Post videos of yourself playing

Discussion in 'General Forum' started by GTAveteran, Apr 8, 2009.

  1. s_mair

    s_mair Regular Member

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    I had the plan of filming myself for quite some time now but actually never had a proper chance. During club league matches I wanted to stay focused on the matches and during a normal training session, I feel a bit nerdy to run around with camera and a tripod.
    But finally I had the chance when a clubmate and I rented a court during the Christmas break in our club. And boy… that truly is an eye-opening experience to see yourself play a whole match and also during drills and exercises. :eek:

    General background:
    I have focused pretty much on doubles the last couple of years but somehow I felt that something was missing. So my goal for this season has been to improve in singles and to be able to challenge our club-internal #1 during the upcoming club-championships in May. Our #1 has won the championships the previous 10(?) years in a row, so something just has to happen there.

    Currently, I am ranked at #3 in the club and in the video, I’m playing against our #2. We both share the same goals for this season and so we are constantly pushing each other. He is currently also in the middle of a youth coach education so I think these are some good preferences to improve. And it so happens that we both are noticeably getting closer to our #1 in the first half of the season and we both have managed to beat him in trainings matches. So there is definitely a very motivating light at the end of the tunnel.

    Long story short, here is the video (I am the guy in the black shirt, white pants and the blue SHA-920… man, I just noticed how much I look like I just jumped out of a Victor product catalogue…):



    Our matches are normally pretty close and most of the times go to 3 games with changing winners from day to day. In the video, I end up losing in 3 games mostly because I was running out of breath and stamina big time towards the end of game 3. We played a second match afterwards which I won in 2 surprisingly straight games. But I think that the first match showed the more realistic picture of my current performance.

    I am now looking forward to receiving some quality feedback from you fellow BC’ers regarding strengths (in case you find any…:eek:) and weaknesses in my game and based on that some input on which areas I should focus on during the next sessions. Movement/footwork, positioning, tactics, hitting technique… everything that comes into your mind while watching. Although it would be nice if you could all highlight the 3 or 4 things which you would give the highest priority.

    My goal is not to change my game completely and to raise to a whole different level shortly, but I am pretty sure that there are some issues that currently keep me from playing better and more efficient.

    Things that I noticed myself and which are already on my “to-improve-list” – feel free to agree or disagree:
    - Stamina (although that has not been my best day…)
    - Keeping the racket up higher in general, especially right after I served. It drops too often below the waist or even the knees which seems to work as a kind of off-switch for my attention and body tension.
    - Lifts from the net and sometimes clears should be consistently longer. I lost a lot of points with too short lifts and clears and the following easy smashes whilst I won a lot of points after good long and deep lifts/pushes and clears.
    - I get wrong-footed a number of times with shots to my deep forehand corner (especially at the service return). Any idea what I should change to improve that?

    [MENTION=124614]sebZeroToHeroes[/MENTION]
    I will try to post the video also on your platform since I think it has a great concept and makes it easier to link comments to certain scenes in the video. Feel free to comment in either of the two platforms.

    Oh, and if you like feel free to comment also on the game of my opponent in the white shirt. As said, we are brothers in arm in trying to overthrow our club emperor so if either of us will succeed, it will be a victory for both of us.

    And now: FIRE AT WILL!!!
     
    #2421 s_mair, Jan 12, 2016
    Last edited: Jan 11, 2017
  2. amleto

    amleto Regular Member

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    I would say three notable things for me: net play/technique, split step, movement/posture.

    Use a lot more wrist flexibility when playing at the front - you're all shoulder atm. You can play net shots a lot earlier than you do - e.g. your serve returns.

    Split step is not consistent. Sometimes missing, sometimes miss-timed.

    Posture/movement: get lower and you will react faster. This and the split step enhance each other.

    Note on deep forehand corner: see 20:00. You're 'running on the spot', nearly :D. You're waiting for the return, but you're never ready. Get low, split step and angle your base to point towards the deep forehand a bit (you'll be faster there, but slower to deep b/h). You were encouraging that reply by not serving to the T. Try serving wide and moving your base right across. You may be surprised how many people/times they will return straight at you ;)

    Side note: your contact point often seems to be not in front of you enough.
     
