Improving my speed on the court

**Drgn01** · 03-27-2010, 09:56 PM

Hi everyone! I'm in a bit of a problem at the moment. I play for my high school senior badminton team, and I started the season playing mixed doubles. We were really good, but the coach thought that I might be better on my own in singles.
So lately I've been trying singles, and I'm finding the transition a bit tough. I'm a quick learner, so I didn't have a problem with new things such as the new strategies, new serves/shots, ect. However, my one big problem is speed.
When I played mixed doubles, I didn't have to worry much about how fast I was because I was a good tactical player, plus I would only cover 1/2 or at max 3/4 of the court at a time, which made for much less running. But now that I'm dealing with the entire court, I find that all my footwork is rather clumsy and I'm not as fast as I have to be. As soon as my footwork starts to fall behind it's a lot harder to make the right shot I want and I end up losing the point..
So my question is, what's the best, most efficient way to increase my speed on the court? Should I keep practicing my footwork, or should I be training my legs? What excercises or drills would you recommend?
I really appreciate any help you can give in regards to my problem!

A bit more about me: I was going weight lifting regularly prior to the badminton season, and I'm not the skinniest guy you'll meet, so I'm a bit on the bulky side. My footwork is fairly good, but I get tired pretty fast so my strides/steps get shorter and I start to stumble or get clumsy. And I would say clears and smashes are my best shots, while I still have to work on doing drop shots from the rear-court.

**druss** · 03-28-2010, 02:11 AM

Doesn't sound like it's a speed issue but more of a stamina problem.

**Drgn01** · 03-28-2010, 02:51 AM

Hm, yeah I was thinking the same thing. I was beginning to cut back on weight lifting and focus predominantly on cardiovascular excercise to avoid gaining any unnecessary muscle or weight, so I should probably stick with that.

Another small question.. I don't normally do any skipping, but I've heard it helps when training for badminton. Would you suggest I add skipping into my routine?

**rryz3365** · 03-29-2010, 02:03 AM

I think skipping rope is very helpful to train up the calve muscles which increases the speed and also stamina. Skipping rope is a quite intense exercise (especially double skips) which will increase your cardiovascular performance. Although I am not a good player, I think skipping rope as improved my badminton by a lot. I am not that skinny either.