splitstep needed for older people.

[eelvis]

Have been watch some videos on badminton bible and like other vids it reinforces the need for a splitstep but whenever i have tryed to add this to my game it results in knee or ankle injuries. Do i persist or is there a way to do this gentlier. For olderish people.

 

[Charlie-SWUK]

Have been watch some videos on badminton bible and like other vids it reinforces the need for a splitstep but whenever i have tryed to add this to my game it relts in knee or ankle injuries. Do i persist or is there a way to do this gentlier. For olderish people.

The movement doesn't need to be extreme, just a light hop onto the balls of your feet. If this is too much, try not even taking your feet off the floor, just lift up onto the balls of your feet. Obviously you should avoid injuring yourself, so just go for the best preparation you can. It should also be noted that you don't want to lock your ankles or knees out, allow your joints to move a little with your knees a bit bent.

 

[eelvis]

The movement doesn't need to be extreme, just a light hop onto the balls of your feet. If this is too much, try not even taking your feet off the floor, just lift up onto the balls of your feet. Obviously you should avoid injuring yourself, so just go for the best preparation you can. It should also be noted that you don't want to lock your ankles or knees out, allow your joints to move a little with your knees a bit bent.

Will try. Once ankle get better. P.s. great videos on BB, learned backhand flat drop of video on their after months of trying to copy the professional players.

 

[Charlie-SWUK]

Will try. Once ankle get better. P.s. great videos on BB, learned backhand flat drop of video on their after months of trying to copy the professional players.

Gollum makes some good videos, his advice is pretty solid. Just remember (and I'm sure he'd say this too), coaching provides you with cues on what to do, you need to apply it and find out how it can work for you.

 

[eelvis]

Learning badminton at an older age, you have to see what hurts the body and how to protect your weeknesses, no jump smashes etc. Enjoyed watching the new formats on the Indian league, a lot of smashing in singles and quick points, would be interesting to play.

 

[Charlie-SWUK]

Learning badminton at an older age, you have to see what hurts the body and how to protect your weeknesses, no jump smashes etc. Enjoyed watching the new formats on the Indian league, a lot of smashing in singles and quick points, would be interesting to play.

I'm not sure how much older we're talking here, but it may be worth going to the gym a bit to build more supporting muscle for your joints.

 

[eelvis]

47 have been playing for about 5 years from scratch. Gym sounds horrible but people have been advising me to go but time is a rare comdity most of my spare time u spend playing. Carrying loades of injuries from playing other sports in my youth, love badminton especially learning new shots, grips and footwork for shots. Youth is wasted on the young.

 

[R20190]

At what point do you feel pain? Is it on the inital loading of your muscles as you complete your split step or is it just as you push off after you've done your split step?

If your injuries are due to doing the split step may be you are exaggerating the movement too much? A lot of european players tend to do a relatively large split step, but I would question the added benefit of a large split step over a much smaller one.

Try reducing the movement to dropping onto the balls of your feet rather than jumping, making sure you're loading your legs equally.

 

[Cheung]

Have been watch some videos on badminton bible and like other vids it reinforces the need for a splitstep but whenever i have tryed to add this to my game it results in knee or ankle injuries. Do i persist or is there a way to do this gentlier. For olderish people.

Sounds a little strange to me. With a split step, your weight is spread over both legs. You may have imbalances in your muscles.

 

[MSeeley]

47 have been playing for about 5 years from scratch. Gym sounds horrible but people have been advising me to go but time is a rare comdity most of my spare time u spend playing. Carrying loades of injuries from playing other sports in my youth, love badminton especially learning new shots, grips and footwork for shots. Youth is wasted on the young.

You are definitely not too late/old. However, there comes a point where you have to decide whether you want to start making your body strong and fit enough to play at the intensity you want to play, or if you are happy to always be limited by injuries and lack of mobility. It just seems hard because it was a long time ago that you felt "fit".

Going to the gym is not strictly necessary, but doing exercises to strengthen your body is. Imagine if you did 20 bodyweight squats: you are going to be strengthening all the muscles needed for better movement, but it only took a few minutes. Get this and turn it into a 10 minute routine that you do daily, including a few minutes of skipping/jumping, along with some other moves like lunges, and you will quickly have an effective short workout that will keep you playing for years. Going to a gym and doing some weights may be faster (although arguably jumping exercises are the best preparation for badminton!), but it is not the only way.

In terms of adding in the split step, I agree with the others: a small split step, just allowing yourself to drop slightly lower towards the floor and then push off, is just as effective as a large and more pronounced movement. However, I would probably encourage you to forget the videos you have seen, and learn it in the following way:
1. start with your legs as wide apart as is comfortable whilst still able to move easily from the spot. The lower you go, the harder it will be to move, but narrow means less balance and shorter steps: see what you can manage!
2. now pretend that someone is about to tell you to run forwards: notice how your muscles tense slightly as you prepare to set off as soon as you can. That is the feeling you want to achieve for the split step: performing the split step makes you feel ready to move
3. now make sure that when "ready" to move, you are ready for multiple directions. This means making sure you don't lean too much one way or another.

