Hi guys, I have searched the threads & couldn't find anything on good defence but I'm a newbie & may have missed something. My question is: - What can I do to have a good defence in badminton doubles? Eg. the stance, racket position & height, swinging speed etc? Even though I use backhand defence for both forehand and backhand return, I always lose points whenever the opponent smashes at my body directly , especially my face, my left shoulder or right at my stomach. Since I'm taller than average, the opponents always use body attack. Somehow it's easier for me to defend when they smash steeply or anywhere below my waist.
Because you r tall, you need to crouch down a lot on defence, this means there is less of you to hit. Your racket should be in front of you at about chest height. This should allow you to get the steep ones & the body ones. 1 question u have to ask urself is why is he able to smash. Unless ur in professional level, any good clear will prevent the opponent from smashing or atleast give u a lot more time to return the smash. Maybe your clears r 2 short. I had this problem while ago & against a gud smasher, ur goin to lose everytime with short clears. Make sure they r hitting between the back tram lines. As the old saying goes, practice makes perfect. The more smashes that come your way, the more ul get used to it & get better at it. Mayb at practice you should get ur partner to smash at u, & u have to return it. Hope this helps.
well where about on court are you standing to defend the shuttle. If you cannot retrieve the opponents smashes then stand a step back. This will help you with your reaction time as well.
Since he's referring to doubles...i don't tihnk it'll be easy to prevent the opponent from smashing 1 recommendation...use advanced search I selected a few for u that i think would really help http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46022 http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30232 http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40926 http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19899 Anyway, you shouldn't only be prepared to defend smashes using backhand. But well...this split second decision is not easy, and needs to be trained. Even pro doubles player with superb reactions somtimes use backhand to defend forehand shots... Also u might wanna check out Lee Jae Bok's vid on smash def. but it seems to be down. refer to http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20603
Move your base further back when defending. This also means that if the shuttle is at shoulder height it is likely to be flying out!! Be watchfull of the disguised dropshot and be ready to move forwards
Stand on the court in your defensive position and try to visualize all the potential attacks from a particular location on the other side. How is you racquet positioned relative to these targets? Can you get to all of them with similar ease? If not, figure out how you can fix it!!
