I'm looking for some advice and tactics. I seem to have trouble against players who always clear and lift to the end of the court. When this happens, I usually clear back but eventually I get tired and my returns become weak. My other tactic is to play drops but they can usually get to the net and play more lifts. My defence is pretty good so if they start attacking I can play tight blocks or quick counter attacks. I would say my strongest area is around the net - net shots, drives and net kills. I'm primarily a doubles player but want to improve in singles. My skill level is probably beginner-intermediate.
Well... If you see your opponent always do clear, i dont see any reason for you to move forward & just wait the shuttle come back at you. But ofcourse, most likely its part of his tactic to push you backward & when you enjoy your seat at the back he do drop sudenly. From your story, it seems you are driven to your opponent games. Try to take control of the games. If he love to lift then so be it, but try to give him hard time to lift. Give variation on your shot so he need to guest & guard all 6 corner. And finally im kinda curious. Does your opponent are single player or the same as you a double player. Single games are more exhausting than double, so defensive play are mean to be stamina wars.
Thank you so much for the advice. Yes that's the area I should to work on - shot variation. I think I play too many straight shots and it's quite predictable. I am better than him in doubles in front court and back court but I can never beat him in singles.
It's all down to shot quality. In general it's very difficult to play a punch clear from all the way at the back or a fast lift from down low at the front, so the only way your opponent is able to do that is if he has more time, and your shots are not high quality enough. Try to pay attention to how far your clears are vs how far his clears are, and compare how sharp your drop shots are vs his drop shots. You will notice that with the right length on your shots, you will have way more time because he's no longer dictating the clearing war, and more time = less energy required to play a high quality shot back.
It's difficult to provide suggestions without watching the actual play, just some thoughts from your message. You mentioned it was hard for you to play against players that lift or clear to the back and that they also are able to retrieve your drop shots. I would suggest to practice and improve your and drop shots, and also your footwork moving at least the 4 corners. My guess is, if your opponent clear often and also able to take your drop shots, your overhead shots are not bothering them enough and consequently drops does not threaten. You may see different results when your improve your shots and footwork.
After my elbow surgery I returned to the court too early, and had to to be careful with my hand all the time. But I was able to beat my friend with whom I had tough matches before. So, it is possible to have good results with a tactic based on dropshots, and other half power shots. Just take a good step towards the net along with your drop. Aim your drops to the front corners as well.
I assume that at your level quality jump smashes and sliced drop shots are not really an option. I got the same issue, but for now I am better at encountering these opponents. If they play to the backline all the time, they know that your base position is too far forward and that you need a lot of energy to move back all the time. The trick for me was to move faster forward to the net and get a somewhat good netshot or lift, while keeping my "base position" a little bit more backward. My problem was, that I stayed more towards the frontcourt and for every shot to my backline I needed to move backward and hit the shuttle hard to counter it. This put a lot of pressure on me, resulted in poor quality shots and consumed all my energy. The trick is , to stay a little bit more backward and be quick to cover the frontcourt if your opponent plays a drop shot (it is easier to move forward than backward). Let's say you stay more backward and return every shuttle as lift/clear to the backline, then your opponent has the following options: 1. Clear: In this case either smash it if it comes short or play it back. 2. Smash: Well,even a hard (non-jump) smash from the backline is slow when it reaches you. So this would be a bad option. Don't do it yourself and try to defend crosscourt if your opponent smashs. 3. Slow drop (non-deceptive sliced drop): When you are quick enough (and this you should train), you can win the rally at this point. 4. Fast drop shot: This is the most dangerous option in my opinion, try to anticipate it a little bit to move quickly forward. So, how to end this endless loop of clears ? It depends on your strength and your opponent weakness. A) You have a better shot quality: Just keep playing good length clears until your opponent makes either a misstake, plays a short clear (smash it) or a bad drop shot (kill it). B) You are faster: You can try to play fast drop shots and cover quickly a short return. If he is really slower than you, he will struggle to return a good shot. This is your option to quickly follow up and outplay him. C) Endurance/Stamina Endurance/stamina alone will not help you. It will only lengthen the time until you make a misstake. But lacking endurance/stamina will hurt you.
Hello I agree with everything others have already shared. Earlier I used to be troubled by such single players too even though I have decent court coverage. Well 98% of the time I play MD, So I have very less experience when it comes to Singles matches. And experienced players with good consistency have always bested me. But I would like to mention one important factor here which definitely helped me. Using a heavier racquet like a 3U or voltric etc for a singles match. I have realized that I can make them struggle for every point as even with half power or off centre shots can be pushed to the backcourt and it resets the rally + smashes get more deadly. A lighter racquet will demand more effort (swing speed) from you which is not possible when you are late for the shot. Cheers. P.s :- I play with plastics.