If you follow the above steps, I wager you would automatically be doing a split step. You have then developed your own split step, which you can try to achieve on court.

Good luck!

 

[eelvis]

Having tryied jumpstep or even jump smash have found problems in my troublesome carteliages. I am not a athlete but can play badminton singles for a good few hours and am relatively fast but do not have the right footwork speed to cover backhand corners and play an attacking shot. Still learning not yet aggressive enough, need to be quicker in preparation and action. Do find the gym, classes and weights etc have a reactionary effect on body. Cannot do squats but will try sprint idea. Love this site, very few in this country have any passion for badminton, even the international player included!

 

[MSeeley]

Having tryied jumpstep or even jump smash have found problems in my troublesome carteliages. I am not a athlete but can play badminton singles for a good few hours and am relatively fast but do not have the right footwork speed to cover backhand corners and play an attacking shot. Still learning not yet aggressive enough, need to be quicker in preparation and action. Do find the gym, classes and weights etc have a reactionary effect on body. Cannot do squats but will try sprint idea. Love this site, very few in this country have any passion for badminton, even the international player included!

Do you have some sort of joint issue that means you cannot perform a squat? Or is it just a bit stiff? What about lunges?

In my view anyone who plays singles for a few hours will have no problem learning a split step, unless you particularly have a specific injury that prevents you from using the joint normally. Everything else should be fine with a bit of strengthening.

I believe that using a skipping rope is one of the best exercises for badminton, particularly for those who do not already have some sort of gym/fitness regime and are looking to start improving their performance.

Good luck, and please ask if you need specific tips based on your current physical abilities. I believe that squats are extremely important bodyweight movements for life in general (not just badminton), hence I am particularly interested to hear what the situation is with that.

 

[eelvis]

Have very little cartilage in both knee and a bit of arthritis in ankles and other joints, can lunge but not practice it. General mobility has imprived aince i started back playing sport play about 9 hours a week of badminton but not 2 days in a row, if possible. Skipping would be beneficial but not really good at it and feel a bit silly trying. Brother in law is a personal trainer and exercises seem do so more damage than help.

 

[MSeeley]

Have very little cartilage in both knee and a bit of arthritis in ankles and other joints, can lunge but not practice it. General mobility has imprived aince i started back playing sport play about 9 hours a week of badminton but not 2 days in a row, if possible. Skipping would be beneficial but not really good at it and feel a bit silly trying. Brother in law is a personal trainer and exercises seem do so more damage than help.

It seems to me that if you just started doing something to help improve your performance, you would see very fast benefits.

I would suggest that the reason exercises seem to do more damage than help is most likely that you are trying too much too soon. Take Yoga as an example: I would imagine you could participate in a Yoga session, which would greatly increase your strength and flexibility over time, thus reducing your risk of injury and helping your performance improve. Most people would not define Yoga as being too strenuous (meaning it has a low intensity) and yet it can be very difficult, because people do not have the strength. This is just one example of the kind of exercise you could get started with, safely, but whilst building muscles to help prevent joint injury.

At the end of the day, what is more important for you: avoiding exercise because you may feel silly doing it temporarily at first? Or taking a chance on doing some gentle exercises for a few minutes every day that will improve your badminton and keep you playing the sport that you love injury free for years to come?

Some ideas for lower impact exercises for the legs:
Wall sit for leg strength
Holding a lunge position for as long as you can
Standing on a wobble board
Swimming

Good luck!

 

[gerry]

It's all about management. I am 15 years older than you, I've had 3 knee procedures, no inner meniscus cartledge at all, severe arthritis in knees + just about in every joint. My next step is knee replacement which I doubt I will ever have.
I still manage to play 12 hours per week + coaching + in the gym for 3 days only cos I maintain everything as best as I can.
I still jump with just about every shot in the rear court ( wish I could stop) but with good management you can prolong your playing life.

After playing for 45+ years I still have strong quads, hams & calves but I have to maintain them, I count my 3 days in the gym as rest days, I only do what I need to maintain this old body, nothing excessive. My surgeon told me that the only reason I don't feel any pain from the athritis is because my muscles are strong ( relatively ).

As you get older you really need to have everything in your favour. so this is my basic advice:

1. Keep strengthening your body. Not strenuous just small resistance but lots of them.
2. Take vitamins to help your joints, Glucosamine but even better Hyaluronic acid, I take both. I find HA is really good for cartilage problems.
3. Try to play mostly in sports halls that have suspended floors or at least some type of shock absorbing matting, hard floors kill me the next day
4. Do all of the above then practice light footed split steps, you will eventually find it easier.

Lastly, only play guys in worse condition than you thats just a joke... cos there is nothing better than beating young guys in their 20's and reminding them you are 3 times their age

 

[eelvis]

Yip, love beating the young bucks.

