Hey everyone! so i just had a tournament in Mississauga within John Fraser S.S. My partner and i won second, the videos being the final 2 games for U16 Boys doubles. I'm the one wearing black. Goggles were needed at the tournament. The tournament was 8 hours And we used black knight nylon birdies. Here are the games: Game 1: [video=youtube;zqFnIYHCXSI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqFnIYHCXSI&feature=channel_video_title[/video] The first game we lost pretty badly...21-12 or so. Haha at first i couldnt see the back line on their side . At 2:40... oh man i was sad... timing was off cause i rushed to kill the bird...instead the bird killed me :crying: Game 2: [video=youtube;aEbknmAyaqg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEbknmAyaqg&feature=channel_video_title[/video] This one... sighhh XD they didnt have deuce in the tournament apparently so they won 21-20...:crying: so sad... might have gone on till round 3 Over all i noticed i didnt drop much and my partner and i didnt do much netplay at all. We just did drives, smashes and clears. I think the reason being is that throughout the entire tournament we didnt need to do netplay or drops... people would just drive to the sides, there would be an occasional drop but that would just be lifted... I noticed i need to work on my backhand alot more and my timing was off a bit for some shots... Extra info: (me) Racket: Victor Superwaves 35 String: Nbg 95 Tension: 26 (it was used only once before so i had a bit of trouble getting used to it... should have considered the fact i was going to a tourney ) Age: 15 Never had any training before, i play recreational with my friends (partner) Racket: Nanospeed 9900 String: Bg 65 Tension: 21 (dropped overtime) Age: 15 Had some training before, mostly plays recreational. This was the second tournament i have been to so far outside of school. I have been playing for 2 years, before was just the non-competitive playing kids(like me) do Anyways, feel free to post any comments and tips on what i should do good or bad i'll take it as constructive criticism. Thank you all!
A tip, you should tell us which one you are. I am guessing you are the guy in the brown shirt as you mentioned you had to check to see where the lines were?
Another tip, I should read more carefully. Thanks squally. I noticed you tend to hit the bird to the opponents to allow them to play the attacking style. At 3:23 notice how you could have played the straight drop however you hit a low clear to the opponents with your partner playing the unforced error. If you dropped, you could have saved your attacking formation as your partner would be ready for a net shot and you should be ready for the lift to continue the attack! Your smashes don't seem to be that threatening to your opponents. What you should try is switching up your shots! Throw in a drop after a couple smashes which should be effective because the opponent will root themselves in the same position to receive your smash. It will be harder for your opponents to move forward opening up the chance for a weak return. I am not sure if you are smashing as hard as you can each time but all you need is the power to make your opponents stay in their defending position. If you smash any harder, you could possibly be wasting energy. Wait for that weak return or if you see an opening in their formation hit it there.
Thank you Jonster Yea i noticed i didnt drop or net much at all... and i need to work on my smash alot more. Im guessing my contact with the birdie is too low, therefore i cant create a good enough angle
I'm in no position to give some useful tips and words of wisdom, but 26lbs sounds too high for a young player like you. -when you're at the front, try to hold your racket a bit higher, and hold it by the cone. That SW35 looks too heavy for you to defend quickly when you hold it way down. -Try to adapt a backhand grip whenever you're at the front court. it's a tad more easier for you to defend, and to do tap shots, net kill. but that's just my 0.0000002 cents.. I'm sure more experienced players will help you out soon enough.
Haha thank you SlaShEr The thing is...i like 26 tension XD it feels better and since i can clear full court with it, i decided to just work on my smash using it haha... I agree that i should hold it higher but im sorta like lin dan but nowhere close to as pro as him. I only hold it at the bottom...i could work on holding it higher but since i started i have only held it at the bottom. The highest i have ever held my racket in an actual game is in the middle. But anyways thank you any advice helps!
