so last week I played in a badminton inter varsities competition. I was paired with a guy much better than i was (in my country, I'm grade F and he was grade C or D). Every time I was at the back of the court smashing or dropping, he was able to intercept or cut out any weak returns, blocks or pushes and end up finishing the rally. But when he was at the rear court and I was at the net, I wasn't able to do what he was doing, and this resulting in him having to run around much more and sometimes having to play under hand shots if the shuttle was landing mid court. What I want to know is how can I train to be able to intercept weak returns? Normally what I do is when my partner is about to play his shot, I will slowly come back to the T line and stand up straight but I am only comfortable in returning opponents drops to the net and maybe killing the odd lift that drops very short. If I haven't explained anything well just ask me! Thank you in advance!
1. Bend your knees 2. Lower your body, 3. Raket ready at net height With sport grip 4. Always look at opponents side of court 5. Look what your opponents do with the shuttle 6.don't look back at your friend too much
Have a look at this video carefully, if you've not watched it yet, and see if it helps you. Perhaps you're standing to close to the net. Don't try to stand at the center (as a front player) to cover equally both sides. This is the recipe of you not able to cover anything.
Tian/Zhao, former World and Olympic champions, is the team I watched where I picked this up. Not saying others don't do it... TQ surely utilised it with TJH. So you're on the attack: your partner at the back, you at the front. When you see the lift coming to the back court, you move back closer to your partner but not too backwards obviously where you hamper his attack. When the shuttle is hit, get ready to move back to the net. Try it sometimes. Watch a video of them in YT if you want demonstration. Cheers!
I think Chen qingchen is also good at this, especially in XD with Zhang Ziwei, Watch how she moves back a little, split step when the smash is played, and anticipates readily
Yeah, this formation is supposedly based on how most returns from a good attacking shot are straight.
Wall practice helps build faster reflexes. Focus on the opponents and their forward movements. Leave your comfort zone, anticipate and learn to move early..... you'll recover early even if you miss and won't have to leave your partner to defend a wide open court.