rate, and reduces the efficacy of his smash. Your defense needs to be good, standing at the appropriate distance from the net etc. I eventually found that the harder someone smashed, the easier it was to return it (so long as your reflexes are quick enough to put racquet to shuttle). The slower or more varied the smash, the harder it is to predict how to defend against it. The other issue would be to trust your partner, as he/she is 50% of your team. I would agree with picking on the weaker player, but I guess since the "spirit" of social games has been raised, it would not be in good sportsmanship to blatantly pick on the weaker partner (whoever that may be in any given match). In competition, sure, because it is all about winning, and you do what you can to win. But i'm sure that in a social game, the "weaker" player would not appreciate being singled out and "picked on". My advice would be to keep playing against him, to figure out his smash and how best to defend it (there's always a way!). Doubles is alot about aggression, but also about being able to defend when necessary, so it is a great opportunity for you to practise your defensive game. At least in future if you come up against someone similar who can jump smash something crazy, you'll be able to deal with it appropriately. Main thing is not to be afraid of strong smashes, they are easier to defend than well placed and well paced smashes. Good luck and I'm sure with time you will be able to have a good game with him, if not beat him. =)
I find it exciting to play with stronger (and friendly) opponents. I'd keep on playing with them and set them as a milestone. If I can surpass them, I have made some achievement.
