Improving reaction/response

Discussion in 'Techniques / Training' started by Skanbuzz, Jan 10, 2009.

  1. Skanbuzz

    Skanbuzz Regular Member

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    Hi all,

    What type of exercise is good/beefit to improve reaction/response?

    I was taking a few juniors, 11 to 15yrs practicing & playing games andnoticed that their reaction are slow and could do with more encouragement

    What simple exercise can help? something that they may be able to practice at home and perhaps something that as we warm up we can incorporated to improve them, help them to progress on and enjoy the game?

    Thanks
     
  2. itachi46

    itachi46 Regular Member

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    are they good enough to practice with each other? i.e. one smashes the other defends.. and rotate... thats the only way i can think of improving reaction time..
    if you're talking about getting TO the shuttle then its all footwork and you feed them shuttles and focus on footwork.

    if they are not good enough to practice with each other then u have to smash at them while they defend (obviously u adjust your smash to something JUST out of their comfort level)

    i think thats the only way to increase reaction time.. actually receiving those smashes and getting used to it
     
  3. taneepak

    taneepak Regular Member

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    Have a look at your ring finger and then compare it with your index finger. If your ring finger is much longer than your index finger then you are gifted with fast reaction time. The other way around, you need to improve.
     
  4. weeyeh

    weeyeh Regular Member

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    Seriously, my ring finger is longer than my index finger and I still need improving. Is there any scientific basis/study to what you are saying?
     
  5. taneepak

    taneepak Regular Member

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    You can actually test this theory out by comparing the ring to index finger ratio of the players around you-those with slow reaction vs those with fast reaction. This also applies to women players.
    Yes, there is a biological reason for it and it has to do with the fetus's environment before birth.
     
  6. weeyeh

    weeyeh Regular Member

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    I presume you have done the study and published the results or someone else has done it. Any references?
     
  7. hhwoot

    hhwoot Regular Member

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    You appear to have read about this study:

    http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/01/12/0810907106.abstract

    Where the authors study stock traders (only ~40 people sample) and how the ring to index finger ratio correlate with long term profitability. The data is quite scattered, so I do not feel their study was anywhere near conclusive. This study claims that the finger ratio is affected by prenatal androgens, and cites another paper that specifically claims that the ratio is affected by prenatal testosterone. The other paper looked at how the finger ratio correlates to sports (<200 people sample, also looks at other factors). I skimmed that paper and their methodology was slightly subjective (asking the participants to indicate their sporting achievement).

    I believe the studies linking prenatal androgen exposure and physical fitness (as well as the mental attitude towards fitness) have stronger support. But there are too many degrees of separation between finger ratio and reaction time. So a weak link between the two at best, with no conclusive studies.
     
  8. Skanbuzz

    Skanbuzz Regular Member

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    Interesting

    but lets get back to my query.

    1. Any good suggestion, say without any rackets involvement in warm up
    2. Out of badminton court, any exercise or movement that can be used
    3. On court, maybe split step/jump. any others
    4. With racket(as suggested smashing at each other) any others
    Will skipping helps?
    maybe some sort of eyes exercise or something

    I once heard that he professional footballers have special clinic with consultant to exercise their eyes so they see in a wider view when on the field (I think help to see where team mates are and position of opponents) so anticipate where to put ball next????
     
  9. taneepak

    taneepak Regular Member

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    If I remember correctly, I first came across this from a TV science documentary some time ago plus other written news sources. I also did a sampling of some of the badminton players back then. I picked out one of the most inelegant and clumsy player and predicted that his ring finger would be shorter than his index finger, before actually asking to see his hand. He showed his hand and fingers and players around were astonished at my correct prediction. The rest then had a look at their own fingers which generally have a relationship with their level of play.
    That is why men have more of that longer ring-to-index finger ratio than women.
     
  10. LazyBuddy

    LazyBuddy Regular Member

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    It's interesting to compare the fingers, but I don't think it's easy to simply hope the juniors can somehow extend their finger length... :rolleyes:

    A simple exercise I can think is to play against the wall. This way, they can even practice when at home (make sure enough space in between rackets and expensive TVs :D).
     
  11. trainedtotrain

    trainedtotrain Regular Member

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    Reaction time / reflexes

    Hi, Reaction time or we call reflexes. It is all done in the GYM first to increase the speed of your CNS to work as fast as possible especially during the last few reps on the last set. Close to fatigue.
    After which we will be able to react fast to engage the shuttle in the court.

    Proven already by Australian Strength & Conditioning Association (ASCA) :)
     
  12. stumblingfeet

    stumblingfeet Regular Member

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    The type of training you describe is useful for improving the speed of your response, especially if against a load, but not your reaction time. In fact, simple reaction time has been shown to be quite untrainable; people performing months of training on it don't improve their test scores.

    However, multiple choice reaction time can be trained. Let's say that in badminton, when you opponent is hitting from a good position in the back he has several options of where to place the shot. You can learn to read his shots from his movement, which will help you to narrow down the possibilities so you can adjust your initial positioning. However, developing this skill requires plenty of on-court training, it can't be done in a gym.
     
  13. trainedtotrain

    trainedtotrain Regular Member

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    Hi Stumblingfeet,

    I strongly agree with your explaination. However do you think that response time is somehow linked to or related to reaction time.

    Reading opponents shots from his movements is like anticipating it and narrowing down his options of deliveries. Plenty of competitive on court training will help develop this skill.

