Hi I am playing a tournament tomorrow, only singles. I was wondering, is it possible, to try and keep the shuttle, out of my opponents rear court area ? I was hoping that I would be able to just play drop shots, and smashed from the back of the court, and play net shots in the forecourt, and only lift if I really have to. Is this possible, I want to keep everything as flat as possible, to therefore not to allow my opponent to attack. This should give me the upperhand ? Yes ?
Not a good idea, you're opponent won't have to cover the back then and will just stay forward when you are pressured and move to mid court if they are pressured! Try to move them around a bit. I was told the key to a good singles player is being able to use clears effectively. Also if they are to committed to the front a lift can then put you in place for an attack. Just watch how the pro's play and mix things up. Even Lin Dan doesn't avoid clears and he's the only person I can think of who could attempt it with his fast aggressive game.
What I mean was, that I didn't plan to clear, unless I was at under a lot of pressure, I also do plan to lift, but try and keep it as flat as possible, to give my opponents less time.
If you have to clear, pick the rear corners ... not the middle. As much as possible, move your opponent to all four corners of the court.
But won't that give my opponents, time, and a chance to create a decent angle ? What about lifting to the middle, will that work /help me at all ?
If you lift/clear to the middle and your lift is not efficient and falling perpendicularly down to the back baseline, your are giving the opponent a good opportunity to smash wherever he wants: to your body, or to either side of you. This means you now have more points to protect. OTOH, if you lift efficiently to one corner, you can position yourself to recover a smash down the line, and also create the extra time to react for the crosscourt smash. Lift or clear to the centre of baseline is good if your opponent is off position and has to scramble back to retrieve. my 2 cents...
We should train to give ourselves as many options as possible from any position on the court. A cross, a straight, a flat drive, a push, a drop, a smash, a half smash, a sliced drop, an attacking clear, a defensive clear and many more weird and wonderful shots (thru the legs? ) All so that in the course of a rally, you're able to return any shot more than one way. This keeps the opponent guessing and they can only react after you've finished your stroke. You propose to give away more than half of your options before you even walk on to the court. Does not sound like a winning strategy in my opinion.
Hye LD, From your post, the singles tournament will be tomorrow, 20th Sept isn't it. Wish you good luck. My strategy advice before you meet your opponent tomorrow, that might give you the upper hand are: 1. Make sure you dictate the paste of the game and try to avoid him to use any of his own strength shots against you. 2. While playing, analyze him and play your shots to take advantages of his style of play. How to do this, then this are the tactics that you need to do: - Make him move : Do all the strokes that can make him move to all of the 4 corners in his court. Therefore, you still need to do a lift to your opponent corner's rear court if he is positioned in the front court as part of the tactics. By doing this, you will dictate the game as you want and also will allow you to create the window of opportunity to make a winning shot later. - Attack only when you noticed not because you want: You can smash from the rear court and then momentum yourself to the front court to do a net play (if your opponent manage to return your smash ) to maintain an offensive and flat type of game in order to pressure your opponent....but then will it be a winning tactic?, and also at the end, you will end up physically lethargic on the lung run. Not like in doubles where the attacking side will yield more chances of success comparing those into defensive, but in singles, it is not just about attacking, but when to notice the best opportunity to do a winning shots when it comes, be it a powerful attack such as smash, or a drop shot or just a simple net play. In singles, only attack when you noticed the window to do it so that it will be a winning attack, attacks that can give you point. That's why you need to make him moves, allowing you to create the window of opportunity to make a winning shot, - Anaylse what is his weakness: Use his weakness as your strength. Test his backhand and at the same time, cover your backhand with an around the head shots regularly. - Take away his strength: Avoid if possible giving shots that is a strength or a winning shots to him. If he's sharp and fast at the front court, then avoid playing net with him regularly. Good luck
so how did your tournament go? did your strategy work? in singles the two most important factors are court balance and physical stamina (of course technique and power are also important). as a single's player, your have to cover the entire court yourself, and so does your opponent. if you are only maximizing the front of the court by dropping and smashing, then you have effectively shrunk the covering area of your opponent. also, usually the side that is attacking needs to spend more energy than the side that is defending, because the shuttle is going to the front or sides of the defending player, so moving forward is easier if given enough time; on the other hand, the attacking side must recover fast (say from a smash or drop) if the defending side makes a good counter attack by netting the shot or a deep clear shot. that's why the control of both front of the court and rear of the court are equally important, so you can have good court balance to recover your shots and control your opponent's movements and the effectiveness of his shots. of course the above depends on your opponent's level and type of play. if it's weaker player with poor defense you can easily attack and win points, but if it's someone who's balanced player and can return some of your smashes, then keep smashing or dropping might produce equal amounts of winners as errors, so no clear advantage for you there.