 

[Gollum]

Have been watch some videos on badminton bible and like other vids it reinforces the need for a splitstep but whenever i have tryed to add this to my game it results in knee or ankle injuries. Do i persist or is there a way to do this gentlier. For olderish people.

Generally I wouldn't expect the split step to cause injuries, but it is a dynamic movement; depending on your current injuries and physical condition, it's possible that a split step could hurt you.

It's also possible that you're trying too hard and exaggerating the movement, making it more violent. As others have said, the split step is often a subtle movement, and you can adjust it to suit your own abilities and the rally situation.

In general, players who are fitter and physically stronger will be capable of wider and lower split steps, as well as wider/lower movement in general. Every player needs to adapt their movement to fit their own physical abilities. Actually, Charlie said it best:

Just remember (and I'm sure he'd say this too), coaching provides you with cues on what to do, you need to apply it and find out how it can work for you.

Did you watch the new version of my split step video (released late 2016)? In the old version, I feel I overdid the demos (as is common in coaching videos!) and made the split step unrealistically high and jumpy. That's why I prioritised that video for replacement.

The most important advice I can give you is to listen to your own body. If something hurts, avoid it. With that said, it's definitely possible to improve your physical condition at any age, and there are good suggestions from others in this thread.

P.s. great videos on BB, learned backhand flat drop of video on their after months of trying to copy the professional players.

Brilliant, glad you found it helpful!

Props to Rob Kettle who transformed my backhand. No surprises his juniors all hit this shot beautifully.

 

[eelvis]

Have tried it before have have felt problems, too much bouncing. Tried again, following vids, strained ankle a bit. Maybe i need to play a bit less frantic. Cant believe how easy the flat backhand drop was to learn of your vid, have been try for ages to get it before watching vid. Can you do a similar one for the flat fore hand drop, cant find any on youtube and pro players use this shot all the time, mines is too floaty. Will try the relaxed running position see if i can gently introduce it. Learning badminton late in life introducing proper footwork comes unnatural but does come. The more technical the video the better. Cheers

 

[Gollum]

Have tried it before have have felt problems, too much bouncing. Tried again, following vids, strained ankle a bit. Maybe i need to play a bit less frantic.

You might be onto something with the idea of "play less frantic". My dad has that style, in that he's fiercely competitive and will go for everything -- which is great in some ways, but it also means the quality and discipline of his footwork breaks down and he easily picks up strain injuries.

Look to establish a rhythm in your movement. It does depend on the rally, but the general idea is that movement should not be "fast -- fast -- fast...". Efficient movement is more like "split -- FAST -- slow (hit) -- recover -- split -- FAST...". Often as you are moving into / through base (when your opponent is hitting the shuttle), it will be best to slow or even stop your movement so that you can make an effective change of direction (when you see where the shuttle is going).

I will also have a think about other split step videos. That one was mostly a "why do it" video, which means it's a bit "full on". I need more stuff about how to learn it / integrate it into your game.

Cant believe how easy the flat backhand drop was to learn of your vid, have been try for ages to get it before watching vid. Can you do a similar one for the flat fore hand drop, cant find any on youtube and pro players use this shot all the time, mines is too floaty. Will try the relaxed running position see if i can gently introduce it. Learning badminton late in life introducing proper footwork comes unnatural but does come. The more technical the video the better. Cheers

Yep, late/defensive forehand is on my list too. I want to cover plenty of details, albeit in a layered approach with the most essential ideas first. There are in fact many details that I've left out of the backhand drop videos, to be covered later.

I know what you mean about it going too floaty. I often had this problem until recently, and I thought my hitting action was to blame -- but it was actually a small flaw in my footwork...

At the moment I have a batch of "footwork to the net" videos to edit; just cleaning the audio as we speak.

 

[eelvis]

You might be onto something with the idea of "play less frantic". My dad has that style, in that he's fiercely competitive and will go for everything -- which is great in some ways, but it also means the quality and discipline of his footwork breaks down and he easily picks up strain injuries.

Look to establish a rhythm in your movement. It does depend on the rally, but the general idea is that movement should not be "fast -- fast -- fast...". Efficient movement is more like "split -- FAST -- slow (hit) -- recover -- split -- FAST...". Often as you are moving into / through base (when your opponent is hitting the shuttle), it will be best to slow or even stop your movement so that you can make an effective change of direction (when you see where the shuttle is going).

I will also have a think about other split step videos. That one was mostly a "why do it" video, which means it's a bit "full on". I need more stuff about how to learn it / integrate it into your game.



Yep, late/defensive forehand is on my list too. I want to cover plenty of details, albeit in a layered approach with the most essential ideas first. There are in fact many details that I've left out of the backhand drop videos, to be covered later.

I know what you mean about it going too floaty. I often had this problem until recently, and I thought my hitting action was to blame -- but it was actually a small flaw in my footwork...

At the moment I have a batch of "footwork to the net" videos to edit; just cleaning the audio as we speak.