I'm a rather "decent" doubles player; maybe average compared to everyone here. I can definently do some work on my footwork and my backhand. Well, my footwork is lacking b/c I'm lazy (lol) and so I tend not to recover after I smash. My backhand sucks (I'm right handed) b/c say if I'm in the right back court corner and I do a drop shot, and the opponent pushes it to my backhand which is the left back corner, whether I try to clear or drop it again it's going to be a weak reply. I know it's an area I should work on, but, on numerous occasions two different people have come up to me to "offer" me advices that're kinda contradicting to each other. Now I "know" how to do a backhand, at least technically in my head, lol. I just don't have the time/effort to go out and practice it. I'm rather just a recreational player. Maybe they've played more games and are more intense than I am, but it's kinda annoying to get tips from players that aren't that good themselves... anyways this is just a little rant from me... if you're going to offer advices, make sure it's for the right people and you're actually giving the right advice.
easy solution is to try out each of the suggestions or advice they give and see what happens...what works for them may not necessarily work for you (whether their advice is correct or not)
I never offer advice unless they ask me and I tend to take advice with a grain of salt unless I know the person well enough to trust their advice. Although, I don't really have people offering me advice. I did have someone tell me that I'm really slow with my footwork. This is very true, but I'm pretty lazy too and very much out of shape since I only play badminton once every 2 months now.
It happens all the time, golf is actually even worse with people offering advise considering the average golfer cheats at least 3-4 strokes a round and 70% still can't break 100. With that said, if they aren't willing to take the time to work with you then ignore them. If someone really wants to help then they'll go out on the court with you and feed your backhand and give tips on the small things in order to improve it.
I actually get a lot of suggestions from older players who may not be that good but have the experience. I just think that it may or may not work but for its never harm to try different things sometime.
What really irritates me is when I see stronger players telling weaker players to change something about their game -- when the weaker player is actually doing the right thing already. I generally feel an obligation to step in and say, "no, that's a load of rubbish". Quite often the stronger player's idea of "play correctly" is "play the same way I do".
I feel your pain. We have one older guy which constantly tries to tell everyone how to play. I think he's quite aware that his best times are gone (he has severe back pain and his own play is very limited due to this), and he does it simply because it's another way to get involved in the sport. This seems pretty standard to me - the best coaches are those that wanted to play themselves but for whatever reason just didn't make it (due to age, injury, the wrong genes, or whatever). What makes this guy obnoxious is that he usually tells you what you are doing wrong, but not how to do it right. He tells you what to improve, but not *now* to improve it. Which is awful - most of the guys around here know perfectly well what they are doing wrong; they just don't know how to change, or do not invest time into practice (instead of just gaming).
lol, I'm glad I'm not the only one here. One of the guy that talked to me actually said his way is technically not the "official" way to play backhand but he finds it better.
I usually just smile and listen to the advice, and wonder whether it is actually a hidden weakness in THEIR game. someone so passionate as to tell YOU what to do seems to me to be paying too much attention to either you, or the technique they are suggesting. That said, usually I'm just too arrogant and cocky to take advice from just anyone, I just don't show it in my replies. I think it helps to understand WHY they are offering you advice (being nice, wanting to win, wanting to assert that they are better than you, etc etc), and then either incorporating their advice, or discarding it. It is, in fact, empowering that they are giving you information (correct or incorrect) in that you can make the decision to discard it. The only person I listen to for advice on my game is my coach, so find someone you trust in terms of their judgement, and listen to them only. Even then, there are other coaches out there with good advice, so don't let yourself be narrowed in. Hmm... sounds like I'm offering advice now... better shut up.
Differences in the stroke productions; between the dropshot and the slow smash . If a coach cannot explain why a certain stroke stroke is better than another, and the shot from the stroke production is not effective, then perhaps that certain stroke production is not worth learning. At my coaching session just yesterday, my trainees were found unable to do the correct dropshot stroke production. They were in fact doing the Slow (or the slowest) Smash stroke production. Yes, the shuttlecock would land in the fore-court (between the net and the Service line), but nearer to the Service line. A dropshot stroke production will also get the shuttlecock landing in the fore-court, but this time nearer to the net. Perhaps one day, I will start a new thread - The differences in the stroke productions; between the dropshot and the slow smash. .
to all my past partners, i appreciate stronger player who gives tips and advices during the game.. but if a weaker player teaches me what to do inside the court, i just show him the advantage of playing fast inside the court, badminton 101. fast game, fast shuttle, improved game...
Capnx, did you actually had a question or want to know that you are not the only one feeling like this? First, Badminton have chanced the past decades and therefore old players learnt other techniques. Secondly there is not Always only just One correct solution, sometimes there can be several handy options for an issue. Third, of course communication and memory is always a problem. If like 50 badmintontrainers go to a course and one teacher explain them how to do, the trainers will go back to their club all with different perceptions, understanding and modifications. Researchers did a test on common people watching theatre. A year after they asked the same people what the act was all about and the funny thing is that in many cases, what they said happened within the act, was pure nonsense, even thought they themselves was absolutely sure that their memory was correct. Kind of scary, but our memory change all the time...
