I have been playing for years, with no training, and about 4 years ago, I finally started playing with good players from Asia. I live in the USA. After becoming friends with them, some of the good players corrected a lot of my mistakes and helped me train and fix some of them. But try as I might, I just can't seem to get past my current level. I am A level in my city, but that's because my city does not have good players. Whenever I go to bigger tournaments, I get killed and end up in C or B. Some comments I got from better players - drop/smash/clear action is wrong, but not sure how to fix it - smash is not contacting the shuttle correctly - more like a slice, so I don't get enough power I am 6 feet 2 inches and I lift weights, so I should be smashing with a lot of power - footwork is bad, and I am not quick to recover after shots - anticipation is bad - net play is bad - don't use my wrist correctly (I was trained in tennis when I was a kid, so those habits stuck) - not preparing for smash defense by bending forward enough - racket head frequently down while at the net - not hitting the shuttle at the right time while at the net - a bit later so not enough power - smash defense is bad as I am not lifting high enough, or driving back low enough ha ha .. pretty much everything is bad, but I am not sure how to fix it, because there are no coaches within a 300-mile radius of my city. Here's a recent video of casual play at our club. I'm the guy in black T-shirt, black/orange shorts. Please help. Thanks.
Then why not ask the better players to help show you? They have already given you some feedback. You can’t expect to fix everything and expect an answer to everything in one thread in one go. Try to be more specific in your questions.
Fair enough. I moved from the city (Oklahoma City), where my friends who helped me train live, 3 years ago. I had a friend in the city I am in now (Kansas City) who liked training. We used to train once a week or so, watching videos on YouTube and trying different things. He moved back to his country a year ago. Now, nobody in my club is interested in training (they all want to just play for fun), there is no coach anywhere nearby, so I am stuck. That's what I meant. I guess I just need to practice footwork and shadow train on my own. Was hoping there was something obviously wrong with what I am doing .. like my grip or something that someone here would notice.
Ha ha .. nice. Cap is my security blanket. Wish there was anyone in my area who likes to train. That’s my issue. And training alone is the only option left. I guess I will do that and make my footwork and swing action better at least.
Looking at your smash defense position, your feet are spread too far apart from what I can see, if someone were to hit a well placed smash you would be done for. It's good to keep one leg slightly forward in case someone hits a clear instead of a smash but in your case it's too wide.
Oh!!! Thank you. I will watch more videos specifically on that on Youtube and work on that. Yeah, my smash defense is really weak and often I hit it right to the opponent waiting at the net who then finishes it off. On a different note, after trawling through the forums today, I finally learned what pronation is. And watched some slow-motion videos of the pros smashing and .. wow .. that's an eye opener. My smash is more like a half smash even at the best of times. All players my level or above easily return my smashes even though I can get a good angle due to my height.
