<html>HI, I played doubles for 5 years already! And these few days, i really want to try playing singles! But I don't know how to train myself to be a competitive singles players!? Also, the faster I improve in singles, the better it is! And it's there any fun ways to practice playing singles and will not bored me to death!? Please help me out! Thanks a lot! </html>
If you have been playing for 5 years, strokes shouldn't be an issue. I would work and focus on acquiring the right reflexes to develop a singles player behaviour: - shadows drills - Singles drills routine to aquire the right footwork/tactic patterns - tactics - watch some pro matches Placements are different, pace of the match, tactical choice of strokes, more clears, less smashes etc. For example, I come from singles and started playing doubles this season and it took me 2 months to stop going backward when I play at the net with my partner.... I knew I had to stay at the net after playing the net in doubles but I automatically went backward to a more central base position for a while. Reflexes...
Also my suggestions were based on repetitive drills to acquire new reflexes. I'm afraid it is not really a fun way to practice...
You need to work on your footwork as in single you play alone & no one will cover you. On playing, stroke is more or less the same but the pace is definitely slower. You cant play reckless try to end the rally fast coz as you put yourself in a bad situation, you need to work double hard to return. For example if you do jump smash when opponent in good position, if the opponent manage to return it (which is highly chance it will return) you need to recover faster & run to the shuttle. & thats why watching single is kinda boring as both play slow while double play fast with alot of tense. Other factor would be you need to adjust your placement where single not using the last outer line area, but if you play it regularly, it wont be a problem & just a matter of time.
A few good points have been mentioned and I'll try to not bring it up again unless I think it's very important. Let's look at the main differences between singles and doubles. You have to cover the court on own Your opponent has to cover the court on his/her own While this seems obvious, that's why people say that footwork matters a lot. It does. That's where thousands of repetitions will help (and nothing else), starting with shadow drills, without a shuttle. Not my best videos, but both would be very helpful for singles. Start with one corner and one pattern at a time if it's new to you. An often overseen part of that is the rhythm, this is how many steps you take to get back to the center to have the last step be the next split step. This will increase your speed and safe every. Again, you should start without a shuttle, fur example with this. Obviously, you need to choose a faster rhythm after playing an offensive shot and a slower one after playing a high clear... Those differences also influence your shot choice. You need to cover everything on your own. You want to keep the court small by limiting the effective angles and shots your opponent can play by playing neutral shots (downward slope being the net; away from the side lines; away from the net) until you're in an advantageous position to attack*. Singles is a game of patience, very unlike doubles. Singles is never won, but always lost. Practice neutral shots (when you know the footwork) a lot. When doing that, make sure to hit the shuttle when landing (if you jump at all). and recover quickly. Covering the court by yourself also brings to thoughts about your central position.my advice: Keep the game in front of you! There's nothing worse than having to get behind the shuttle that's already behind you, make a good shot (choice) and recover in time. When playing away from the net (neutral shots), you have a lot more time if your opponent tries to play a net shot. * Attacking in singles is different from attacking in doubles. You can put pressure on your opponent in several ways. Make him/get/it move a long distance Make it/her/him switch directions Smashing Practice patience until you get the upper hand, then attack in various ways. Learn to take advantage of what your opponent gives you, slowly building up the advantage instead of going for the killer shot that deadly for yourself if it is returned. Be patient until you get in a good position. Obviously, singles is slower than doubles [shots played/time] and this is where it gets fun, but don't start here, start with the footwork, because you have to be in position early to make this work: Deception. Hold and flick at the net, a delayed attacking clear, a slow drop disguised as a smash,... I won't go into detail, but there's many options to train and use it, but that's not where you should start. Hope this helps, I hope you keep us updated with your progress, if possible with videos. Get the basics (footwork) down first!
I guess and hope that there has been a lot of progress already done since 20 years! The player probably switched back to doubles. Cheung pointed out it was a 20-year-old thread. I didn't notice it either... It will still be useful to others in 2020.
I started reading at the second post... the first one that was marked as new, I didn't even read the first one. But yeah, there should have been a lot of progress. Let's just pretend @Amin started this thread.
