I tried to reduce the birdie reaction time by rallying off of a wall as hard as possible but I don't think it's helping. Is there any drills or exercises to improve your reaction time besides just rallying and playing the game? I'm asking this since I live in a place where good courts are not very accessible. Thank you!
I too would be very interested in any drills or ideas. On court or off court both would be helpful, but I think on court would simply be to work with someone who has a fast smash, or someone who's average but you give him half court lifts to smash with. Did anyone out there ever learn or try anything that helped them out in this way?
What specifically about reaction are you talking about? Receiving smashes? I believe returning smashes require confidence and good technique. Not the actual reaction time. I believe its not your actual reaction time that helps you. But the technique in which you act upon your reaction. Moving quickly for a down the line smash. Split dropping and moving quick to the back. Things of that sort. I believe most everybody already has a decent reaction, its just we cannot move quickly to the shuttle because of incorrect movements or timing.
Hi Kazecloud, I'm pretty sure for me it's reaction time. I don't think it's getting there or getting in position, when the smash comes more or less to where I am, so all I have to do is move my racket a few inches or so to make contact, and the shuttle blazes past. I've been playing for a while now, and while I won't suggest all my technique needs no further work, I just don't think it's the problem for me. People with less experience and knowledge of technique are at least contacting the shuttle on shots that I miss. I will say you're right about confidence for sure, as those days when my game is on, and my confidence is up, I do return more. But I am hoping someone has a good suggestion to simply build up reaction time, so at least you have all the advantages in your favor that you can. Hmmm... Mr. Miyagi comes to mind, catching flies with chopsticks... Am I the only one at the age to remember that?
I appreciate the tip, I think it's pretty obvious that practicing smashes will help. I'm wondering about something off court, and maybe something that can be done on your own. Hey...how about wack a mole...
Reaction time is related to one's reflexes. Reflexes are inborn or they can be trained. As you age your inborn reflexes tend to be slower. Reflexes that are trained or conditioned can be useful but may become quite useless against an opponent who has great deception.
At start, when you receive a smash, you will have to move yourself to get it. With enough training, it almost becomes automatic that you will guide yourself towards the smash. That will be faster than moving consciously towards it....of course..with enough training, you will move faster and hit more accurately.
i think reaction time can be trained, and a large part of it is mentally and not just physically. to a large degree, you have to mentally tell your body to react. if you're just talking about receiving smashes, then technique and body position is also important. if you're positioned in the right place, and have your legs and racquet properly placed, you should be able to defend most "normal" smashes either with lifts or drops. ofcourse if the other person is a very heavy smasher, then there really isn't much you can do. if you want faster reaction time to transition shots, like going from clear to drops or defending a smash to reacting to a drop, then i think just better and faster foot work. do fast shadowing with a partner, and focus on mentally pushing yourself. they say your body has a "physical memory". so if you train your body consistently, in a real game situation your body should just react automatically.
How to anticipate our opponent's next move? . Greetings, One of the ways to speed up reaction time is to be able to predict the direction and speed of the shuttlecock before it leaves our opponent's racket, that is "How to anticipate our opponent's next move?". Here is an article, click here, that I have posted in another thread more than a year ago. It's a long article, and it tells, for example, how Roger Federer can drill back a 140-mile-per-hour serve. It's about processing subtle visual cues to predict where the ball/shuttlecock will go and where to get to the right spot to react. In fact, at the Olympic Games at Beijing 2008, Lin Dan applied this method to beat Lee Chong Wei convincingly at the Mens Singles Final. Cheers... chris@ccc .
Smash Return This is very true Chris, once you have played for a while, you get a feel to the visual clues given by players as to what shot they are setting up for, in turn once you have learnt these technique's its all about playing with a friend hitting up smashes to each other which will let you practise your smash returns and him practise his smashing and vice versa. I recently started doing smashing sessions on a saturday for about 2 hours and it rapidly improves smash returning and movement throughout the court. hope this helps!
Yes, I agree with chris@ccc. A good anticipation of your opponent's next shot will give you a quick reaction time. I think this is a combination of your mental and physical alertness and muscle memory. Unfortunately, in my case, this alertness is not consistent. There are days when I am always on the right spot even before the shuttle comes back to my court. Howerver, there are days when I just feel like I'm always delayed in my moves. I guess it has something to do with how well conditioned you are. Were you able to get enough sleep? Did you play on an empty stomach? Or, on the contrary, did you eat too much? Are you tired from work? Are you stressed? Is your weight ideal for you to be able to move quickly? There are a lot of factors, and it's a combination of everything. If you are in the proper condition, then I think you'll get a faster reaction time.
1) don't tense up 2) stand more alert on the balls of your feet, knees somewhat bent 3) be ready to make room for body shots - either by crouching, stepping or jumping. #2 above will help a bit 4) ease your grip till you are about to hit the bird. 5) watch the bird's path and choose your point of contact well in advance. sometimes it is in front of you - watch LJB's videos on smash return - he asks you to step into the smash - not wait
Good point taneepak.. U highlighted a key thing which is opponents smashes can be deceptive. 3 points: First-I would say that hitting againts the wall will help for sure.. try hitting non-stop to reach a goal; say bout 40 times non stop? that would help you hand eye co-ordination and reflexes since ure off court. Second- Practice with different sorts of smashers as you would need to gain experience in terms of how to anticipate a smash. Anticipation and reading an opponents smash is important in order to retrieve a shot.. If I can read where taufik smashes, I have no doubt I can take it even if he smashes at 305 km/h. Finally- Your body positioning is also important plus your focus on the shuttlecock when it is in play. Try to bend you knees and body a little when u defend it helps. U can defend well when your body posture is straight.. If you focus well, bend your body/knees lower and your reflexes are fast, you'll be able to move fast to react to the shot. Hope this helps dude.. ciao smashingmark.wordpress.com
boxing will teach you to react very fast or else you'll eat a few knuckle sandwichs to the face. playing counter strike will also help as you will learn very soon when to react or else get blasted into oblivion. on the badminton court, you can always try driving practice with a friend but use two shuttles at the same time. works both racquet speed and peripherial vision
How about this one http://members.iinet.net.au/~pontipak/redsquare.html let's see how fast you can react
