checkthemc said:
For men's singles, I only know of 3 "types" of players, offensive, defensive, and control. Who are the major players in these categories. I'm looking for more in the control category,but the other 2 would be great too. If theres also more "types" then please name them. I know that mostplayers can't be just labeled with one type of playing style,but generally speaking (like lin dan players pretty offensively most of the time).
types of players
Hi checkthemc
Yes, I am a Badminton Coach. Now that I have more spare time to be infront of the computer than to be on a badminton court, I thought I will make some comments for you all, Lovers of Badminton.
Playing to win in a “Singles” event at Badminton is similar to playing to win in any other games, eg Chess, Tennis, Table Tennis, etc... that is, you have an opponent on the other side. For each stroke you play, you should be anticipating and planning for the next stroke. In other words, you are always setting up a “no-danger-for-you” situation, while you are looking for an opportunity, with readiness to “attack” your opponent.
We are now talking about “Singles Event” in Badminton.
When you mentioned the 3 “types” of players, offensive, defensive and control... I think what you mean is what you see... in their Speed and Aggression of their play.
But let me ask you this... “If I played against you, and in every of my stroke, I wrong-footed you. Am I not attacking you, even if I did not play a single Smash stroke?”
In the Intermediate Skill Level, a normal Overhead Clear from your base-line to his base-line is not an attacking shot. But remember, when you were at the Beginners Skill Level, an Overhead Clear to your opponent's backhand corner is an attacking shot.
Even in the Advanced Skill Level, an Attacking Overhead Clear can be a very offensive stroke. But now, it could be more offensive to play an Attacking Overhead Clear to his forehand corner than to his backhand corner, as he has mastered playing shots from his backhand corner.
What I am saying is... You must look at the precision of the trajectory of the shuttle that was hit by the player. How tight was it? Did it just managed to fly over the reach of the receiver? or, did it give the receiver a lot of time to plan and to execute a return shot? And also, did the shuttle manage fall accurately into the back tramlines of the receiver, or fall at mid-court of the receiver? Best trajectories are developed with skill.
Do not think that a player is not an attacking player if he does clears more often.
In my coaching, I tell my students this: “To win a rally, you can do 2 things”;
To get your shuttle to touch your opponent's court or body, or
To get your opponent to hit his shuttle into the net or to the outside of their court.
And I say to them that they must concentrate on this, my meaning of how to attack their opponent.
In 1.
You can smash(disallowing him time to react and to return your smash), or
You can slice/cut in your overhead stroke, changing the speed of the shuttle reaching your opponent racket(surprise him with different timing/speed), or
You can wrong-foot him(deceiving him to go one direction while you hit to another direction), or
You can do many other things.... too many details here?
In 2.
You can spin/tumble the shuttle at net-play(forcing your opponent to hit into the net or out), or
You can do an Attacking Overhead Clear(giving very little time for your opponent to prepare for his stroke, therefore forcing him to make error), or
You can do a Deceptive Dropshot(giving very little time for your opponent to come to the net), or
You can do many other things, again... too many details here, again?
World No 1: Lin Dan's smashes are powerful. So it is expected that he smashes more often when his opponent clears to him, because his smashes cause trouble to his opponent. So his attack appears to be in smash.
World No2: Lee Chong Wei's smashes are not as powerful and as developed as yet. So he is developing other attacking plans. As I watched his training with Li Moa at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne 2006, he is hard working in spinning the shuttle at net-play. He wants to attack only after his opponent make a bad shot from his spin. Of course, this is another good attacking plan.
I was lucky to be involved in coaching at the Commonwealth Games. I saw how different top players trained with their coaches. These players are all planning to use their best strokes to attack their opponents.
Look at the Ladies Singles. The defending Commonwealth Games Ladies Champion, Li Li of Singapore, for instance. Her best stroke, to me, is her deceptive dropshot. That's her attack. As she told me at the Commonwealth Games, she did not do well this time because of her lack of stamina. So, if she could not rally long enough before she gets a chance to attack her opponent with her deceptive dropshots, how could she use her skill to win.
“To be offensive to your opponent in your Singles Match, do not just think of the Smash. Use your other skills as well”.
So, your labelling of players can mislead new players to badminton. They might think to smash is the only way to attack, while to clear is to play control or defence. Of course, this is not true. I want new players to badminton to know this.
