Swingbadabada, I couldn't agree with you more What I was hoping to instill to the player who asked (who is male) and to most of the posters here is that when THEY play (if they are male) they should play with a clear intention to set up their lady, and NOT expect their lady to set THEM up. I posted that particular quote in response to one from earlier where the poster was unsure who should be setting up whom, and implied the lady should be setting up the man. As I see it, the man is there to put so much pressure on their opponents, they look for a way out - the cross court way out, and then your lady destroys their attempted shot With regard to the cross court smashes etc - of course you are correct that if a tactic works, you COULD well go ahead and exploit that weakness and in many cases you should. However, I prefer to teach tactics that will work against ALL opponents, because then the player will rely on playing the correct way to win, which will help them as they improve, whilst if they rely on tactics that dont work at a higher level, it is much much harder to change and learn! That is why I suggest the straight smashes. They will always do their job - to set you up as a pair. The cross court ones may work against a weaker opponent, but I hope people dont rely on this Thanks for your comments
What Matt said. I concur and well said. I repeat what Matt said: To all the male players, do not lift unless you have absolutely no other choice. Play your drive, drop, smash and keep the shuttle going downward when it crossed the net. when you lift or do not put enough pace/length in your clear, you are putting you lady partner in trouble. And if you must lift, do not LIFT A CROSS COURT. Yes a lady can set you up for a nice smash BUT not until you have set them up for a comfortable position for her to play her part. Your job is to protect your partner and not asking them to baby fed you. Yes, the man it's pretty much playing single(but using shots that are used in doubles) with one corner less to cover.
Agree to always maintain pressure but always lift to the opponent lady if you have a choice. Otherwise, a high straight lift that will allow you to recover for the coming smash.
Okay from you guys i think it got this down, im not depending my girl to get my setup but also help my girl get setup or a comfortable position to get me a setup and try make life easier for her even if its more on me, basically both helps eachother to win/communicate, back stay on the offensive side smash/drops/drive and ill do all of then with deception by the wrist to keep them guessing, if im gonna clear/lift, lift it straight or if the girl cant smash too well or strong clear to the girl ( offensive clear of course ). My girl should always crosscourt lift or offensive lift/clear to the girl, and ill try to force them to make a loose net block return so she can do her thing so i can continue to do my thing. Also me and my partner has this thing in the game when were side to side i crosscourt net ( from a drive or a smash if I have time ) she would go to the middle but more on the side of the where the shuttle is while i go alil farther than midcourt waiting for the lift ) and when she is force to go back from a clear to her she usually either keep smashing/driving/dropping at the girl or clear to the girl so we can both go side to side, and while if im at net and she is back ill either do a tight net so ill setup one for my girl or lift it to the opponent girl to go side to side, and from there defend the smash/halfsmash/drive/drop from the girl, until she does a looser shot so then i have time to crosscourt net so then me and my girl can do our attacking position. ( she would go up to net either way she does crosscourt or straight net block ) Would this stradegy work ?
Almost. If she gets in trouble and has to lift, then crosscourt is what she usually should do. But ideally she shouldn't lift, she should play net kills, tight drop shots, or push/drive shots--keep the shuttle low as much as possible, and force the opponents to lift. The rest of your strategy makes good sense.
My only comment on your strategy above is you make it sound like its easy to lift to the opposing lady. At a higher standard its almost impossible to get it away from the opposing man, i.e. you lift "to the lady" and she will simply step forwards and her partner will go back and attack instead. Don't rely on being able to pin the opposing lady at the back, because it rarely works. Unless your opponents dont know how to play. In which case you will beat them anyway.
