Drills

Discussion in 'Coaching Forum' started by yotarou, Jan 27, 2008.

  1. yotarou

    yotarou Regular Member

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    I'm not a coach, but I would like to help my high school badminton team. We're a team of around fifty girls, since it is considered a club sport so there are no cuts. This can be a problem sometimes for court space. But, only about half show up everyday for practice--sometimes different people each time, sometimes not.

    We were first in our league for the past three years, but to be honest, it wasn't that hard and now we're moving up to a higher one. Which is why I'm kind of scared, because 1. I've seen the teams play, and they're good., and 2. We are currently doing conditioning and so far no drills whatsoever involving footwork and the like.

    That's also a reason why I don't know any footwork. Though I probably should have looked it up sooner and tried to learn it, I regret not having it already in my muscle-memory...

    First, this is what our conditioning looks like:
    1. Run around in circles for about ten minutes at a steady jog to get warmed up (some people are lazy and walk, though).
    2. Stretch legs, arms, hammies, quads, butt.
    3. Running in place with knees high above waist for two minutes.
    4. 4 sets of 5 push-ups on a bench.
    5. 4 sets of 5 opposite push-ups where back is to floor, not chest, on bench.
    6. Running back and forth six times at sprint-pace.
    7. Plyometrics (sort of)--a frog hop? fifteen times.
    Afterwards, we go to the weight room for about thirty minutes and work on bench press, step-ups, pull-ups, stuff like that.

    Is this too easy? I feel like we could do a lot more, but I just don't know which would be more beneficial and effective.

    I'm looking to learn a lot of different footwork drills, or warm-up exercises that are more badminton/cardiovascular-specific. But it is hard to explain over the Internet. And it's probably too much to ask for a person to videotape oneself and upload it on youtube.com or something. But pleeeeeeease--any detailed suggestions would be very, very much appreciated. I really have no one else to turn to...

    Hoping for lots of ideas/suggestions! Thanks in advance. :D
     
    #1 yotarou, Jan 27, 2008
    Last edited: Jan 27, 2008
  2. yotarou

    yotarou Regular Member

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    Does anyone even visit this forum? (yes, this is a shameless bump.)
     
  3. stumblingfeet

    stumblingfeet Regular Member

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    What level is this?

    Badminton is primarily a skill sport, so getting them to hit the shuttle as much as possible will give you the best results.
     
  4. yotarou

    yotarou Regular Member

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    I don't know which level. All kinds of levels, I suppose. We have a lot of sophomores who are just starting out, and a handful of veterans who have been on the team for three years now.

    The outline I described above is conditioning only, because we are not allowed to touch our racquets until the actual season begins, which is sometime in February.
     
  5. Dummey

    Dummey Regular Member

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    I am going to start off with a bit of critiq:
    1. Warm up jogging is good, even great, but make sure you take into consideration the condition and environment you are in. For example, do not make badminton players run on asphalt or even gym floor in badminton shoes. The point of badminton shoes is for lateral movements and rapid start stop, not long distances running. Weather also needs to be taken into account, have on off harsh training isn't going to be doing anybody much good.
    2. Stretching is great, but a 10 min run might be a bit too much of a warmup. I personally prefer a 2 min walk leading up to a 3 min run.

    to be continued.
     
  6. Dummey

    Dummey Regular Member

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    Sorry about breaking this into parts, in between classes and stuff. BTW where is the edit button.

    3. High-knees as I've common heard them called is very taxing on the hips and knees. 2 mins might be pushing it, especially if they are done continuous maybe 4 sets of 30 secs. Also, make an emphasis on landing as softly as possible instead of going as fast as possible.
    4/5. sounds good, just make sure everybody has proper form.
    6. Sprints are great, but don't make them do lines or other things that require back and forth at full speed, this is going to damage joints, especially to those who are out of shape. I suggest in-out 100's which are done on a track. You sprint the straights and walk the turns.
    7. Be very careful with plyometrics. One of the assumptions made when you start training with it is that the said person has a reasonable amount of muscle. For frog jumps, it was suggested that the person be able to squad 80% of their weight for 4 sets of 5. This is to ensure that the force when landing is not forced onto joints instead of absorbed.

    As for weight room. It's good to go in there, but watch the weight. If anything badminton is a sport about being fluid and tone, not muscle building. Not that it should be avoid it, but limit it, especially for girls. None of this cause guys can do x amount of reps for y sets, girls should be able to. Core workout on the other hand is a must, it helps keep people form being injured by absorbing force, helps with a better stroke.

