Need Help Training for Tournament in 2 Weeks (Video Attached)

You might want to vary your stroke a bit. Drop shot, high clear to each corner and net shot. In single match, unless you totally overpower your opponent, smashing is not really the winning formula.

 

You ask a loaded question. Loaded in the sense that there is a lot you can do to improve your game but 2 weeks is insufficient time to correct them all. Therefore, I recommend that you focus on your footwork and positioning which will help you stay balanced and retrieve shuttles easier. Getting to the first shuttle is only part of the equation. You must get there on-balanced so that you can recover and be ready for the next shot. Currently, your game is based solely on smashing and hoping for a weak return for you to pounce on. When that does not happen, you are not balanced and ready to move for the next shot.

Two examples of how this is affecting you. The first is defensive at 2:10 of the video. You start the rally too far left most likely to favor a weak backhand but this causes you to scramble and rush to your right where you attempt a shot when very off-balanced. Standing more centered would have been more beneficial in this shot. Also, practice chasse to the side to maintain balance instead of madly rushing to the side. Even if you had made the shot, you were so off-balanced afterwards that you would be hard-pressed to retrieve any shuttles returned to your left.

Second, at 2:40 you attempt to hit multiple smashes consecutively. You hit the first smash and immediately rush forward before your opponent even returned the shuttle. This causes you to be far too forward to smash subsequent returns. Notice how you are not landing with your right foot forward on subsequent smashes? This is because you are off-balance making it difficult for you to move back the necessary half-step to keep the shuttle in front of you resulting in weak smashes and ultimately a loss in point. After the first smash, you need to recover your balance and then move to intercept the next shot.

There are additional things but focus on balance and recovery for now. There should be a lot of videos on youtube, etc which can demonstrate correct footwork technique if you cannot locate professional coaching.

Your determination is evident in your video. I wish you success in your tournament.

 

Woah, you smash a lot @-@. Well In my eyes i think you smash way too much, but you probably know that. You should keep this in mind, I think the best time to smash is when the opponent gives you a half court clear. That's my opinion and you know those shots that you're smashing all the way in the back? you could of cleared those or dropped them. Remember singles is like an endurance game it's not like doubles where you're trying to kill constantly. You need footwork and placement. Because if i was running like you did in that match i dont think i would have the energy to continue on to the 2nd match if i won. You should practice the six shadow points. And time yourself it's a good way to get faster and build endurance. And your question about where to go after defensive shots. It really depends on the situation but basically i think you should stay in the middle for most things but if u push you could walk up a bit because if it's a good push he would return with a half assed shot iono im' sorry i dont know how to give advice LOl

 

If you hit a mid-court smash, you are already in good position to retrieve a return without rushing forward immediately. To do so would make you vulnerable to a strong defender that can lift the shuttle up over your head and into the backcourt. If it is a weak return, you will have plenty of time to rush forward to tap a winner.

For backcourt smashes, you can move forward after the smash but not rush forward or again you will be susceptible to strong defenders that can flick a return quickly behind you. Rushing forward immediately would put you off-balance to move backwards quickly if it is flicked backwards over your head quickly.

Here's a video to highlight some footwork drills. There many other videos available that can explain better visually different scenarios that you may have.

 

You've done really well to reach that standard of play, considering you've had no formal coaching.

Realistically, you are not going to improve your technique in two weeks.

You might be able to improve your tactics to some extent, but even this takes time. I can only judge from what I've seen, but you appear to be playing far too aggressively and getting yourself into all sorts of trouble.

Remember that singles tactics are different from doubles tactics. You need to be much more patient in singles; it's easy to lose by smashing at the wrong time. Even in doubles, you need to temper your aggression to match your actual attacking ability, and the defensive abilities of your opponents.

Although it's good to attack in doubles, it's important to recognise when your attack is failing. I could imagine you getting stuck in a situation where the opponents are easily lifting your smashes, and you just exhaust yourself against a defensive wall. In this situation, it would be better to change your tactics.

From watching your hitting style, I suspect your smashes are not very accurate. Try to focus on accuracy rather than power: in doubles, your standard target would be around the racket-side hip of the straight defender.

Those are some suggestions for how you could change your tactics, based around adjusting your mentality to be less all-out aggressive and more methodical.

