First of all, if the opposite lady is really weak, then chance is good that she can't attack low serves either, and is forced to lift if the low serve is done right... so basically mixing up low serves with occasional flick serve is still the better option. (May be it's just me that don't like to pick on weaker players with flick serves). Bottom line, as long as it is doable(position wise), and doesn't cause a body crash situation between the two partners, then all rear court smashes should be done by the male partner in a mixed match. (ASSUMING the male is stronger though) When your partner serves behind you, you should always crouch toward a side that IS NOT in his way. Communication is important and your partner should not surprise you with a lot of poor flick serve as well especially if the opponent is fast and can smash hard. Flick serve(GOOD ONES) are only good if done properly and with a surprise factor.
The main thing is as the front court player(lady in the majority cases), your main role boils down to setting up your partner by good net shots, good placements, and intercept drives + the decisive finishing smashes or net kills. As long as you do a good job at those, and you have a decent partner who can cover the rear court well in case some shots do get pass you, and he has a decent fast drop shot and a strong smash with good placement, I can't see how such a pair can lose to a team with the female being so weak and always in the wrong position. Just 2 days ago, I played at a club in a mixed match with an at most "C+" level lady against an "B+' man and a "C" lady partner. I even let my lady partner take the rear court, and I just dominate the net area, and we won the match due to the opposite lady could not do her job properly, and forced the much better partner being out played and out positioned the whole match. My partner's smash is not even that hard, but because the opposite lady is not cover her part of the court right, it was very difficult for the "B+" player to cover the entire doubles court, and I just pounce on every given opportunity + cut off all the drives and everything else.
Whenever I am forced to the back..I want to hit a drop shot near the net. The thing is the woman always stays at the T. So I tell the stronger man to run to the front..because sometimes when I'm on the run I don't hit my drops close enough to the sidelines. Some men I play with do run to the front when they see me in the back and when this happens the man usually kills the shots at the front when the opposing woman hits it. But..a majority of the men who I play with don't move to the front and we lose the point. I know this isn't good mixed strategy..but at my club it seems to work well! I need my old mixed partner back..
All I have to say is improve more, then start playing with better players, and you will noticed the game becomes much faster pace, and they know their positioning much better.
If you were at the back and executing a drop shot it should be followed up by rotation. So a straight drop shot while u move forward and ur partner rotate backwards would put you back in stronger attacking position. Crosscourt drop might be the better overall attack, but its very hard to rotate off a crosscourt drop, and unlikely the women at the back would be able to smash powerful enough to stay at the back. I'm having a bit of trouble getting my partner to square as well, but thats mainly because the ppl on the other side aren't threatening enough for her to move back...
It is hard to analyse without seeing the game. But it appears your opponents' girl front/man back poses a problem for you. If your opponents spend most of their time with this front/back formation (attack mode) and you and your partner spend more of your time side/side (defensive mode), chances are your opponents will have the upper hand. Try the following, which merely invovles you serving and returning serves: 1. Serving. Try to perfect your serve with the aim of forcing your opponent to lift. Try to serve as near the front service line as possible and do a short low serve. You must have deliberation, confidence, thoughtful and accurate placement, and very important, deception when serving. You are successful if your opponent lifts your serve to your partner. After serving, you must bring your racquet up quickly and move in (not towards the back) with thoughtful anticipation to discourage or cut off net or half-court returns. 2. Receiving serve. Try to stand as near the front service line as possible. Again your objective is to return a serve that will force your opponent to lift. To do this you must take the shuttle early, chest high, not below your waist, and reply with tight net shots and half-court pushes with deception, if possible. If you serve and return serve well, you and your partner will find having more high shots from your opponents, which you can score points more easily.
Well I only stay in front of the net when the opponents lift the Shuttle to my male partner, or if my partner is smashing or driving. The rest of the time..if we lift then I go to the side. Playing mixed against men that like to attack my serve (they stand right at the line in the front) has made my serve alot better since I have to serve low. The thing is since I'm really short ( I'm 5'1" ) it's really hard for me to receive serves at the front service line. I'm never sure where to stand because if I stand too close i'm vulnerable to a flick serve..and if I stand too far back then I have to lift low serves. Can anyone help me? Is there special foot work that I need to practice to get to the shuttles better? Also..when playing mixed against some men..they try to throw me off by hitting DRIVE serves..and it's hard for me to return accurately..because I try to hit it back really hard. What kind of shot should I play if I try to return a drive serve??