  3. s_mair

    s_mair Regular Member

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    Wow, that was quick! And you raised a number of good points as expected. The split step and lower stance are things that I have been working on since last summer. According to our coach I have improved but I do see that I am not where I want to be. Can you recmommend any drills or routines to specifically target this?

    Good find also regarding the wide serve and the provoked return in the forehand corner. I noticed this too while watching the video - a lot of times when I served a bit wide he took the opportunity to push it to the corner. That's a thing I will try to test in the next matches.
     
  4. amleto

    amleto Regular Member

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    Can you recmommend any drills or routines to specifically target this?

    1: put the net at half height and have a coach underarm throw some shuttles around. To easy? Coach uses a racket.

    2: coach in front of net, throwing shuttles all over the place. here's my attempt from a few years ago:
    [video=youtube;8F2qA1pcgJI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F2qA1pcgJI[/video]
     
  5. s_mair

    s_mair Regular Member

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    Thanks, I appreciate it! That's definitely going in the right direction. Hehe... and I like the title of the video/drill! :D
     
  6. Charlie-SWUK

    Charlie-SWUK Regular Member

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    You should definitely turn off autofocus s_mair :D
     
  7. ucantseeme

    ucantseeme Regular Member

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    I think you should try these things.

    1. Mindset: Don't have in your mind to finish the rally too quick. (Nicht mit der Brechstange ;)) If you have this mindset you will generate a lot pressure to your self and will lead to unforced errors. I guess you set yourself under pressure. Your body language is my indicator.

    2. Service: IMO you should change your service to a high and deep service with your forehand to the corners. I think you would benefit. You will have more time to get ready and into position, don't have the pressure directly on your backhand and won't be forced to be played out badly at the net at the beginning. In Singles you do many thinks different compared to doubles. So you should put down your habits from doubles. Combined with amletos drill you will become quicker and you don't have to fear a smash to the sides. You are then in a position to built up your game slowly.

    3. You should try to train to clear crosscourt from the around the head corner. In doubles is the crosscourt uncommon and blamed but if you play a fast, flat and straight clear to your opponents forehand you will have trouble to recover due less time and makes it easy for your opponent to finish the rally.

    Tbh I didn't watched the whole video due the autofocus.
     
  8. s_mair

    s_mair Regular Member

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    Sorry for the pumping autofocus. I thought it should work with my compact camera but sadly, the autofocus cannot be disabled. It gets better as soon as the other two players have finished and left court. Anyway, next time I will have to show up with my big SLR. ;)

    Thanks also for the input, again some valid points.

    Regarding 1) there is to say that my opponent from the video and myself share this issue. So we both are not very patient. But I hope that with more stamina comes more patience.

    2) A good and consistent deep high forehand serve has been one of my biggest issues since like forever. You wouldn't believe how many points I gave away in the past due to
    a) serving too short and being easily smashed dead,
    b) serving wide (long and/or to the sides).
    I have started to give this bloody shot another try and to build it up from scratch again. I have made some progress during training but I am far from feeling safe with it.

    3) Good point, never thought of this actually. Will put it on my to-train-list.
     
  9. amleto

    amleto Regular Member

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    haha, I have/had same issues with high serve.

    At club night I served enough (doubles) to develop a decent serve. But you can't do the same for singles... have to get on a court, on your own, and practice. Boring, but it helps.
     
  10. OhSearsTower

    OhSearsTower Regular Member

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    you look heavy-footed to me
    you come too late very often
    you must improve your legpower and agility to be able to get behind the shuttle beziehungsweise stand correct to the shuttle so you have at least a decent chance to execute a good shot...because you are late most of the time your strokes suffer or even make a fast mistake

    i think if you would be able to get to the shuttle early and into good position (no magic at this level) you would crush your opponent


    you also tend to walk (spazieren) back to base position when you have no time for walking...your legs in general must move much quicker


    that was my impression from your video, didnt watch the whole thing
     
    #2430 OhSearsTower, Jan 13, 2016
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2016
  11. ucantseeme

    ucantseeme Regular Member

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    [MENTION=113405]s_mair[/MENTION]
    I believe you that you are not comfortable and consistent with the high serve. I watched the first set and made streaks. Maybe this will make you think about your serve in singles.

