I think a lot of the same issues as previously raised in this thread. Some good rallies that win the points. Other rallies have poor tactics that get you into trouble. Backhand defence quality is quite poor - maybe a result of playing a lot of doubles.
Looks like you're making good progress, winning a lot of points through your attack rather than through your opponent's mistakes. Just go to keep improving your consistency, shot and footwork quality, even if all that goes up 2% per month, this time next year you'll be winning your box.
Some of your problems are the same issues as me as I try to relearn good habits. 3.30 it was very difficult for you to move to the forehand. What happened is although you have a bounce, you couldn't really push off to the side. Tips: A) Try not to have too wide a stance because your knees become straighter and you cannot push so effectively. To get the knees bent a bit more consistently, let your hips drop down more. Easier said than done. If your quads start hurting then that's a good sign. B) to get to the side, after dropping your hips, push with your left leg to push your body across. If you only stick out your right leg, your body isn't moving out and you don't get the reach. C) aim to land the right foot at the same time as hitting the shuttle. For A and B, think of your hips dropping down, then driving across horizontally to the right. At the moment, you are lurching diagonally right and down.
Just watched it again Stop aiming for the lines There are a couple of reasons: 1) Attack quality is not high enough to expect that level of precision. When you smash at the lines, it ends up being really risky, because half of the time your shot is going out. Practice aiming for the lines in drills, but in matches, give yourself more leeway. Aim between 1ft and 6 inches away from the side lines. If you go slightly wide, you have a buffer. A similar approach is often used in doubles, where players aim towards the singles lines to avoid this issue. It's a high risk shot going perfectly for the line. 2) When you lift precisely to the corner, your opponent has a hard time going wrong with an attacking shot. All they need to do is aim inwards towards the court, and it's hard to screw up. Watch some games of singles, they don't always aim at the lines with their lifts and clears. If they lift to the middle of a box rather than the corner, and the opponent attacks straight, it's much easier to retrieve that shot. There is always the chance they'll aim outward down towards the line, but then they're the ones playing a high risk shot. It may seem counter intuitive, but I've had this backed up by two former professional players. If you lift dead to a corner, you have to worry about 5 key points of attack. You have the two drop shots, two smashes, and a punch clear. The only unlikely choice they have here is the cross court clear. The red circle is the area you can comfortably cover. Suddenly the areas in orange become dangerous for your opponent because they're likelier to misjudge the shot. The straight shots are far easier to reach. This isn't an 'always successful' strategy, but it does help for defensive play. In training, aim for the lines. In play, give yourself some extra room. EDIT: And watched it again; look how many errors your opponent makes when you play towards the middle of a box and they try to aim outward towards the line.
This makes a lot of sense when you and @MSeeley say "get lower". I have always visualised it as wider stance, bending knees, bending at the hips and bending at the neck to stay looking up. I hadn't considered actually just lowering the hips and essentially doing a half squat - perhaps this is why I feel like I'm falling forward whenever I try to "get low". I've mentioned that feeling before, and it genuinely feels like I ONLY have the choice to move forward if I "get low" that way i.e. rearcourt movement becomes extremely hard. Would you say this applies equally to attacking clears and defensive lifts, or put more emphasis to play in the middle of box for defence and corners for attack? I know I do corners for both, but curious either way!
I think this depends on your opponent. Attacking clears are usually played more towards the corners to deprive your opponent of time, but there are plenty of opponents that will struggle with a fast clear played over their head anyway. It's something that's worth feeling out in the first few rallies with an opponent. Just realize that if you play an attacking clear and your opponent gets to it quickly, it leaves you in trouble either way. The extent of that trouble depends on where you play it to.
Haha - wider is good, lower is good, but only if strong enough. The best feeling is generally when you feel you are "sat down" with weight between both feet - directly in the middle. The feeling of "sitting" with weight in the middle ensures you bend the legs and remain upright etc.
Great post indeed! There is another detail that makes a shot middle of the box a nasty thing for the opponent: You can provoke that the opponent is standing too close to the shuttle when they hit it and hence lose a lot of power and variability. Also, if you look at the typical shadow badminton drills, they are all targeted to the corner and not to the middle of the box. I think it was Matt who mentioned this in one of my very early videos and it has proven to be a very useful tactic.
Very true! (especially if I said it at some point...). Works very very well against tall players who get cramped for space more easily.
@DarkHiatus Perhaps you might refer to my own movement problems in my thread. Especially the bit about after playing a shot, immediately keeping bent down, knees bent. You stand very straight after playing shots, especially after overheads. I notice your right foot lifts off the floor sometimes with service - foul serve which we mentioned before. Your clears from rear court are a bit short. Was that deliberate to get the opponent smash?
Been reading intently I've been doing slower footwork practices trying to keep low, and my quads are killing because it really feels like I'm shallow squatting every time I split step. Not sure I am doing it right - I generally feel I am chasse stepping faster, but any rotation e.g. RTH feels slower. I also find it very hard to stay on my toes if I squat lower - I end up with my weight around my midfoot/heel area. I'll keep at it anyway and see how it goes. I noticed the foul serves a few times too. It's a reminder in my head when I long serve but often the mind gets cloudy.
You don't have be so low as to be able to tackle someone down in wrestling. You just have to be slightly low enough to be able to explode and pounce in any direction at a moment's notice.
I tend to over emphasize on going lower during practice because invariably, I am not doing it enough during real games. My logic is that if I over compensate on this consciously during practice, subsequently when doing it subconsciously I will be near enough correct position.
Played singles with Gupta yesterday, and I was shocked to be beaten 14-21, 12-21 or so (at one point being 8-20). I haven't practised singles games in far too long it seems (since my training partner has been injured), and it seems coaching alone does not make up for game experience (neither do monthly tournaments!). I am disappointed, especially as my forehand rearcourt was exploited mercilessly once again (where it's clear I've become weaker); my movement is too direct/diagonal into the corner leading to me becoming extremely cramped, which probably comes from doubles play, and I think I am covering the front too much as I'm not used to having a large space on front of me. Either way, I was clearly uncomfortable on the singles court. At my stage of badminton, I feel that managing my expectations is how I'll gain the most satisfaction...I just can't help expecting to always be improving in all areas, rather than taking steps back.
Are u doing any group training? It seems to me that you are mostly playing with people you know well and I feel that you could definitely improve from joining a "team" Idk how it is structured in UK, however most, if not all, badminton clubs in DK have group trainings, where everybody does the same drills and the coach runs around correcting etc. This would be more cost efficient and help you by letting u practice with both better and worse players than you
Not yet - I have hopes to join county team training for the next season as my coach has mentioned that I may be at the minimum standard by the end of this summer. Otherwise the only single style differences I see are in monthly tournaments. I think even if I regularly play singles that would be a good start. Need to get back into a singles training routine rather than the MD/XD game sense I've been getting. My local club MD/XD league team has been promoted to Div1 in the local league for next season, but I'd much rather get better at singles. Hard to balance club and singles as the local league doesn't do singles...
Don't you have any "open" clubs in the UK that do group trainings? :O Seems a lot harder to get to actually train in UK. I actually think that playing both doubles as well as singles could help you a lot. Doubles and singles tactics are very different, however it would let you practice a lot more shot types
