Strategies when playing new players (ie: tournament games)

you should play a withheld game, simply push the other player around the court to see there footwork shot style etc, after that if you are leading give them a couple smashes or attacking plays so you can see that, after, you play aggressively see how the defence holds, and vice versa, once you've analysed the play play how you normally play and hopefully you get the feel of things, don't be too annoyed if you lose the 1st couple of times though cause this is a long term analysis

 

This is an interesting question.

Let me ask you, did you feel like they had a "home court advantage?" For instance, did you have issues with the lighting, or was the ceiling unusually low so that shots that hit the rafters were faults, etc? If so, this gave those players a slight advantage. If not, then let's look into the second issue...

Underestimating your opponents. Think of it this way. If you look at their playing and you feel that technique-wise they are not as good as you are (for example, maybe their stroke is off, or they don't smash as hard, etc), you may put yourself at a mental disadvantage from the get go. You feel that you don't need to try your 100% in order to win, yet when you're actually playing you're surprised that they're not only getting all of your shots back, but that they're actually inflicting some pressure on you. This can cause a lot of unforced errors on your part. Tell me, is this what happened?

For tournament play, I think it is a good idea to assume that the opponent is going to give you a good match from the get go. Don't convince yourself that you can easily win, or that they will easily beat you. Here's a story..

In a recent tournament, I made it to the semi-finals of the singles draw. I never got a chance to see my opponent play or to even know who he was, but from the draw he basically ended up getting a bye and a walkover and made it into the semis just like that (it was a small draw). When our match was called, I "warmed" up with him as is customary for a singles match. He was wearing some casual cloth shoes (similar to those old-school Chinese martial arts shoes) and soccer socks, and in the warm ups he was hitting clears to about a meter behind the service line. When I tried to get any rally going, he didn't make any effort to retrieve it. A minute later, he asked me if I was warmed up. I thought to myself: "I'm not warm at all, but I can't exactly ask him to clear farther if he can't do it right?" I looked around and one of my friends was in a match, and I couldn't find anyone else who I could actually warm up with, so I figured we might as well start the match. I start the match with a high serve... BOOM! He does a huge smash right into the back corner of my court. A few points later, I find out that he's a very strong smasher with tight net play. Well this wasn't good news for me, I was making some unforced errors since I didn't have a chance to warm up and he was running away with the first set. I fought back hard but still lost the first set 21-19. I took the second set 21-16. I finally lost the third set about 21-18. In hindsight, I maybe COULD have won the first set had I been warm, and I clearly was more tired than he was in the third set because I had played two previous rounds while he did not. Yet none of that really mattered because he went to the finals and I came up short. The lesson learned is... never underestimate your opponent or let them affect your game in any way. I never thought I would ever encounter someone who would purposely sabotage my warm up, but now I know better.

I later found out from a friend that my opponent had already warmed up right before our match, so he was able to take full advantage of my slow start. Had he been a much weaker opponent, it probably wouldn't have mattered in the end, but he was actually around the same level as me which is where any advantage one has becomes very important for the outcome of the match.

 

well obviously ever under estimate, especially in tourneys, well from the sounds of things he has much more experience playin in tourneys than you, cause your meant to stay warm between matches, but im guessing he had a home court advantage plus shuttle familiarity, in most cases players tend to do that so they get any edge without cheating, i know cause i do it all the time in my singles matches XD, i still loose though cause my singles play is terrible compared to the guys i play against. in a warm up, never show all your playing abilites as it gives the opponents a chance to plan a way to beat but if you are hiing things that pre-plan will most likey fail.

what syle of play do you have by the way?
because the style yoeu us could've had a big effect on the match you played

 

There is one simple solution to this in my eyes - IMPOSE YOUR WILL. The best way to play against someone you haven't played before is simply to play your own game and not let them play their own. In some time off court take a piece of plain paper and a pen and write down what you are going to aspire to do in each game. For example - serving with good consistency and then add a quantitative value (in this case maybe a percentage) to make it measurable. As well as these you should have some targets for how you're going to play, just some basic and fairly generic tactical ideas that you will take in to every game. During the game as you begin to become more comfortable with your opponent you will be able to develop these tactics further.

If you are able to gain the upper hand in the majority of rallies then there is no way that you should lose these games (barring injury) unless your opponent is the badminton equivalent of Harry Houdini. In each point you should try to take the initiative and make your opponent play your game. When you make someone play out of their comfort zone you will find that it is much easier to draw errors and hit winners. Playing against players that are above your level makes this idea almost impossible though as it is more than likely that they will have the tools to impose their will on you. In these situations, a different outlook is required. Against someone who is clearly too strong the best method to use is simply to contain them. Hit everything flat so they have nothing to play off. Obviously, most of the time this strategy will still be unsuccessful at getting the win against better players because they are better players and will probably be able to beat you with consistency if nothing else.

Come to think of it, for a lot of people the "give them absolutely nothing" strategy could be very effective in tournament play up to the lower advanced levels. If you're quick around the court and more consistent than your peers by making them play that one more shot and preventing them from getting any rhythm or develop the rally in their favour you could really make this work as a gameplan. At higher levels, it almost certainly will prove to be ineffective though - the really strong players will have more than enough patience to eventually find an opening if you don't try to work the point in to your favour.

 

Well you never know beforehand what you meet, but you do/should know yourself, so start there!

Low-levels players have common problems, but the higher level/experience the more individual it becomes!
(For mid-level players, you might try to conclude from the type of racket/feathers they have chosen, but it is not really that reliable!)

Also for mid(to some extent high) level players, you might conclude from their bodytype with pro and cons! (For high level players, you might follow the local news, or google their club, perhaps their is an article about how this fellow succeed or lost).

For pro-level you will have videos, and so on!

It could be interesting to make a link between a players technique skills and then how to play them tactical, but it is kind of complex and comprehensive!