    short service: 6

    bruno returns flat to your backhand -> point: II
    bruno returned flat and fast to your forehand -> point: I
    bruno returned serve and pushed -> you was out of position: I
    service to high and bruno killed -> point: I
    bruno returned flat to your body and put pressure on you, but you made luckily the point due his short lift: I

    Losing 5 points in one set within the first 3-4 shots in singles should made you think about my advice. ;)

    flick serve: 2

    too short and bruno end the rally with a smash: II

    I think if the short serve is more comfortable for you, you must work on many other things, if your opponent can make alot pressure to you with just the return. Normally the service should be an advantage. Especially serving from the right side to his corner will lead immediately to pressure to your backhand. Your opponent did it, too but you lifted it mostly to his forehand and he knows it and opened his backhand side. For a pro not an big issue, but for us these small things can make a huge difference.

    In the first set that you played a few times a crosscourt net shot as return of his service or in play from your forehand side to your opponents forehand and his straight lift put pressure on you to your backhand side, because he wasn't far away. Especially at lower level the backhand is a real weakness and he left alot gap for the around the head corner. He isn't the guy who run much to take it with his forehand. I would exploid this laziness.

    I also noticed that you played alot to his forehand and not really high. Maybe due the height of the hall, but he was only 1 time under real pressure. Your forehand to his forehand opens your court to much which you can't cover with your backhand.

    If you played to his backhand he was always under pressure. His backhand clear always made it hard for him to recover, opened his court and due the shortness you gained alot. Maybe a good tactic against him.

    IMO you will gain with this exercise. Sorry for this shitty Video, but the exercise is good. Especially when you come from doubles it helps alot to train this way.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMv30OY2J_0
     
  12. s_mair

    s_mair Regular Member

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    You guys are awesome, thanks for wasting your time to watch and comment. There are a lot of useful things in your comments that I will try to tackle within the next weeks.

    I know that I'm not a true ballerina on court so I started doing more and more Fast Feet drills and leg workouts in general at home during the past months so I will focus even more on that. I can feel some progress already but there is still a long way to, no doubt about that. Also I will try to find some time during clubnights to practise alone on court (footwork and high serves) - [MENTION=59291]ucantseeme[/MENTION], you can be very convincing if you want to make your point clear. :rolleyes:

    Can anyone recommend a really good in in-depth video tutorial for high forehand serve? The ones I found are all pretty shallow and make that shot look like it's the easiest thing in the world. But for some reason it has never been for me.
     
  13. opikbidin

    opikbidin Regular Member

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    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwPTMLIBbTY

    many things covered, I think it's this video, if not, in the same series
    Fu's smash, cai's serve, the high serve, etc

    It is said that for the high forehand serve, you need to rotate your body, not just swing your arm, pay attention to your hip too.
     
  14. s_mair

    s_mair Regular Member

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    That's a really good clip, thanks for sharing. I know the Fu's smash part of this series but didn't know that they also covered so many other shots. Really nice.
     
  15. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    s_mair.

    Footwork and positioning of body. If you can't move to the shuttle, you cannot hit the shuttle properly.

    Your split step after the low serve is inefficient. Can you see you don't land the feet at the same time on the floor. Also, with a low serve, the shuttle is hit up. Have the feet positioned front and back for this - not split sideways.

    I think from this video your leg strength looks a bit weak. Combined with the poor split step, it's why you look heavy footed. As a result, you are having to take extra steps to move around the court.
     
  16. s_mair

    s_mair Regular Member

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    Thanks Cheung. As said, I am currently doing Fast Feet drills to get more explosive (so stuff like this https://youtu.be/fCoFdLENCHE?list=PLYrw9BAzfs6dIioGqBMC4ugYJ_tFoSwVf) and to generally getting more leg strength I'm using this workout: http://darebee.com/workouts/legday-workout.html

    Would you say that this is targeting the right things or would you recommend to train differently? What has to be said is that my on-court time for training purposes is currently limited to maximum about 2.5 hours per week, so I need to find workouts and stuff that I can do at home with limited space. So the most obvious things like shadow badminton are not a real option.
     