    From the looks of it, it seems like the same workout is going to be done everyday. I would suggest doing variation to allow muscles to heal. I'll go research it later, but something like 3/4 lower, 1/4 upper then vice versa the next day.

    Finally, it sounds like you are helping high school age girls? If so, you have to remember to keep it fun. Nobody wants to suffer needlessly and have no fun. Instead of the 10 min run, plug in some freeze tag or ultimate frisbe. Instead of strength training... maybe go rock climbing (probably a bit far fetched). Appeal with the fun side of training and help build a better team by breaking down the eventual segregation that occurs when the season start because of skill level/format of play.
     
  7. westwood_13

    westwood_13 Regular Member

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    Honestly, your circuit is far more appropriate for a basketball team than a badminton team.

    I hate to critique, but unfortunately, the sport is very different and often presents unusual challenges to high school coaches.

    First off, eliminate the weight room portion. Weights prior to learning correct fundamentals will only interfere with technique. The players can feel free to do weights 2-3x a week on their spare time, but they need to be getting primarily touches on the bird. Any conditioning in the form of running, sprints, plyometrics, etc., should be saved until the end of the practice.

    To give you some practice ideas, I'll give you an example used for advanced to elite players in the club system.

    Aerobic Warm-Up - first, jogging for perhaps 8 or so laps around the gym. Then shuffles back and forth across the gym, then kareoke/grapevine/cross-overs/step-overs, whatever you want to call them. Running backwards, skipping, bum-kicks, striding, all that kind of stuff. Followed by about 5-10min of stretching.
    On-Court Warm-Up - players get into pairs and take half a court each. Typically, high level players start with drives, move to clears (returning to the centre of the half between each clear), do up-and-back drops/netshots, up-and-back smashes, then net shots. However, it sounds like your players will not be at the skill level to achieve this.
    Isolation - one shot in specific is taught properly to everyone along with the correct footwork to do so. Players get in partners or group sof three, depending on what is necessary to practice that shot. One player feeds birds, either single or multi-shuttle, to the other to practice that shot/move/recovery/whatever. They switch every 3-5 minutes.
    Footwork - footwork is practices, usually in shadow format.
    Multi-shuttle - use of many birds quickly fed to create an unbelievably rigorous workout, usually focussed on one half of the court (either side or front/back)
    Games - at least 45 min should be reserved for games. They need the opportunity to apply the skills they have been working
    Conditioning
    - sprints are best (example being to the end of the gym, come back backwards, sprint to the end of the gym, walk back). Approximately 8 sets are done with push-ups/sit-ups/tuck-jumps done in between.

    Note: if multi-shuttle is done intensively, conditioning is usually not done as well because that would pretty much kill a player.

    Hope that helps!
     
  8. yotarou

    yotarou Regular Member

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    Thanks Dummey! We haven't been running outside on the track because of the rain and mud. Also, most of the girls don't have badminton shoes, so running doesn't damage their shoes.

    It's funny that you mention that, westwood, since our coach (I'm just the team captain) used to be a basketball coach before he started doing badminton. Note: He isn't certified to teach badminton. So it's fine if you critique. :p

    Thank you for the idea about aerobic warm-ups. I also forgot to add--we also do ladders, with just regular running in the squares, hopping on one foot, backwards cross-overs. Should we just replace aerobic warm-ups with that, or is the ladder also useful?

    Typically, is every single component of your outline done for every practice? Because for our high school, there has to be a certain period of conditioning, which doesn't involve racquets or equipment at all. So given that, it'd be hard to do on-court warm-up, isolation, multi-shuttle, and games.

    Also, how much time should be set aside for each? For us, we have practice for two hours, so it'd be good to be strategic about time use.
     
  9. stumblingfeet

    stumblingfeet Regular Member

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    Okay, since you're talking pre-season training here, here's a simple but awesome exercise. Get the girls to go into a squat position (or lunge position if they're strong enough), and hold the position where their thighs are parallel to the ground. Set a timer for 5 minutes.

    Now, they're probably not able to hold that position for the entire 5 minutes, so if they fall over, let them take 3 deep breaths, then back into position. The goal is to eventually be able to last the entire 5 minutes in a single set.