    So far I have not yet develop a system to evaluate the progress of this skill
    to map the athlete's performance.

    Do you have any idea for me to focus on, and if you have maybe we can work together.

    Thanking you in advance :)
     
  14. Skanbuzz

    Skanbuzz Regular Member

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    Hi All,

    Thanks for the contributions.

    Lets take one step at a time & see whether we can identify one method to help to resolve the problem.

    Problem A: Let look at the a possibility of an exercise that help but without going on court- see my item 1 & 2

    Can anyone come up with any exercise that will help or know something to begin with?
    My purpose is purely to sharpen up their reaction ie when one see the opponent play a stroke, they need to react by moving to the direction of the birdie or move racket towards birdie.


    As for item 3 &4:
    Problem B:
    What can we come up with to practice for eanticipating opponent moment?


    I think I need to resolve problem A 1st before I can proceed to problem B

    Thanks
     
  15. shooting stroke

    shooting stroke Regular Member

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    Hai there Skanbuzz, having a fast reaction/response in Badminton has a huge benefits and plays a major role in winning a badminton game. In fact, since Badminton is the worlds fastest sports (as the shuttlecock can travel more than 350kph), it is imperative to have not just a FAST but also GOOD response/reaction capability to coupe with speed of the game. Before i share my thoughts, i can say that reaction/response in Badminton mainly involved HAND REFLEXES and FOOT MOVEMENT response. Each of this response/reaction has its own types of training methods.

    A. HAND REFLEXES

    Having a fast and good hand reflexes will give a player a better position to react for better shuttle placement. Examples of movements includes quick smashes retrieval, fast shuttle drive and net tapping.

    1. Eye movement

    The most crucial element in having a fast response/reaction is to have an alert, focus and fast moving eyes. This is important as it can cordinate your hand and foot into a quick response/reaction movement.

    1.1 In court training

    1.1.1 Finger movement training

    Use index finger as a shuttle and ask a player to stand in between the T and ask to move with/without using a racket to the Right/left as directed by the finger. This training emphasize the ability of the eyes to focus at movement of the finger in order to translate it into hands movements. Move the finger indirectly to left or right to create diversion as to increase the difficulty of this training and to create more stress for the eyes to always keep fix to the finger.

    1.2 Out court training

    I can't identify any out court training for this task.

    2. Keep your racket high

    By positioning your racket high at all time (prefebably the racket frame is at the level of your face), this will shorten the distance hands movements for shuttle retrieval hence improve your hand reflexes as to compare if the racket is located way to low i.e frame below waist.

    B. FOOT MOVEMENT

    This is also known as footwork. Besides having a good and focus pair of eyes, a fast footwork also hugely depends on having a fast foot MOMENTUM in the court. By having a fast footwork in court, it is easier for you to react fast towards the net to retrieve dropshoots and perform a SHARP netplay as well as moving quick to the baseline to PROPERLY position yourself to do stroke,smashes etc.

    1. Out -Court training

    1.1 Skipping

    Skipping can improve foot momentum thus improve the speed of your footwork. At my level, i skipps anywhere from 5000 to 10000 a day (single jump @ medium speed). Accomodate the figure according to your ability but if possible do anywhere from 500/day and increase it. Buy a skipping rope with weight at its handle if possible so that you can train your wristwork at the same time also.

    2. In court training

    2.1 Shadow training
    2.2 Shuttlecock drill

    Both of this training requires the player to move at throughout the court according to the paste of the shuttle (shuttlecock drill) or instruction from the coach (shadow training). By increasing the speed of shuttle feed or instruction,this will increase the speed of the footwork hence resulting in a more for fast footwork.

    2.3 Dominance area theory

    As you're in a ready position to response from whatever action that your opponent is going to do in court, try to weight your momentum of movement more towards certain area (dominance area) than any other area in the court so that you can anticipate your opponent action earlier hence increase your response i.e if you push the shuttle deep into the baseline towards your opponent backhand, you should weight your momentum to move fast MORE TOWARDS THE NET AREA (DOMINANCE AREA) than any other place in the court. By doing this, if your opponent DOES place the shuttle along the net area, than you're already one step ahead of him to kill him off. But if he does not, you're still well prepare to retrieve your opponent shot from any area in the court.
     
  16. jymbalaya

    jymbalaya Regular Member

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    actually, for fast reflexes, play video games!

    I notice for me, at least, that when i play FPS's, i actually react faster to movement and noise, which helps me on the court later. however, i can't say playing 10 or even 2 hours a day get me far. but it help me hone my reflexes.
     
    #16 jymbalaya, Jan 25, 2009
    Last edited: Jan 25, 2009
  17. Skanbuzz

    Skanbuzz Regular Member

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    Hi Shooting Strokes,

    Thank you very much
    It is exactly what I was hoping and I think it will definately help
    The explanatoon also clearly identify the purpose and how to use it.

    Any further suggestion would be wellcome
    Are there any video or clips of how I can encourage the junior members to improve on these?

    does having music with a fast beat play back on the court help the juniors in a fast rymthum?


    Thanks
     
  18. chris-ccc

    chris-ccc Regular Member

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    Teach you trainees to read signals given by their opponents

    .
    Hi Skanbuzz,

    Reaction can be improved by anticipation. Therefore, teach you trainees to read signals given by their opponents.

    Check out this thread: click here, and this long post: click here

    :):):)
    .
     

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