at our amateur level, unless the woman is strong, it is difficult to do a side defense. the woman will be targeted and the point is lost easily.
Viver, I agree with this perfectly - as my coach told me almost exactly the same thing a few days ago, and I found this really useful in practical game play. However I got one question - if the opponent start with a high shot to the lady (the lady is force to react with a start shot), then even the lady returns the shuttle with a drop shot the net, the man should cover the front, right ? Then it becomes difficult to switch back to the "lady-front-man-back" position. Any tips on dealing with such situation ?
Ricky, I guess you heard about the first 3 shots theory. How the game develops is dependent on these first 3 shots. In a situation when the lady is pushed to the back court a lot depends on her skills then: - ideally is if she has a good smash she can try to attack the opposing lady player or whoever is more exposed and man can cover the net; - if she excels in push/drives she can use smashes (flatter) and try to force opponents into push/drives situations where she can move forward gradually. Man cover net initially and moves to the side (gradually) as the lady moves forward; - same result could also be achieved with fast drops but that depends the man capability to cover the net and going back quickly; - if she has good defense she could just return with a clear and stay side-by-side All the above are just suggestions that came to my mind now. All depends the quality of the lady's return and also her skills. Do you think that will work for you?
Cheung, You're quite a good observer. Some years ago for mixed doubles, experiences were done with ladies playing more predominantly at the back with men covering the net. The base for this logic was being man physically stronger and faster, they should provide better coverage at the net. The problem was finding powerful ladies attackers. At that time China had Lin Ying and Indonesia had Veravathy (not sure if I spelt it correctly??). If you watched the games where these ladies played, they did not have a problem staying at the baseline and performing the attacking tasks.
Thanks for your advice, will try it on next game. The problem for me is that I perform relatively poor to cover the net, so the lady skills is a dominant factor to control the game under such situation. If we can't switch back to the "lady-front-man-back" position, we are quite vulnerable indeed. Of course, this happened because both my lady partner and myself do not have all-round-skills (something I try hard to improve) !
hi byro-nemium, it depends on how you play you and your partner... i agree with kwun.. this is just me.. ill based on how i play... i like mixed during queing but i dont join mixed in any tournament because i fear that my opponent will target me since im weak even i have to stay infront... i cant easily see the shuttlecock especially if he make the quick play and im not that good in drop shot thats for sure....:-(
13 years after starting this thread, I still enjoy playing mixed doubles. Even somehow ended with a wife while doing it.....
Now you have the perfect mix partner. Don't start arguing over lost points though. Or you might get problems in your marriage.
it depends, my mixed doubles partner kept net dropping even when the opponent is right there in front of her. that's a good attitude. from my years of playing with "aunties" from my church group only stands near the net in the middle, i learned to be faster so i can cover around her in a U shape and it helped with my badminton game in general. i find mixed doubles more fun but a bit slower than men's doubles, singles requires a lot of patience in my opinion thank you for sharing these tips!!!
she has gotten much better and now she try to keep up with the guys on doubles. so these days we usually play regular doubles instead. if she is at the back and miss a shot, well, that's not my fault!
13 yrs. that's a long time. but some things are eternal. fundamentally the game of mixed doubles has not changed at all, except perhaps the point system, but that's universally true across badminton. what has changed in my games? i play at a higher level now with stronger opponents. we have been blessed as the number of badminton players over the years has really exploded in the Bay Area. back 13 yrs ago, we were still stuck with high school gyms. now we have more than a hundred dedicated courts that opens every day. the result is that it is much easier to find good opponents to play mixed doubles with, and level goes up quite a bit. however, still, the game is the same. much more tactical than other games. court, opponent awareness and shuttle control is paramount, along with shot execution to place the shuttle perfectly. you need to know exactly what the other guy and girl are doing before you hit, at the defensive offensive formation isn't as predictable as in level doubles. you need to make the decision to place the shuttle to the best and most "painful" spot in this dynamic formation. and also need to know what type of return is possible and find the shot that maximize your chance to take offense to win the rally. as opponents gets better and smarter, it demands a lot more. rarely are there smashing games anymore as they know not to lift, more and more shots are push and drives with tighter, trickier and faster execution. a mistake in level doubles maybe able to be savaged, digging out of trouble, but a mistake in mixed doubles is usually fatal. it demands a lot more concentration, decision making and placement/execution. still the best discipline, imho.