    The benefit of this exercise is that you only need to pay attention to position. Too often, people perform exercises with movement when they can't even hold the critical positions with any sort of consistency. This should fix that, and make sure they can keep good posture when they get to the more advanced exercises.
     
  10. westwood_13

    westwood_13 Regular Member

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    My two cents:

    The ladder thing is excellent for basketball and good for badminton. So it is also useful. Conditioning should be in the form of sprints and shadow footwork drills with intermittent core body stuff... not weights, especially not bulk weights like bench press, etc.

    And what I described above would be a two hour practice. Except usually it's multi-shuttle or isolation rather than both. Which definitely SHOULD count as conditioning because gosh they're hard when done right.

    Yeah I thought the practice sounded rather basketball-ish (being a basketball coach myself, heh).

    Good luck!
     
  11. KazeCloud

    KazeCloud Regular Member

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    This sounds extremely like what my school is like Yotarou, I even have to do the ridiculous frog jumps and suicide runs. Thankfully with extensive research in BC I have only improved because of this forum so thanks. Got the address of that badminton shop yet?

    Dummy what does "squad 80% of their weight for 4 sets of 5" mean during frog jumps?
     
  12. Dummey

    Dummey Regular Member

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    "The specified minimum strength requirement varies depending on where the information is sourced and the intensity of the plyometrics to be performed. Chu (1998) recommends a participant should able to perform 5 repetitions of the squat exercise at 60% of their bodyweight before doing plyometrics. Core body (trunk) strength is also important." - wiki

    The issue is that with any kind of plyometrics, the stress exerted on the body increases exponentially as the person gets bigger. That is to say, my little sister who is 4 foot tall and 75 pounds can frog jump all day while me being 6+ foot and 180 pounds cannot.
     
  13. robc06

    robc06 Regular Member

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    This is a quick fitness drill which we use.

    Firstly for 30secs have your players do as many as they can then half the number. 30 secs rest then repeat.

    Exercises to do, push ups, situps, step ups (as long as you have a step - stairs, seats etc) backlifts (lay on your front, lift right leg/left arm etc), jumping jacks, court sprints from outer line to outer line on 1 court,
     
  14. robc06

    robc06 Regular Member

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    cont'd

    Then

    Once completed and halved your total.

    Every time you train complete this fitness routine

    Step ups
    Push ups
    Situps
    Court sprint
    Back lifts
    Squat Thrusts

    Repeat x2.

    Every 12 weeks test yourself again and your fitness should have improved. And update your results.

    These exercises are badminton specific to strengthen your core muscles, anaerobic and lactic system.
     
  15. stumblingfeet

    stumblingfeet Regular Member

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    Haha, Chu's book (Jumping into plyometrics) is one of the most useless training books I've ever read. It's full of pictures of different combinations of boxes and jumps, but has very little useful information on techniques, progressions, volume regulation, etc i.e. the things that really matter.

    For example, what type of plyometrics are you qualified to do if you can squat 60%BW? By the way, I wouldn't recommend any of the exercises from that book if you can only squat that much. For those ones (depth drop and jump variations), a squat of at least 1.5xBW is preferable, eventually working up 2xBW squatting strength.
     
  16. Dummey

    Dummey Regular Member

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    I'm definitely going to have to grab a copy of Chu's book and see what he says in it's entirety. Thanks for pointing out that there's an even bigger larger pre-req for some of these plyometics. Any general number of %bw squat before doing sets of frog jumps to prevent injury?
     
  17. stumblingfeet

    stumblingfeet Regular Member

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    I really wouldn't bother with it. There's no more useful information in that book than you get from wikipedia.

    As for frog jumps... I'm not even sure what they are. I assume that they're some sort of jump from a deep squat with your hands between your legs? You know, when working with the kids at a camp we'd make them run these relay races doing stuff like crab walks, bunny hops, horsie crawls and probably frog jumps as well. If that's what it is, I wouldn't worry too much about the exercise. Just make sure that you're springing through the movement and that you don't feel any jolting through your bones when you jump.
     
  18. NanoBatien

    NanoBatien Regular Member

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    Just curious, but why? Is there no place to play? Or is it dishonourable to "cheat-train" preseason? :p

    Like the others, I think time hitting shuttles is still the most important thing though.
     
    #18 NanoBatien, Feb 8, 2008
    Last edited: Feb 8, 2008
  19. Memmy

    Memmy New Member

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    I second that, shuttles is always the best way to train for beginners.
     

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