It's probably a better idea to start moving backward more, when a drive war occurs, as you will be excluded from the equation if you stay at the front of the net while your partner is trying to win the drive war against both of your opponents. About receving serves... Instead of badminton shoes, maybe a 3" inches heel may be better.. just kidding... I still suggest to stand as close to the net as you may feel comfortable with, instead of being passive and stand far away from the net. When you receive a drive serve from your male opponent, one possible return is to drive it back at his partner(the girl) whom is likely to be closer to the net area.. or in the worst scenario, if you must.. then clear it as high as you can, to allow yourself some time to recover. Any slow drop will get you in a lot of trouble as the front person of your opposition(most likely the girl in the front) will jump on it immediately.
When you are serving to the man, use a short, low serve with deception to bring the opposing man right up to the net in the hope of rushing your serve, only to find himself forced to lift, and with a great deal of open court behind him. If you can serve really low with deception to the opposing man, forcing the opposing man to come to the net and lift, you will have half the game won. Looks like your weakness is your return of serve. You should stand as near to the front service line as possible-this is the key to taking shots early and to have more options. Failure to handle or to even score winners from an opponent's drive serve is due to (1) slow reflexes, (2) lack of round-the-head smash. Reasons for failure to handle an opponent's flick serve are usually (1) slow reflexes, again, (2) server's racquet not watched closely, (3) a lack of initial drive to get behind the shuttle.
Ohh ok! Well I guess I need to improve my speed and footwork if I want to return serves better, and also need to watch the server..but most of the time i'm concentrating on what kind of shot I want to hit :S
There only one solution to that kind of problem. You guard 3 corner and the lady guard one corner. I suggest the lady stand at the corner where the shuttle come directly to her forehand. When u play this formation make sure you are in 90% attacking mode. "Attack is the best defend". 90% attacking mode means that never ever lift the ball unless it is emergency.
Let have a match than. You wanna try it? let's have a match my girl will stand one corner, and you can play what ever formation you want. I'm sure you will have no idea where to put the shuttle
Hey guys! I took you're advice and played mixed differently last time at my club. I did fast drop shots, smashes, and pushes to the sides...and we won by alot more!! THANKS EVERYONE!!
I think such formation can only work, if your own skill/speed is way superior than the rest of 3. In many public clubs, I saw guys (usually) who are much better, can simply handle 90% if not 100% of the work, and guide a weaker partner to victory against the opponents. However, if yourself is not far superior than the opponents, or the opponents have very balanced team work, such strategy will backfire, as you will be running around like crazy, and very soon, look the shuttle to drop with a helpless and frustrated face.
What is the point of having the female player in the corner of the court if she isn't going to do anything?
Hey its me again! I was playing mixed against a strong male opponent yesterday. He is physically stronger and is overall a better player than my mixed partner. We didn't do too bad in the rally's, but we ended up losing the match. My partner isn't strong enough to hit the shuttle at the woman hard enough, and his shots are easily intercepted by the opposing male who just returns the shuttle extremely hard and flat. Also the opposing male opponent stands right on the service line when my partner and I serve. When I serve low to him, 90% of the time it just gets hit back really hard and my partner can't get it. When my partner serves to him the opposing male usually returns the serve with a smash and since I'm standing infront of my partner, it's very hard for me to help him out when the opposing male smashes it downward. I tried low serves and flick serves, but it seems that flick serves work the best. I just don't want to keep flick serving at the opposing male, I have a feeling that he would just expect me to serve high all the time and he could eventually just smash my flick serves. Can anyone help us out? I used to have a better short serve that couldn't get smashed at, but i'm really out of practice! HELP!
Id keep going with the flick serves but mix them up if he keeps standing that close to the line and is able to push even your low serves. Flick it down the T or into the corner randomly, and if you can get away with it throw a flatter serve in every now and then sometimes you can catch them off guard with that. Another thing you can do is when you serve low try and angle it away from them, it will make it harder to push it rather than just aiming it low but directly at them. Just avoid serving directly at them it will make it easier to smash. Last of all you probably know this already stand as close to the line (I usually right on the line). This reduces the distance between your racquet and him, and therefore gives him less reaction time with flick serves especially the flatter ones this can make the difference. Also if your out of practice well the only fix to that is practice, and serving is one of the things you can practice by yourself =P P.S my flick serves usually hit the T or the corners when I want them to, if you cant get a good distance on them I suggest sticking with the low serves.
if your opponent is toeing the line, the chances are that he's not good enough to take a good flick serve. unless, of course, he is a very very good player, in which case there's not much you can do. flick right to the outside corner, concentrating on length, not deception. communicate with your partner so you're both prepared. if he's toeing the line, it'll be very hard for him to cover a good flick serve. if it works, keep doing it until he backs off from the service line.
