There may be a better way to do this (for me, it's just as good). You can borrow the books from the library. If you couldn't find it in your local library, you may request for an inter-library loan. I happened to check the libraries. I found in Vancouver City Library, e.g., there're S.I.X. copies of this book (while we don't have any here in the Bay Area). Not even in book stores. Sounds ridiculous isn't it... I got 5 rare collections this way, including "Excelling at Badminton". Boy, I'm so excited. While the service is not free ($1.50 per book), it's close enough.
Tactics in textbooks I borrowed this book from the library after reading all the praise here about it. I'll get back with a review when I've read it properly. On a superficial inspection it contains good advice on stroke analysis, etc, but the sections on tactics are not that useful. It's funny how most badminton literature fails in that department. When it comes to tactics authors seem to panic and give either a) completely obvious "tips" or b) become all fuzzy and philosophical. Only one book that I have come across contains good hands-on tactical advice, and unfortunately for you guys it's a Danish book by Joachim Fischer-Nielsen... Really good, sound, practical advice, based on certain player types and specific rally situations. Why is this or that shot better in such or such a situation? That's actually something that a textbook can tell you, but few manage to do it. Unfortunately, it seems that Downey is no exception. There's been talk of putting together a BC badminton book. I was sceptical at first, but the more I think about it the more I realise that there is still a gap to fill out there... and if we can't do it then -- who can?
Re: Tactics in textbooks Mag, were you talking about the book Excelling at Badminton? If so then you're right. This book does not focus on tactics because Downey saved the materials for his other 2 books on tactics: Winning Badminton Singles and Winning Badminton Doubles. They are excellent! Every situation is analyzed in details. If I were to design a robot that plays badminton, I'd use his books for writing algorithms for the robot software. But I don't think the robot would play as well as humans In chess, maybe ... Badminton, probably not ... When should the robot decide to play a deceptive shot? Maybe based on a true/false random number generated by the software
I just did a search. The book is listed in Barnes&Noble for slightly less than 25$. Shipping in US costs another a few bucks and the total is less than 30$. I can not understand why that guy at amazon is trying to sell it at 70$.
Re: Re: Re: Tactics in textbooks > >I was also lucky enough to have been on a few coaching courses with Jake Downey > Wow ... you were indeed very lucky.
Jake Downeys "winning badminton doubles" There has been a lot of interest on this thread for "winning badminton doubles" by Jake Downey, people have been finding it difficult to obtain, well the good news is that Jake Downey has his own website where you can obtain it for FREE !! + other books written by him. The address is www.badmintonbooks.com Kwun, Cheung & Mag........I hope that I'm not infringing any of your rules by naming this website ?? Gerry
"Winning badminton doubles" was a good book for the club player when it was written, but things have moved on a lot in 20 years. Mostly the book just formalises and describes the basics...e.g from the back you can play a smash drop or clear, from the net you can play a net shot, lift or crosscourt net etc. Or describes different styles of player and the different formations used. The practices describes are useful but there is no information that will help the real enthusiast take their game to higher levels. Physical training is briefly touched on but again there is not enough depth. The book "Physical training requirements" from IBF I would recommend as it provides relevant up to date advice and practical training plans, including examples.
[ "Winning badminton doubles" was a good book for the club player when it was written, but things have moved on a lot in 20 years. Mostly the book just formalises and describes the basics...e.g from the back you can play a smash drop or clear, from the net you can play a net shot, lift or crosscourt net etc. Or describes different styles of player and the different formations used. _________________________________________________________________ I'm insulted ! ;-) talk about simplification, that's like saying that badminton is a game where you just hit the shuttle over the net........which it is but with many more facets required to do it well. Most of what's in the book is still relevent today, sure he didn't go deeply into all aspects...i.e. fitness training, if he had it would have been like reading "war and peace" but the things he did cover he covered well. If you see all the areas of badminton that he explained as the "basics" (much more than your discription above) then you must be a hellava player. Badminton has moved on in some ways of course, particulary at national/international levels but the contents of this book still stands the test of time.
Jake Downey discussed physical training in his book Excelling at Badminton ... Lots of information about practicing strokes, body movement, footwork, grips, endurance training, stretching, etc. Someone "complained" this book did not cover tactics/strategy. Now someone else "complains" his tactic book does not cover physical training Downey should have published an Encyclopedia of Badminton It's really kind of Downey to make his books available for free on the Internet.
I don't know what you're looking for. That volumn discusses a lot of tactics in Doubles and Mixed, that a lot of people don't know about. As a reference, it's rather uncommon, if you ever try to search for a comparable one in book store. As someone said, maybe he should have published an Encyclopedia (perhaps he already did, I vaguely remember there's a book called "Encyclopedia of Badminton"). If you're looking for physical training, well, maybe that book you mentioned is a good reference. And I'm gonna check it out as well. If you're already in a National Team or something, perhaps you should be looking for a World Champion to coach you. Or perhaps you can write your own good book that help other players to move up to the next level.
My reaction to Gerry's posting is that, Jake apparently is very generous in passing his book out for free. There're people out there who tries to use his name to ripe people off (those used book sellers).
I actually own a book "Encyclopaedia of Badminton skills" which is really a series of 12 booklets in one binder which covers movement,tactics, strokes, training etc etc but I feel that Jake Downey covers it all better in his individual books. Yes he is being very generous in allowing free access to his books, he is a man worth listening to, I only wish he had the time and desire to still coach coaches but I think after visiting his website he is busy doing other things in his life now. I'm grateful for his site and will visit it often and will try and encourage him to think about doing more talks and seminars, I for one would be very interested in attending. Thanks to nsmasher, Tammy and Raymond for your replies, I would love to know your profiles but respect your wishes for anonymity. nsmasher, I visited Toronto recently, found it difficult to find places to play, can I ask for your help the next time I visit ?
It is indeed generous of the author to put his book on the web for free. http://www.badmintonbooks.com I still think it is worth a read. Of course, badminton moves on but we should look at the people who would learn from such a book. Those relatively advanced players would gain little whereas the less experienced will gain more. An excellent article for expereinced players would be the one in BC articles on 'causing damage'. Unfortunately, we have too few of those articles http://www.badmintonforum.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7
i just got the chance to read the book over the week. i went straight to the mixed doubles section. i must say, the book is very well written. there aren't that many books that describe the game situation in such details. and i am glad that the author description of the game is similar to my style, which i developed through watching tournament tapes and my own thoughts over the years.
excelling in badminton chap. 5 & 8 Sorry to bump such an old thread but can anyone share just chapter 5 & 8 of the excelling in badminton book? I have everything but those two files got corrupted for some reason. Thanks!
Sorry to bump such an old thread, but if anyone's interested, found these scans of the book (freeeee ) http://www.badminton.tv/content/item/excelling-at-badminton/123.html
