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You should be able to perform
the Beginner technique at a competent level before attempting anything in
this section.
You can hit the shuttle: you're not too bad but need
that extra bit of help to improve. These lessons are based around
improving your technique, to get you hitting the shuttle harder, sweeter,
more accurately and more consistently. Here's how to play like the
pros:
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Lesson 1 : Shot Technique
Lesson 2 : Court
Technique
Lesson 3 : Shot
Placement
Points to
remember
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| Forearm
Technique: |
OK, by now you've probably developed your own
style of hitting the shuttle, probably whatever you've found works for
you. Now it's time to change your style. Most likely, if you
came from the old school of training, you were told to use your wrist.
Unfortunately that is not the right way to do it - the illustrations below
step through the correct action (experts should find this old-hat,
it's been around for almost 10 years). If you think the drawing
suck, well... you'd be right, I drew them myself.
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1. Hold the racket in the indicated position, with the
correct hand grip. |
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2. Pull the racket back in the direction of the arrow,
turning your forearm as you do so. You should now be able to see the
underside of your forearm. You should also be able to feel the side
muscles in your forearm tightening.
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3. Quickly swing the racket in the opposite direction.
This is the primary action you should use.
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4. Here's an animation of the whole sequence:
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5. Here it is demonstrated for hitting an overhead shot
(the most-played shot in badminton, unlike other racket sports which are
primarily underarm swings). Note the angle of the elbow.
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When using the forearm-technique for overhead shots, you
should lead with your elbow (ie. as you turn your body to hit the shot, your racket-elbow
comes up, followed by your forearm turn). Your arm will swing forward
and your body will follow-through for maximum power transfer.
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Singles
Service:
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| By now you can probably serve the shuttle fairly well,
but can you consistently get it to land between the two back tramlines?
To take advantage of your hard-earned serve and to put pressure on your
opposing player, you need to serve high and long. The only way to
consistently achieve this is practice. Get hold of 10-20 old
feather shuttles (you can find them discarded at the badminton hall, or
you'll have your own) and try to get at least 15 out of 20 into the back.
If that's too easy, put a bucket between the tramlines and try to get as
many as possible to land inside it. If you get half in you're doing
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| Doubles
Service: |
| The doubles service game requires you to
serve short, and accurately. To practice this one, get 20 shuttle
and another person on the other side. Have the other person stand as
close as is allowed (almost on the front service line) and try to hit your
serves down. You will need to keep your serves very low on the net,
but long enough to reach the service line. You want to get your
racket as high as possible without breaking the rules.
For extra height, you can get on your tip-toes. Again, practice is
the key for consistency here.
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Forehand:
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| Hopefully you've got the
forearm technique going. Eventually, you should be able to clear the
shuttle from one end of the court to the other without swinging your arm -
might sound impossible, but you can get a lot of power out of your
forearm.
To hit it harder, you need to get behind the shuttle,
and move your body hard into the shot. Tennis players demonstrate it
well when they serve. Analysing the physics of the game, to hit the
shuttle further and more quickly you need to get the racket head moving as
fast as possible. Regard the racket as being part of your arm.
With your shoulder as the pivot point, the point of contact (racket head)
has a fairly long extension from the pivot point. Thus, by moving
your shoulder faster the racket head will move a magnitude of times faster
(the longer your arms, the better!).
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| Denmark's Rasmussen can hit it pretty
hard. Here he demonstrates a powerful forearm turn |
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Lee D.S. of Korea is no slouch, either |
You should be able to hit the shuttle from one end of
the court to the other (and not just with a fast shuttle!). You
might like to try hitting it from a metre of so further back - the added
power will be invaluable when you're under pressure, or playing with a
particularly slow shuttle, or on a cold day.
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Backhand:
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| The best way to play the
backhand, is not to play it at all. Use your speed to play overhead
shots 'around the head', that is, to move as far to the backhand side of
the court and play a forehand shot. It'll help you to avoid getting
into trouble if you can't clear with your backhand. Bend your back!
If you can't get around (either because it is
practically impossible or undesirable), the technique to use is identical
to the forearm technique, only in reverse. Most people have no
problems executing this on shots at shoulder level or lower, but many have
difficulty when the shot is above their head. This is described in
the expert tutorial.
To gain extra power in your backhand shots, first get
into position by turning your back to the net. Then spin around,
hitting the shuttle flat down the line. Always use the weight of
your body to maximise power transfer.
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Mia Audina of the Netherlands intelligently plays around the head |
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Smashing:
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Smashing is a low percentage shot that should
only really be attempted if your opponent has hit a weak shot to the
middle of the court.
The action is essentially the same as for forehand
clearing shots. Turning your body and moving into the shot is more
important here to get that additional bit of power. Jump
for extra height, to achieve the steepest possible angle on the shuttle.
Aiming the smash is important - you are most vulnerable
right after smashing. You'll be off balance and out of position
after having put everything into your shot. The best place to aim is
down the sides, where your opponent will have to stretch to reach.
However, this is low percentage as you can easily hit it out. To
increase your chances aim at your opponent's non-racket hand, or at their
body to put them out of balance. Give them as little space as
possible.
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| Korean Ha Tae Kwon hits
a mean jumping forehand smash |
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Drop shots:
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There are two types of dropshot you can attempt: the fast
drop and the slow drop. First we'll discuss the slow drop, which
is likely to be the type of drop you've been doing. Slow drops should be
hit to land as close to the net as possible. The blue
areas of the diagram show where to aim for.