I wish I had read this yesterday! If anyone ever says playing to the middle is easier for your opponent, I would questions their judgement. Lifting to the middle means your opponents biggest weapon: his straight smash, is completely ineffective, because it will go straight to you. It also completely removes his ability to hit a tight cross court angle. What you are effectively doing, is ensuring he cant hit the shuttle FAST in front of the service line. A fast cross court drop could land before the service line, whereas a non cross court shot is going to have real difficulty landing from your opponents rearcourt to your forecourt. What you are effectively doing is saying to your opponent: i don't mind you getting there easily, but you will never hit a winner from there! This will truly frustrate your opponent unless he is exceptionally good that he can manage to get the shuttle past you with a very fast drop shot/smash - but remember it WILL land midcourt or rearcourt, he CAN'T get it to the forecourt! I dont quite understand the comment by cobalt... he seems to be saying a bad lift in the middle is not as good as a good lift down the side? But surely a good lift down the middle is just as good as a good lift down the side? It means you do not have to position yourself to receive the straight shot, because the centre of the court is the correct place, and it means there is NO cross court shot to worry about... A lift to the side still gives you the problem of having to protect both sides and your body, but one of the sides and the body are threatened by a full power smash. I don't really understand the logic of his comment... When you don't want to lift the shuttle, you must unfortunately remember this is singles. So... like you say low flat lifts are good/ maybe even drives? A good drive from the net will create a lot of space in the opposite side of your opponents court, and you may be able to get the shuttle past them so they take it from behind them! Punchy/attacking clears are exceptionally useful - maximum movement difficulty for your opponent, and yet not giving him time to attack properly - unless he is very very quick of course (but if thats the case, you are better off moving him around, than trying to keep him in the front and midcourt :s ) I am sorry I couldn't respond in time for your tournament, but maybe this will clear up any misunderstandings about hitting to the middle at least. Personally, I don't like tight net shots in singles - they give your opponent the opportunity to take the shuttle early and close to the net. However, pushing the shuttle a bit deeper (onto the service line) will be a bit faster - so still difficult for your opponent to get to, but will be very difficult for your opponent to do anything other than play a similar shot back at you, or lift... a net shot from so far away fro the net is risky for him, and he certainly can't attack from there. Finally, even when you get the chance to hit a smash winner, maybe worth using a punch clear instead 1/10 times, because this will give your opponent a headache! He will have no idea where you are going to play your shot! Maybe someone will find what I had to say helpful. Maybe not... I would like to hear what people say regarding my tactics...
Hitting to the corners places more movement pressure on your opponent. If you want to win rallies against strong players, you will need to use the corners. Hitting to the middle is primarily a defensive resource. It cuts down on the angles your opponent can play. High lifts and clears, and the high serve, are generally best played to the middle. Flat lifts and clears, and the flick serve, are generally best played to the corners. For more details, see the following pages from my guide to badminton singles tactics: Hitting to the corners Hitting to the middle
Thanks for this advice, it will help for my tournaments coming up, I have one pretty much every two weeks, up until mid December, so all the advice is welcome, I did ok at the tournament, it could have went better, but yet again could have been worse.
I wish I could play so regularly! let me know if any of these tactics work for your. My goal in singles: keep them away from the net - this should frustrate them and allow me to dominate without fear of my opponent winning a net battle. Of course it means I can't use the net either - unless he hits it close to the net... then i can play a lovely array of low lifts/ flat drives using a deceptive Hold and Flick. Needless to say after I have hit a few of these shots, he doesn't like playing me at the net anymore! The only way he can win is if his smash is too powerful for my defenses (AND he moves fast): but if thats the case, he will beat me no matter what anyway! Good luck and happy badmintoning!
In singles the clear is an attack too, the opponent has to move back as well unlike doubles where they are already there to smash it down. Do a punch (a flat clear) instead for more attack but becareful of faster returns. Always move ur opponent around the 4 corners.
@ LD rules! That would be about the worst thing you could do Hehe.. i find that shooting to the rearcourt a lot more makes my opponent: a) Be out of position b) Tired c) Make bad returns Though i must add, my opponents level of play are most of the time from beginner to the edge of intermediate. Nevertheless, jerking the player around the whole court is ALWAYS a good thing, in this way your opponent will have a hard time anticipating where the next shot will be