Being realistic, however, you will probably find that even these ideas are difficult to implement on such as short time scale. The best advice I can give you is to enjoy the tournament, and use your tournament performance to help guide your future training.

 

next time please record it in a way where you can see the whole court and therefore the trajectory of your shots

(do it the way you see in tournaments)

the angle that was chosen gives the least information of your play, i can't see how your shots are landing and have no idea of what your opp is doing

that said your footwork seems to be the weakest link

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but your backhand serves are illegal. You're double pumping all your backhand serves.

 

In two weeks, as Gollum posted, you can't dramatically overhaul your game. The best thing to do is just practice as you are and focus on the mental side of badminton. Perhaps after this tournament you can start messing around with (and hopefully improving) your game.

It has to be said that you remind me of me a while ago when I wasn't as strong tactically as I am now. Like you, I used to use the smash as my primary overhead shot but the fact of the matter is, unless you can hit like Fu Haifeng it probably shouldn't be. Most people have no business trying to smash a good high serve. Perhaps if you're built like a tree, let's say 6' plus then maybe you can generate a decent angle but most people cannot. Even at the higher end of intermediate badminton you cannot hit the floor with a smash on power alone; you need a good angle and direction as well. Better players will simply block your smash to the net and make you run or hit a drive smash return back behind you.

If you get the chance to, try to play out a whole singles game before the tournament where you completely refrain from using the smash. It should make you a more complete player because you will have to use other shots effectively in both attacking and defensive situations if you are still to win. Once again, a badminton player who is a good thinker and has a varied repertoire of shots can still win a game of singles without using their smash. My club had a two day "summer camp" kind of thing yesterday and the day before and yesterday we played a singles tournament. Being as everyone there played at the same club we had all played each other before. People knew that my attacking play would generally be too strong if they gave the attack to me easily. Knowing this, they tried their absolute best to keep the shuttle out of any easily attackable positions. Certainly after the group stages, the quaterfinal, semifinal and final that I played were all very technical matches dominated much more by skill and control than who could hit a shuttle the hardest. My round-the-head drop shot literally kept me in this tournament, regularly getting me out of increasingly desperate situations.

Anyway, long story short, I won the singles tournament despite not being allowed to play my normal game. As well as an "A plan" - for you, all out attack at the moment (for me a more all-round game but still focussed on attacking) you need a B and a C plan. These are for when your normal game isn't working or you're simply not being allowed to play the way you want to. These should be less focussed on attacking with smashes and instead you should try to construct points more with better tactical play. Having numerous backup plans is especially important for someone like you who bases their attack solely around the smash. Whilst someone who has a massive smash can be devastating to play when they play well and get the chance to give you their worst but equally they can be very easy to play when they simply fall apart.

As has already been pointed out, the point that ended at 2:51 was a tactical nightmare. Your attack got weaker and weaker yet you persisted to smash. Roughly halfway through that point would have been a good time to realise "this isn't working" and then cut your losses with a flatter attacking clear to your opponent's backhand.

I would imagine that you're not a vastly experienced tournament player, hence this thread. I might be wrong but if I'm not the following paragraph could be incredibly important; much more important than any improvement in your strokes you could make in two weeks. You have to relax and forget where you are. Don't get caught up in the whole tournament thing, just go out there and play each match, each point as it comes. It's difficult but if you can just switch off you will find that you are much more successful in tournaments than if you're constantly overthinking and "doing the maths". Your best success may also come with a more consistent playing style as it will suffer less if you do get nervous and tighten up, perhaps you should consider that until you're more experienced in tournament play?

Watch videos of Cai/Fu playing level doubles and how they take the attack and how one of them always gets up to the net when attacking to pick off any weak replies. Try watching some women's singles for singles ideas - the men are too far above most people's levels to really gain anything from them.

Anyway, I think that's enough - this post is becoming more and more like an essay so hope I've helped.

 

you do realize that the first post in this thread was four weeks ago, therefore the tournament finished two weeks ago. Which is a shame as Danstevens has written quite alot of advice there which is very useful.

 

it would help for his next tournement,

I think you overplayed the smash ,sometimes a good clear is more effective than a smash especially if you near the baseline. Think tactically use the four corners of the court to make your opponent move around before killing your opponent with a smash.