I see what your saying, but im mostly a singles player and i know what usually happens at time when i clear, if i offensive clear to the backhand ( all these quuestion would go to the girl ) she is either force to move back or the guy will move back instead but have no time to go for the around the head-overhead and play the backhand instead, or he does go for the overhead but very unbalance and more loose and less power now if i did a normal clear to the backhand side to the girl the guy would move back to the forehand but has to rush to the forehand and aroudn the head makign a looser and lesser power smash which my girl can defend easier to, if i offensive clear to the forehand side of theirs she is either force to move back or the guy would but he either cant smash it from that position or if he does it wouldnt but as powerful, a normal clear to the forehand well i'm never ever gonna do that even if the girl is there or not, should never do a normal clear/lift to the forehand side its askign for your doom. So basically this way we'll keep there attacking play down and not at full lenght power and plus if shot force the girl to move back it's much better for us, but either way we'll try to not lift/clear as much as possible. Also keep in mind where my girl would be lifting/clearing, like if the girl opponent is cross from her (already, reassuring cuz were mainly playing to the girl to either go back or making the guy take a run) it would make like even more easy for us since now the guy loses even more power from the smash/attacking play helping my girl more.
Again, it sounds ass if you are basing your strategy on lower level players. This is fine, but if you are hitting an overhead attacking clear, then they lifted to you, which a good mixed pair wouldn't, and a good standard man unfortunately would easily be able to attack your shots even from his backhand side Anyway, I think you have got the main point, which is don't lift and work together just beware about your assumptions about them not being able to attack properly from certain positions :s I have seen plenty of players who have unbelievable speed and strength who will jump out to their backhand sides to intercept the shuttle round the head and play full power smashes - off of opponents attacking lifts! A final thing to say, is that moving round the head only requires one step to reach and play a shot from the base, whereas to the forehand normally requires two or three steps - if you want to make them move lots, consider hitting to the forehand side. Good luck with your mixed I am sure you will play well!
an old thread but good points raised. From my own experience, playing mixed depends so much on the "skills" of the individuals playing it, particularly the woman. My experience goes like this. 1. Playing MD vs XD where i am paired with a weaker male player. I admit the opponents's male player was good, and he also can pin my partner into the back and always forced to clear, His smashes are targeted towards my partner, he also mixes dropshots to maintain attack. He mainly plays at the back and only goes forward for the kill if necessary. The woman opponent is very good at the net with blocks, net shots and killing off the shuttle. They maintain front back formation even on defence. It's very hard to smash to the middle as the girl can drive ot back to the corners if it's flat enough and the guy behind can easily direct the shuttle. Tried very hard hitting on corners against them, only to find most are returned back and often goes out. It then occured to me that we need to target the midcourt tramlines more. get more points but still difficult as it risks an out. I mainly lost lesson learned vs XD: 1. Don't smash to the middle 2. Aim for midcourt near tramlines, half smashes and high drops (yes, high drops, aim to by pass the female front player) are good and sometimes even better than smashes as you can target them more accurately. 3. be good at the net, either to kill or setup, but mainly, don't make it a loose shot 4. weaker player should always try to come forward in attacking position and take control at the net. 5. always play to the empty midcourt area 2. Playing XD vs MD. I got two times to do this. I partnered the girl that previously was my opponent and the male player was my opponent with my previous partner, In other occasions, It's also the same, but my oipponent had another weaker male partner. At first, I thought that it is strange that MD can be beaten by XD, but after playing the first time, it's really the truth because I can win against the MD player. The 2nd time was much harder as my previous partner is better. Think we lost as we played more as level doubles(yeah I know it's wrong but we don't have time to train level doubles, my partner also think it's better as she get's more exposure as a back player), It's just that you must have a steel heart as everytime the serve return is a drive to the corner when you serve and the rear player is the girl, 9 out of 10 it will be a winner. Still as XD, I rarely do the side by side formation, the woman is not fast enough to come forward from a side by side formation and usually rsults in a point, so most of the time it's front-back. Yes it's wrong but that is the better formation. Lesson learned. 1. Set up your partner for a kill or netshot 2. Bring your partner into the game 3. Let your partner move forward if possible 4. Let it always be you who receive the straight shot. 5. Front back is the best formation even in defending 3. XD vs XD where the female player is weak don't need any explanation, it's like playing singles with a statue standing on court, 4. XD vs XD where the female player is good For me this is a eye to eye battle, who is the girl who can win at the net and who is the male player who can cover the area better. It's also on how to work where is the space and weak point to force the weak return for the kill. Somehow there are many drive battles whre the one who backs down and retreats will usually lose. again, the midcourt area is the most important area, direct most of your shots there. It's also better not to do dropshots as the female will be there to pounce, only do it to the front corners.
