Hello all, I have been playing badminton for about 2 years without prior training. I play with a group of players for fun. We play with a plastic shuttle. We decided to go to some local tournaments and have always ended up losing only winnin a few games. This had spurred me to get a a coach to training me once a week. The coach said watched me warm up and said I waited for the shuttle to drop not hitting it at the highest point and my technique was wrong as no backswing and follow through. He said I should be hitting it at earliest I could to gain the advantage including clear, smash and drops. (I'm 6ft2) Just a quick question in regards to drop shots, if I'm hitting it at the highest point, would it not hang in the air for the opponent to kill with the height I'm hitting it at? Or does it take time to learn the controlling the shot. I play doubles btw. I'll be going back to this coach next week as I have learnt a lot with him in one session in regards to footwork and basic striking. Feels like I've wasted 2 years.
In general, if you hit it at an earlier higher point: 1, you give the opponent less time since you hit it earlier. 2, you have more options as you are in a better position to hit the shuttle 3, you can play it more downward (especially at 6ft2) as you contact the shuttle at the highest point. There are no downsides to hitting it early. This holds true in the backcourt as well as the front court. There is not 1 kind of drop shot. you can hit is fast, you can hit it slow. Anything between a half smash and a slow loopy dropshot could be called a drop shot. If you have trouble with having the shuttle hanging for the opponent to kill, then you can either adjust the angle i.e. hit it more downward so it passes just above the net tape(and doesn't give your opponent space for the kill), or you can hit it harder so your opponent has less time to get to the net to play the kill. From the limited information you've given about the coach I would say he knows what he is doing. Over time you'll get a better feel for the shuttle, but it will take repetition and guidance. If you get the opportunity to play with feathers it might help you as well. Having played with feathers for so long, if I play with plastics now it feels like hitting a wet pillow.
Thank you both for the reply. I'm going to carry on this journey to learn the basics properly and keep working hard. It will be fun to see way down the line how much I've improved and how I fare in local tournaments.
There is some problem on fun club. Mostly for a very fun club that play just for gathering with friend & fun play, they do chaotic stroke warmup. I mean not actually stroke exchange step by step (flat drive, clear, smash) but it like playing single just to kill the other side. The good point from good warmup stroke exchange is to gauge one power so on actual play you wont throw out the bird & then you can do some excercise to improve your shot you choose for example clear hit. Another problem for fun club, you only play with the same member over & over & over again. When you had play together after few month, mostly you will notice each other habbit & able to predict each other shot. Afterthat your growth is slowed down or even stop as it just repeatitive match. Playing with other unknown player, challange other club will give you some other experience you had. Losing is not a bad thing as long you learn from it. One mind that you need to put on your head is to never scare to lose & to never giveup whatever the situation. My own experience long ago, i meet some advance player on the neighbour court that love/kindly play with us a beginner & teach us some skill. Me & my friend got beat up 0:15,0:15 2vs1 (i play the old rule 30 point). As me & my friend grow we are able to gain few point & little by little we add up those point till we can keep up with him. Now me & my friend love to challange different people we meet. Getting more & more experience between those people (fast play, precission control, hard hitter, deceptive, & many other kind of style).
Yes your right, playing with the same players I know each of their style and shots by heart now lol I also agree with you that our feetwork and basic striking is wrong therefore not learning properly. Another negative is we keep accepting members who are beginners. The club is overcrowded and is currently at the worst point as we don't get much games. I'm going to carry on learning and play properly. I know it will take a while but it will be worth it.
Basically having a beginner in a club is not a bad thing tho having to many member still bad regardless the skill as your playtime will be less. What i do in my club, we mixed the beginner with the good one so the match wont be 1 side slaughtering. When playing with beginner, i change my playstyle & train my bad move. Like im a backcourt & hard smasher typical but when play with beginner i rarely smash & do more drop or net play as with them the pace would be slower & easier for us to practice a move. Another benefit playing with different beginner is to train our observation & strategy to play with. With beginner you need to observe your partner strength & weakness along with your opponent to. Then think how would you play. Would you put your partner on the front if he good at it? Or would you cover 70% of the field yourself if your parner had bad mobility? Or....... After that you need to think about your shot. What shot would you play? Heavy smash all the time but risking yourself outbalance when doing so & your partner unable to cover it? Or just play safe shot? Or try to lure the enemy making weak/bad return so your partner can finish it?
hi there One must understand that hitting the birdie at its highest contact point DOESN'T necessarily represent its earliest contact point. You can hit and make a drop shot with the contact point occurring way above your head but the outcome will not be as effective if you make that hit within your target zone ie you're behind the shuttlecock. While the earlier contact point scenario in theory can represent the highest height of the given path that the birdie will travels but it is not the optimal racket head - birdie contact point area that you should go for but rather you should start making your preparation and hit for the later scenario. Earlier means that while you're already within the proper preparation before making that hit, your must also have that mental initiative to make that move in addressing that incoming birdie as it appears within its earliest opportunity within your target/hitting zone ........not before (or you will end up with a mishit) or worst later (which you will end up with a bad shoot due to poor racket head- birdie contact). If your preparation and hitting technique are done correctly within the correct contact point as its earliest opportunity (that doesn't necessarily means at its highest point), your hitting outcome in theory should end up well. Ive made a post about this topic many years back if you want to read more. https://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/index.php?threads/2-important-habits-in-badminton.112623/ SS