  17. j4ckie

    j4ckie Regular Member

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    It's been a while. Glad to see the activity here though :)

    We had our last team match yesterday, and it was kind of a strong day for me (2:0 in MD, 1:1 in XD). Glad to take a clean 2:0 XD win in my last match - it's been a very rough season for me where XD was concerned.
    The posted MD match took place in our match against the almost uncontested 1st placed team.
    Interesting side note: since I played a doubles tournament with my partner in the video in January, we have been playing in team matches as well - with success. Won all 4 of those! We haven't played together in competition for the previous 2,5 years since our last attempt to do so failed spectacularly, losing against two weaker combinations and deciding against attempting it again since it didn't work out well in training either.

    Anyhow. On to it - we are playing in green, and I'm the taller one (wearing the grey/orange SHB87). Any comments (and most so, constructive criticism - even more so with linked times ;)) are highly welcome!

    [video=youtube;1ugtbBqTXYo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ugtbBqTXYo[/video]
     
  18. j4ckie

    j4ckie Regular Member

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    Despite the encouraging silence, I took a bit more footage at Monday's training session ;)
    Had a new guy in training - young and with a pretty nice smash. Made for very good games as it upped the intensity, which we lacked in training for the last year or so (quite a bit of bad luck with injuries in the first 3 teams).

    As always, comments are appreciated!

    [video=youtube;uZ7vfA02g1o]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZ7vfA02g1o[/video]

    First 30-29 I can remember playing myself!
    [video=youtube;XF0Iu7qBYDs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF0Iu7qBYDs[/video]
     
  19. alex292

    alex292 Regular Member

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    Mens doubles (21:16 21:12)
    [video=youtube;fcSy-FGD0gg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcSy-FGD0gg[/video]
    [video=youtube;NEOna9FAmPc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEOna9FAmPc[/video]

    Mixed doubles (21:10 21:10)
    [video=youtube;Q_YoaOJXono]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_YoaOJXono[/video]
    [video=youtube;IvDjrzspUkU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvDjrzspUkU[/video]

    These four videos are from our last league match (Bezirksoberliga). We played against the last team in our league and sadly they didn't even bring their best players. We won 8:0 and although they didn't push us very hard I still produced some easy errors. Nonetheless I'm always thankful for advice and maybe somebody spots some errors.

    I'm the tall guy (2m, 6'6) with yellow shoes ("Hendrich" on my back). My usual doubles partner was sick that day, so I played with a new partner. And he normally plays mixed too, so I filled the gap.
     
  20. j4ckie

    j4ckie Regular Member

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    A few short notes:
    -movement
    You need to take more smaller steps, often you are guilty of the sin tall people tend to commit - trying to do everything with one step. It makes you static and slow to react. Split step needs a lot of work, especially when you're attacking.

    -defense
    You seem a bit slow to react and don't always choose good shots. An example: several times your opponents played a crosscourt smash to your backhand defense. Instead of saying 'thank you', taking the opportunity and playing an offensive longline drive/flat lift and using that to either score directly or get the attack back, you chose to lift crosscourt on several occasions. Not a good choice of shot there, and actually harder to execute than the longline option.

    -net play
    You often commit to one side, which is bad because you dont have the option of going overhead, being too tall for that. Also, you have your racket up when your partner plays the shot, hindering him, but take it down when the opponents reply.....not great ;)

    Use your attack from the back court more. Whenever you get a lift to your forehand, you go for the straight smash - instead, go for the body or middle of the court! You have decent power and angles, use them!
    I have no idea what you play like with your regular partner, but with this one you really should try and stay at the back once you're there. His attack wasn't doing anything at all and you actively trying to get to the front takes you out of your significantly stronger formation.
     
    #2440 j4ckie, Mar 10, 2016
    Last edited: Mar 10, 2016

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