Do playing with more advanced players help you?

Discussion in 'Techniques / Training' started by lymburn, Jun 8, 2011.

  1. lymburn

    lymburn Regular Member

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    When I started badminton, I signed up for intermediate but I wasn't as good but now I am. But if I had started at beginners, would I be as good as I am now. And another question. I sometimes play against advanced players and I wonder if this helps my play?
     
  2. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    You betcha!
    As long as you're persistent, open minded, hungry to learn, and don't mind losing most of the time.

    And similarly, playing with/against lower level players will tend to stagnate your skill level.
     
  3. manutd92

    manutd92 Regular Member

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    definitely.u can learn so much from them.u can improve ur game.

    :D
     
  4. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    yes to a certain extend. make sure you play people who are not overlay better though. i think if we play against international players we will probably end up just picking up shuttle and jaws instead of learning anything substantial.
     
  5. LightSaber

    LightSaber Regular Member

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    indeed... play with better skills opponent will improve our skills. they will push us to do our best shot in order to win a point, and push us to attack at a difficult position as their shot not always an easy one to intercept.

    and i think, if you always play with lower-skilled player, it will be very hard for you to improve your skills. lower skilled player will usually make a lot of easy shot, give us much more angle to attack, and do more unforced error by themselves, which give us free points.

    my opinion of course...
     
  6. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    although, a word of caution: sometimes, certain advanced players don't like to play with/against much weaker players for exactly the same reason that their level will be dragged down to your level

    and also some advanced players can be conceited and act full of themselves when you play with/against them, so that won't be much fun
     
  7. LightSaber

    LightSaber Regular Member

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    me myself if got a chance to play with skilled player, I like to attack the better skilled one(in doubles).

    Some people love to attack the weaker opponent in double. I dont like to do that unless in tournament where winning the game is the main target.
     
  8. urameatball

    urameatball Regular Member

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    I learn best when they're marginally better (or same level but completely different style).
    rallies are longer, both teams push harder knowing either can win, and strategies make a difference between winning and losing.
     
  9. SleepyEyedBoyZ

    SleepyEyedBoyZ Regular Member

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    Yeah, they won't take the game seriously with you. It kinda feels like an insult..

    I second your thoughts. This way, both sides will be improving themselves.
     
  10. LightSaber

    LightSaber Regular Member

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    also.. i notice that, it is good to always meet new opponent. because if we just stick to play within our group, the same opponent every session, we will always facing the same attacking style.

    try to challenge strangers that you feel quite skill-full. hehe...
     
  11. MSeeley

    MSeeley Regular Member

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    Playing against people who are either more skilled than you, or more experienced than you, can be really beneficial. The first tends to help hone your skills, the second helps to develop your tactical awareness. Its definitely worth while.

    From my point of view, I like to play against someone every now and then that is a top county (or national) player, someone who represents the next standard up. This is the time to observe, learn, and consider where to go next with your game. I like to get absolutely thrashed every now and then by someone who is considerably better than me, so that I begin to understand where weaknesses in my game are. This is where you begin to develop the "big picture" of your game, whilst playing people marginally better, helps to refine the "little details".
     
  12. Khai_AS10

    Khai_AS10 Regular Member

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    I do agree with you Lightsaber.....
    with this playing style you will catch up their skill and learn in most difficult ways.....
     
  13. ting03

    ting03 Regular Member

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    This is very true, it's very hard to find players that are better than you and WILLING to play with you. And even if they do agree to play with you they'll always seem to not respect you.

    Once this happens though it motivates me to play my best and FORCE them to try. It doesn't matter how good they are, just remember that once upon a time they were just like you, trying to get better and playing people better than them.
     
  14. BadFever

    BadFever Regular Member

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    My take on this:

    1) If you have a good foundation on the basics of badminton, either thru talent or proper coaching(meaning you already known the right ways of gripping a racket, proper footwork, correct positioning on court etc, etc), the answer is YES. By playing with a stronger player one or two level above yourself, you will improve quite dramatically/quickly. The hard part is to find the stronger player who is willing to play against you again and again.

    2) If you DON'T have a good foundation, either you are a beginner or you have never attended a proper coaching class before, the answer is still YES but with a 'catch'. The 'catch' is you developed 'bad habits' over time. Because of you wanting to improve quickly and not willing to spent time learning proper basics thru all the boring and time consuming drillings done in coaching classes, you tend to just hit the shuttle and not caring whether your grip/footwork is correct or your shot execution is optimised/utilised. In the end, eventhough you improved, you also developed very obvious weaknesses. I have seen intermediate to advance players holding pan handle grip thru out a whole game even when serving. As for myself, I tends to hold backhand grip all the time. Carrying all these obvious weaknesses, you can pretty much forget about winning at higher level type of competitions/games. A stronger player will know how to take advantage of your weaknesses. Having said that, if you are just trying to enjoy playing badminton at higher levels and not trying to win competitions, I don't see any problem with it.

