Laughing when your opponents make mistakes would be consider poor sportsmanship definitely, so this thread also aims to draw the line between what's appropriate and what's not.
I tell people I don't have enough strength in my smash... Iwan's service tip is a good one. Even if the opponent holds up the hand, serve anyway
mind games are not tolerated in the groups that i play in, which is social and slightly competitive play mind games with us, and you don't get invited back
Another mind game that I have come across is when you're on a winning streak (like you keep scoring points in a roll and momentum is on your side), your opponents will say something like "what's the score? or ask a question? or suggests changing up the bird cause it is broken) and then you just lose that momentum. Has happened to me and my partner once in a tournament.. Has this happened for you guys and what is your solution?
That wouldn't disturb me in the slightest. Rechecking the score is perfectly reasonable as is changing a broken shuttle. I once had a competition where the opponent wanted to change a shuttle which wasn't broken. I said no point in changing and the umpire agreed. Later, the shuttle really did get broken and I asked for a change of shuttle. I showed the opponent and umpire the exact area where the feather had broken. For some reason, I knew the opponent would say no to try and disturb my rhythm. I looked at the umpire who nodded in agreement for the change. The umpire had a word with my opponent telling him not to be an idiot. But I was expecting the opponent would try it on. Mentally, I was prepared.
I see! Thanks! I guess this only affected me at that time because I was not aware of the effects until when I went home and told my bro about it that he said badminton is a mind game .. and people will sometimes try to use it to their advantage when they could. Now I don't let it affect me that much, but sometimes the part about the changing the bird.. is quite bothersome especially when you're just playing in nontournaments but still quite competitively against each other.
There is no sure-fire way to resist the effects of an opponent attempting to throw you off your game. But being confident and self-possessed helps keep you calm. Recall the old Greek saying: γνῶθι σεαυτόν = "know thyself" As age creeps up, one begins to understands such words of wisdom and, perhaps, how to apply them. As for the young, they just get it tattooed on their arm. ;-)
Mm, I agree with a lot of what people say here, if you're playing with mates just make sure you know they can take it (whatever mind game you're trying to play). But really in the general spirit of badminton, playing with new or old friends you shouldn't have to succumb to using 'cheap' tactics like these as it is a surefire way to get people to hate you, and all at the price of winning just a few points/games. I have a couple friends who always play together and all they do is talk WHILST hitting the shuttlecock, I do perceive it as a lack of respect because it shows that they really don't care about playing (against opponents) if all they do is talk and laugh about whatever they did on the weekend during a game. To be fair a lot of people don't realise and maybe some don't care about this kind of 'etiquette' but I'm happy someone brought it up to at least give it some recognition.
Watch what top players do during top games when the shuttle is not moving. e.g. Boe & Morgensen, hold the serve so long that the opponents loses balance; CAI Yun, lean back, chin up, eyes down, "Kneel to this awesomeness"; Setiawan, no emotions revealed what-so-ever, frustrating for the opponents like they don't deserve to be notices on the same court. And Korean MD pairs' roar with a unique pitch after winning a rally. Maybe they are just habbits, but to those who think and care too much, those are mind games.
To be honest, the opponent is not playing mind games on you. You are playing mind games on yourself and losing it from your own mental weakness. Let's say I play a game with Visor and the shuttle isn't flying well. I ask to change it. Does he get upset and say "Cheung's playing mind games. I don't want to play with us again." Or vice versa. Or I play Visor and have a laugh during the game (after all, a social game). Then he loses the next four points. Is that a mind game or Visor's weakness? Would Visor ever want to play with me again?? (Sorry to Visor for the dig but you did write people playing mindgames won't get invited to play again). BTW, I really don't have a hard smash!
^ Lol... Nah... By mind games, I mean instances like shouting and fist pumping when your opponent makes a mistake, blowing at the shuttle to pretend to make it go out, purposely serving before opponent is ready, you know, the usual Boe/Mo unsportsmanlike stuff...
Great advice! Don't show emotion, taking long to serve (almost like in poker when you take forever to play a hand to make your opponent think something big is about to happen; gets them tensed up/frustrated), battle cries (to demotivate or frustrate your opponents). What about getting into the minds of the opponents? and trying to understand the psychological state they are in and playing that to your advantage? Would this also be considered an aspect of mind game? If so in what instances has this strategy been applied already in some of your own personal games or games you watch on YouTube by professionals?
I think so too to some extent so thank you for pointing that out. I think aside from being aware of mind games that can be played on others, it's also important to note down anything (mind games being played or not) that affect you too and what to do to counter them.
Be very calm and cool. And vary your shots. It disturbs even advanced players that they will be more wary.
How is this for a mind game... Recently heard of twin brothers, a lefty and a righty, who would wear different shirts when playing doubles together. But between games they'd switch shirts to confuse their opponents.
How is that confusing? One of them is a lefty, while the other uses his right hand. Swapping clothes has no effect (at least for me) unless they change their handedness as well? But playing against identical twins with same handedness is probably another issue. Live example - the Luo twins in WD.
good one, haha. i had a very old technical official once tell me a story about such a case, although he focused more about the challenges they face, rather than what their opponents face. for instance, when facing higher ranked pairs, they used to dress up alike head to toe and switch (or not switch) serves when they weren't supposed to, and confuse both opponents and the umpire. their first names differed by a single (non-starting) letter so it was hard to diffrentiate them, and even if their shirts displayed their first names, asking them to turn around each time isn't practical lol. both had differing skill sets so it made it that much more tougher for the official/unfair for the opponents. during nonserious games/practice, purely for entertainment's sake, i'd like to implement: -- pretend to have a serious strategy discussion with partner, point to a corner/player, to make them think we'd be targeting that area/person -- just as partner's about to serve, not so loudly, but still audibly, yell out random stuff 'backcourt, forehand, crosscourt shot' etc... opponent would be focusing on the serve, so with good timing and luck, you can probably sumliminally get him ready to anticipate one shot, a shot that you're never going to play -- act like you're fighting/blaming partner, so they think you guys're off-focus and try to take advantage of that instead of going for the most ideal finishing shot of the rally.... -- loudly yell at partner 'u let opponent1 smash at you.. shameful! you know he's strong (or weak) at it...', thus trying to irk said opponent so he believes we think he's actually strong/weak in that shot, and he tries to try (or totally avoids) that shot more and more till he makes a mistake etc etc
