Also in doubles, becuase you are attacking, this requires you to be realxed to time the shuttle correctly when smashing/intercepting at the net. If you are tense your smahes can be very poor. You can see this effect in the 2000 AE MDfinal, where lee yong sung misses some smashes, and interceptions due to his swing being restricted from his muscles being tensed.
mmm. 2 cents in from me on this post, As of writing this, I had just come back from school badminton training, having had my dinner and shower. I was paired up with one guy and we were to play a doubles game of 1 match up to 21 points, where we were to change sides at the first one who reached 11. Ironically the other pair were good but my partner was considered the best player in the school, the over took us exposing our errors and were constantly leading until 18 - 14. Well, as mentioned about mental toughness and slacking off, I think this pair did just that. They thought 3 points was within their grasp and boy did they make mistakes, big ones. Well we got back the serve at 14 - 18 and I had the first serve. Looking at my partner who was using my racquet 'cause his one was not in working condition, he said he was ready to start smashing, so I complemented him by serving short ones, those which were returned were really high and my friend din hessitate to give them the trashing of their lives, while the services they missed landed where I wanted them to land , we had our game faces on! Needless to say our mental integrity held on and we went on winning 21 - 18. So the conclusion of this is, keeping calm when having a lead is crucial as I learnt just now when my opponents made the dumbest mistakes of their lives, by treating as if they had won the game and not maintaining their posture and eventually we caught up. And I think it is safe for me to conclude after my first hand experience here that having the advantage can sometimes be dangerous especially when you tend to slack off. And as mentioned here, many a time it is easier for the losing team to catch up in the points tally. Stay focussed at all times. FEND
"The great mistake is to anticipate the outcome of the engagement; you ought not to be thinking of whether it ends in victory or defeat. Let nature take its course, and your tools will strike at the right moment." - Bruce Lee Although he was not referring to badminton, what would you think of this approach to the game? Surely, you would be in a calm state allowing you to perform to your best abilities as you would not be putting yourself under any undue pressure - granted that it would be hard to put yourself into this frame of mind though.
"When one is emotionally attached to results that he can't control, he tends to become anxious and then try too hard. But one can control the effort he puts into winning. One can always do the best he can at any given moment. Since it's impossible to feel anxiety about an event that one can control, the mere awareness that you are using maximum effort to win each point will carry you past the problem of anxiety". - W. Timonthy Gallwey, author of The Inner Game of Tennis. In another words... just play the point, dummy!
Which takes it back round to my philosophy surely? My copy of Sun Tzu is at home so I can't take a gander. Since, as far as I can recall, his teachings revolve around the notion that one should only enter conflict when your own victory is a certainty, I'm not sure that it translates to badminton too well. Unless you choose only to play four year olds and make them play with their legs tied together.
I think Sun Tze's treatise is more for long term planners like CEOs, coaches, sport directors, generals and governors than the warriors, footsoldiers doing the actually battles. Miyamoto Musashi's Book of Five Rings seems more appropriate in this case.
found him on the web at http://www.kimsoft.com/polwar.htm some extracts from Chapter 4: tactical Dispositions The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy. He wins his battles by making no mistakes. Making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of victory, for it means conquering an enemy that is already defeated. Hence the skillful fighter puts himself into a position which makes defeat impossible, and does not miss the moment for defeating the enemy. All valid in badminton I think. Defend until you have an opportunity to attack Don't make mistakes When you do have an opportunity to attack - take it.
No - attack first, dammit. The situation is really rather different depending on whether you have played the game of your life against a 'better' opponent or whether you are tonking some muppet. Muppet-tonking is ok and the major challenge is keeping awake. In the former situation the pressure really begins to tell as you approach the winning post. The worst thing to do would be to defend as you have only got this far by attacking and playing shots. Defending at this point gives them the opportunity to regroup and come back.
How do you know you got there by playing attacking shots? In the points of every game, you should play the game tight, make no mistakes, attack when the oppurtunity arrives, defend with quality when you dont, and be patient. If you go around trying to attack everything, when you come up against good competition, they will take you apart. In every rally you get the chance to attack, and when you do you need to make sure each subsequent shot makes you more on the attack. If you do this, and make no mistakes, you cant lose.
Actually you can lose, I could play the game of my life, perfect shots, no errors, moving quickly. Would it do me any good against Rexy? Or even Toby Honey? No, it would not. What I am saying is that you cannot count on the opposition having an off day - you have to play the sort of game that will beat them. This means - when confronted with superior opposition you need to play winning shots, cut down your margin of error. If I were just to defend they would take me apart anyway!