    Good luck. :)
     
  15. CantSmashThis

    CantSmashThis Regular Member

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    I agree with what some of the members mentioned above. If I'm playing at an open gym, I tend to attack the stronger player more if there's a big skill difference, I'm not trying to play to win, I'm trying to make myself better by breaking their defense in doubles and trying to smash harder, it's more of a challenge, but it's fun.

    And I also like to do my best against them and then start winning. I'm not sure about elsewhere, but over here, winners stay on the court, so if they are fooling around with you but you start pressuring them, they will have to start trying, otherwise they will be kicked off the court and the wait time can be long.

    But, I think that sometimes playing with beginners is not a bad thing. If they are decent to keep the rallies going, you can use them to practice technique and placement instead of going to beat them easily.
     
  16. druss

    druss Regular Member

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    I'm going to make a comment on all these posts which may not be all that popular but...

    Everyone wants to play with someone of a similar or higher skill level, just remember that those people of a higher skill level probably feel the same way about playing with an intermediate player as an intermediate player feels about playing with a beginner. Sometimes, yes, there is a lack of effort and sometimes those better players try shots they never would against players as good or better than them but... just remember how you feel when you play someone of a skill level a little or a lot lower than your own.

    Remember that it may not be lack of respect, if I tried my hardest against some of the lower skill level players I've played against then the game would be over in 5 minutes and it would be no fun for either side. I've done things like between the legs, behind the back, practice my deception shots at the net... etc. against lower skilled players but it has nothing to do with lack of respect. I'm trying to make the game fun for myself.
     
  17. JukUx

    JukUx Regular Member

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    Hmm, I do LIKE playing with advance players or people that are better than me. Because I like playing at that pace and it allows me to push myself to play better. I usually don't ask those that are way better to play because they probably have better things to do then playing someone like me. But sometimes i do ask, and i haven't run into anyone that doesn't try at all and just lets me hit everything.

    Here's a little story that happened to me lol

    Before, I use to HATE playing with people that were below me. Why? because i found it really boring and i didn't really have to try. You could say i was arrogant and cocky. I'd always look out for myself and found myself the best game possible so i can get better and improve. I had motivation, but quite honestly, i was too tense about everything and it really affected my game.

    Later on, i met my gf and we played together and she got really upset at me because of my attitude on court. Only then did I realize of much of an A-hole i was and i'd changed.

    I now enjoy playing with everyone i can. When i have time i go out to the place i play and play with older people, people that can play but are in their late 40's and beyond. They can't play at my level, but i still enjoy playing with them. I do what Druss does, hitting deceptive shots, just teasing them, perfecting my drop/slice shots (i don't smash because i find it not nice) and everyone's having a good time! everyone is laughing and no one really cares about weather they win or not. Usually, when i play with older people, we're one of the loudest people on court because we're having so much fun hahaha.

    bottom line: playing with anyone helps me now. playing against people that are lower than me, allows me to relax and hit at the same time. Playing with people that never played before, allows me to teach and spread awareness of badminton to them. It's something I enjoy doing and it helps me relax which helped remove all that pressure i've always but on myself. Badminton now, for me, is fun :) rather than before which was full of complains, pressure and being selfish.

    sorry of babbling :p
     
  18. chris-ccc

    chris-ccc Regular Member

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    Very advanced players can be of help if they allow you to rally strokes with them

    .
    IMHO, very advanced players can be of help if they allow you to rally strokes with them.

    Otherwise, they would finish a rally without allowing you to play many strokes.
    .
     
  19. lcleing

    lcleing Regular Member

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    It depends...Just like what chris said.
    Playing players who are a few levels ahead of you can have the opposite effect. Imagine playing advanced players who want to end the game quickly with you. Their serves/return of serves and attacking play will be so good that the rallies won't go to more than 4 shots. Honestly, what can you learn other than leaving yourself in awe and dumbfolded? Not to mention that your confidence will be completely shattered and it can have a very negative effect on you in the next few games.

    Got thrased when I was alot younger. Couldn't get my game going at all as I lost all the confidence. Because of the self-doubt, unforced errors start piling up in the next few games and losing frequently to players who I used to beat at that period of time. Ever since that, even lost the motivation to go to court. Didn't recover until a few weeks later. Yes, it was that bad. So I don't think playing with advanced players will necessary improve your game...

    But it will be fair to say that you will benefit the most if playing with players who are marginally better than you.
     
  20. alexh

    alexh Regular Member

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    Yes, it's good to have some games with more advanced players. Just remember that when stronger players get on the court with you, they are doing you a favour by helping you learn. You owe it to them to pay back the favour by playing some games with beginners and helping other people too.
     

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