You need to hit the shuttle softly, but using the same action
as for normal overhead clears or smashes. Again, practice will get you
hitting the spot consistently.
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A well-placed fast drop is usually more effective than a
well-placed slow drop. This is because your opponent has much less time to
get to the drop, putting them under pressure. Fast drops can be difficult
to execute, as you're effectively hitting a gentle smash. Try to get up as
high as possible - the higher you get the steeper the angle you can get.
The green areas of the diagram indicate where to
aim for.
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Be warned that doing a drop shot from the back of the
court, fast or slow, can get you into a lot of trouble. If you're
not accurate, your opponent can easily drop it back over the net putting
you under pressure. As a general rule, don't
drop diagonally across the court. It's the furthest distance to run!
Often you'll be forced to drop because you're under
pressure, or in a position where you can't clear it. In this case,
use your peripheral vision to see where your opponent is, and try to keep
it away from them. If that's not possible, hit a slow floating drop
- that way you'll have time to position yourself for the return.
Drop shots are easy to practice - all you need is
someone at the front hitting the shuttle up for you while you run them
left and right. You'll know if your accuracy is good simply by
observation.
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Getting
around the court:
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| Footwork, footwork, footwork. Any coach will tell
you that it is a vital part of your game. Anyone can hit the
shuttle, but if you can't get into position you don't have a hope in hell
of winning points.
The game of badminton, unlike other racket sports, consists
mostly of forward and backward movement. You need to be able to
cover all four corners of the court, taking the fewest possible steps.
From the middle of the court, or the 'base' (area
where you should return to after each shot), side-slip toward the front
corners. When you're close to the corner, stretch out with your leg
(right leg for right-handed players, vice versa for left-handers) and
reach out with your arm. Try to keep your back leg as close to the
middle of the court as possible. After playing the shot, bounce back
towards the middle.
To get to the back corners, again side-slip.
Right-handed players will lead the side-slip with their right leg, for
both forehand and backhand corners. The idea is to get into the side-on
position before the shuttle arrives, and to force you to play overhead
backhand shots around the head.
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The footprints show where you should place your left (hollow) and
right (filled) feet. This is for a right-handed players point of
view, where you lead with the right foot. Left- handed players take a
mirror image.
The red circle indicates the base, or area which you should
return to after playing any shot.
Remember: you should side-slip to each corner, and jog back to
the base area.
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See the Expert page for help on how to get around the
court in doubles and
mixed doubles.
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Exercises:
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| Physical fitness is a good start. If you're always
out of breath during a game you need to increase basic fitness by going
for short runs. Another very good exercise is to buy a skipping
rope, and do 50 skips with 3-4 reps.
You also need both agility and speed to get around the
court quickly. Speed drills will help improve your court
speed. Run back and forth across the width of court as many times as
you can in 1 minute intervals, stretching out to touch the line with your
fingertips.
If you have access to a court, the best exercise is to
get on it with a racket. Practice side-slipping to each corner,
returning to the middle each time. Mix it up. Have someone
stand on the front T bar of your side of the court, pointing at random to
each corner.
Might be a good idea to stretch before you start playing...
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It's also important to
warm up. Stretch your calves and groin. You'll be
reaching out for shots, and the last thing you want is to pull a
muscle (especially if you pull your groin, you'll be walking around
like a cowboy with a broken saddle).
Do some stretches on your arms, especially your
shoulder and forearm. Get someone to give you a gentle hit-up
before you start the game.
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| Shot
Selection: |
| Deciding what shot to play depends on the position of
yourself, your opponent, and how much time you have. In general, aim
for the far backhand corner of the court, or away from your player.
If they're lingering around the back tramlines, drop one in short.
If they're at the front knock one down the back. Make them run, put
them under pressure. The longest distance is between opposite
corners. Send your opponent back and forth.
If you want to get the upper-hand, analyse what your
opponent does. If you notice they always clear twice then drop,
you'll be prepared. Or you might notice they return backhand smashes
poorly, slow to the net, etc. Play to your strengths and their
weaknesses.
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| Long
Rallying: |
| If you know your fitness is superior to your opponent's,
you should try to extend the rallies. Keep the shuttle high and to
the back of the court. This gives you time to get to the net when
your opponent becomes tired and plays a dropshot. Note that your
opponent may attempt to counter you by shortening the rallies.
The advantage of playing this game is the low
risk. However, you are not really controlling the outcome of the
game, instead relying on your opponent to make the mistake.
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| Short
Rallying: |
| If your fitness is lagging in comparison to your
opponent's, you will want to shorten the rallies. You will have to
play a low percentage game, mixing drops and smashes with clears.
Hopefully your accuracy and consistency are good enough to beat down your
opponent.
The advantage of this type of game is that you control
the pace, and possibly the outcome. However, if your opponent is
able to return your low percentage shots you will tire more quickly, as
you'll have to do a lot more running.
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| Timing: |
| Timing is everything. It's the difference between
making and missing the smash, the drop, the smash-return. If you're
not hitting the shuttle in the sweet spot of your racket (the red
circle below), you end up using more energy to clear, and will get less
power out of your smashes.
Improvement of timing will come with
experience and practice. One way to tell whether you're hitting the
sweet spot is to check the wear on your strings - they should be fraying
the most around the center of the rackethead.
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Master the forearm technique