If you're a single player, holding your racket that way will not really cause a big problem , but if you're in a double games, it will. Unless you're physically trained to be quick enough to do quick defensive shots by holding it that way. If you see Fu Hai Feng for eg, he has this habit of holding his racket way down, causing him to make long swings whenever he needs to do a defensive block for any shots going around shoulder height up to his waist. Hence Fu Hai Feng has the weakest defense compared to CY for example. I remember from Coach Xiao, from one of the tutorial video in youtube about netkills and net play. She said: "Greater Actions leads to greater uncertainties" Hope that helps, and good luck.
yea im a singles player...both my partner and i are... we only played together once before the tournament. Yea i agree, its not as good for defensive blocks but normally i get them...its just at the tournament i havent really been smashed on much so i wasnt a strength for me at the time. Well anyways ill try holding it higher up for defense and see how it goes! Thank you
You need to play push returns off the serve. Make your gameplan to make your opponents take the shuttle below the net. Avoid lifting to the back at all costs! good luck
Practice to return service from a much higher point, as it gives you more time and more options to return the shots to wherever you want it to be (example: your partner did some nice deceptions with a fake movement and then pushes the shuttle to back of the court). Sometimes, playing to the middle is better than playing to the side. It might confused those newly partnered doubles, and it gives you easier coverage on both side as their return to either side will takes equally same amount of time. Playing to the side is good only when it's on the side that you are good at. Try not to too many play shots to the left side especially cross court shot (since you are right handed) which may results returns to your backhand (which you are not good at). Another thing about cross court shots. If it's a cross court slice or drop to a BLANK SPOT, it might catches your opponents by surprise and forces them to make a bad return. IF it's a cross court smash to a spot where your opponents are standing solid-like-a-mountain, you might face serious consequence. If you want to lift the shots, try to lift it to the side where the better defender stands (in this case, your partner side). After watch the videos yourself, i think you might find yourself mostly in defensive situation. I think it's a habit of yours to play the shuttle high, so do practice more on your defense, get a lighter racket for faster respond and maybe even some counter attack. I think your current racket is dragging you somehow... You should not just think about what shot you are trying to return to opponent. Sometimes, try to think what might the opponent do after your return. For example, in double games, I tend to play cross court slice from right to left (I'm right handed). The opponent will mostly lift to my backhand side. So I tend to prepare for it and when he does it, I'm ready for send a powerful overhead smash to his face. I'm not sure this makes any sense to you, but I did try my best to explain it XD In the other words, KNOW YOUR OPPONENTS. Finally, try to reduce your mistake especially your drop shot. Try not to be too greedy with it, getting the shuttle over the net might not give you 1 point, but feeding the shuttle to the net costs you 1 point. 1 mistake = 1 point for your opponent. Having 10 mistake in a game does making the match ends sooner than you think. That's all about it. Hope you do improve for your next game. Cheers!
I think 26lbs is too high for your racket, which require more wrist power to produce a good shot since your smash is kinda slow. Try stringing at 22lbs vertical and 24lbs cross, your shot would generate more power. Also as above people mention, try to play more drops and net shot, force them to lift and then smash. It also gets them out of position as well. And your shoes looks like it's sliding a little bit, making your movement a bit sluggish at times. Wipe the sole on your calf to clean it. Last but not least, you should ask your partner more about this, he seems like a good player and his net shot is pretty well done. Just copy what he does. Good luck.
Some observations hope it helps. You hold the racket low even when returning serves. Watch the video, raising will help improve you ability to react and play the bird higher. You seem to always clear serves versus pushing, if racket was higher would help also. Up front you pushed the bird downward putting your team in an offensive position then backed up to be in a defensive situation. Stay up with racket high and in offense. You serve with your non serving foot forward will hamper you ability to serve deep should consider switching while your young. On defense your non racket forward I noticed a few times. One drive at you would have been easy for you to return if you were in the normal racket foot forward with racket up and favoring the backhand a bit. I also agree 26 lbs is a bit high plus sw35 is very stiff. You swing speed seemed slow may want to get some advise. If you can do well in practice drives with an advanced player will be a good test. Working on these things will help especially practicing drives with the correct footwork. This makes up your stance for the majority of the game so important being comfortable and prepared in this position. good luck practice one new thing the move on to the next.
Use you entire body to smash seems like you are only pronating your forearm to smash. OH AND HI DEVON>!
Hi flashback, <don't mind the tension, the racquet or else, you have to improve your technique first. Your body position is wrong, your footwork is wrong also, and the number of unforced error from the four of you are very high! You need to train and train with a coach! Then the fun begins!!!
