To ensure that all players enjoy our club the following have come to be accepted as good etiquette at BBC:
BACKHAND GRIP - Allow the hand to turn slightly, placing the thumb against the back of the handle. On backhand shots, the shuttle should come in contact with the opposite side of the racket head.
HOLDING THE RACKET - The racket should not be held so tightly so as to make the wrist and arm tense and strained. This is particularly important when serving low serves and making net shots.
POSITION OF RACKET - Keep the racket head well up and ready for any kind of shot at all times.
WRIST - A stiff wrist, as used in tennis, is not used in badminton. Cock the wrist with the head of the racket back. If a shot is made without a swishing sound, the wrist is probably locked and will result in lost impetus of the racket head.
REACHING - The majority of strokes utilize the full length of the arm, particularly overhead clears, smashes and drops, drives, and many net shots.
FOOTWORK - Footwork
is the most important factor in getting the body in position to make the correct
stroke. Forehand and backhand strokes hit underhand at the net should be made
with the right foot forward. All overhead forehand strokes should be made with
the left foot forward, while backhand strokes should be made with the right
foot forward (reverse for left handed players). Starting and turning quickness
are more important than straight away speed; short steps are better than long
strides. Avoid stroking with both feet directly facing the net.
Server stands inside service court on the right side (facing the net). Receiver
stands inside service court on the opposite right side (facing the net). Partners
may stand anywhere on either side providing they do not block the view of the
receiver.
POSITION OF THE SERVER
Singles - If server’s score is even (0, 2, 4, etc.), server is on right side.
If server’s score is odd (1, 3, 5, etc.), server is on left side.
Doubles - When a team’s score is even, that team is in their starting positions
. When odd, reverse positions.
TO START THE PLAY
The server on the right side serves to the receiver on the opposite right side.
The receiver must not move until the server hits the shuttle.
SERVER MUST
SERVER OR RECEIVER ON
WRONG SIDE
Play a let, correct the error, if the person who made the mistake wins the rally
and it is discovered before the next service. The score stands if the person
who made the mistake loses the rally, in which case, the players will remain
on the "wrong" side. If the next serve has been made, the score stands and the
players remain on the "wrong" side.
TAKE A "LET" IF
END OF GAME
For women’s singles, the first one to make 11 points wins. At 9-all, the first
player to reach 9 has the option to set or not to set. No set means playing
to 11. Set means the score goes back to love-all, and the first to get three
points, wins. If play continues without set and the players reach a score of
10-all, the first player to reach 10 has the option to set or not to set. If
the game is set, the score goes to love-all, and the first to get two points,
wins.
All other games are 15 points. At 13-all, set is 5, and at 14 all, set is 3.1f the game is not set at 13-all, it may be set at 14-all. A match is two out of three games.
The winner of the
first game serves first from the other end in the new game. The winner of
the second game in a three-game match changes ends and serves. In the third
game, the players change ends and continue serving at six in women’s singles
and eight in all other games.
(Joy Kitzmiller. "How to Enjoy Singles." Washington State Badminton Association Newsletter, Summer 1996. Pg. 1-4.)
Being good at doubles does not mean that you can play singles--everyone knows that. Less obvious is the fact that most good singles players are clueless on the doubles court. The strategies and teamwork of doubles are highly difficult and require years of game-playing. However, if you are already a doubles specialist, as most Northwest players are, then learning to play singles is the easy part and can only enhance your doubles game and limited court time.
Part of the enjoyment of any sport is achieving "flow," which is the happy medium between anxiety and boredom. We occasionally experience this in a doubles game of players of comparable ability. Unfortunately, the range of abilities in badminton is infinitely broad and the pieces of the game that one can perfect are so varied that close competition rarely occurs. As a singles enthusiast, I can say that flow occurs most often in singles, because it is much easier to find two closely matched players than it is to find four! Also, you can play your game without messing up an incompetent partner, in your mind.
The lines "I am really more of a tennis player" or "I prefer doubles" really mean "I am best at the side-to-side movement that is natural for humans such as myself." I admit it. Moving blindly backward and then forward like one of the three musketeers is not natural and it initially feels icky. I think the butterfly stroke feels icky, too. If all sports only required movements that were innate, everyone would have a gold medal. You have to train your body to adhere to basic footwork principles for badminton, just as you must move your arms like Barbie for swimming. All it takes to get from the net to the back is a jump and a twist. With correct body positioning, most shots are only two steps away.
The ease with which we observe international calibre players move is hard-earned. Just as in ballet, moving smoothly requires powerful muscles and a lifetime of special exercises. However, the most dramatic results in your game will occur in only a few weeks of training. Things to do:
Shadow drills. Moving between two corners again and again without the shuttle. Someone needs to show you the proper footwork for each two-corner combination. Do not kill yourself. Do it slowly. Since it's more than you've ever done before, it will work for your game. Incidentally, there are 15 different combinations, including the sidelines. Do a little every day.
Half-Court Singles. Using either the singles line or the doubles line and the middle, this allows you to discover what it's like to have a long rally. Your movement is restricted to only front-back retrieval, and it requires you to figure out ways to use the length of the court to beat an opponent.
Agility exercises. Jumping rope has always been beneficial to badminton players, but for me it can be tedious. Therefore I like to do "sets" of exercises that contain the jumping and badminton-related foot and leg movements, so that I can constantly change the routine. This includes lunges, alternating ballet third-positions while jumping, cross-overs, high-knees, skipping like Dorothy when she's off to see the wizard, etc.
A crisp, consistent clear, a devastating drop, and loving the rally:
Since everyone you know is a doubles specialist, unless you can vary the pace of the shot and hit it within five inches of the sideline, smashing in singles can be disastrous. Now that you move like a dream, you want to challenge others to do the same. We singles players do not fight to the death, we fight to the pain.
In order to move your opponent to the far reaches of the court, you must consistently clear and lift to the back line and drop and redrop tightly to net. You will soon notice your opponent's lack of footwork training, because he or she will constantly be out of position and unable to recover. At that point to will always float over to your opponent's desperate shot and place it cruelly just out of reach of his flailing racket with a maddening lack of emotion. Things to do:
Warm-up. Begin every badminton session with five minutes of solid clears, trying to incorporate footwork. This may sound easy, but many people do not hit only clears in a five-minute warm-up. Build up to ten minutes. Eventually, you can include cross- and open court clears.
Play drop-lift games. Player A can only life and Player B can only drop. Player A serves always and the winner of the rally wins the point. Lifts must fall between the two back lines and drops must fall between the net and the service line. Although a little distracting, four players can be on the court. Even eight people can do this if you are using only half-court.
Play net games. After a low doubles serve, the rest of the rally is played between the two service lines.
Flow and focus are interdependent. You cannot achieve flow if you are not focused, and it is difficult to focus when there is no flow. To experience flow, do not challenge Geoff Stensland to a game of singles--he will make you anxious. Nor should you challenge your boyfriend to a game in order to prove yourself and beat him to a pulp. This will bore you. Play people near your level that are willing to play seriously. Here you will have some success and your ability to focus will improve with every game. Once you've experienced the headiness of true flow, there is no turning back. At this point, some obsession with singles will be inevitable, focus will become clearer and flow will occur with more frequency and ease. These things are essential to loving singles and craving the discipline it requires.
(Eugene Kumekawa. "Serving to a Rusher." Washington State Badminton Association Newsletter, Fall 1995. Pg. 1-3.)
What do you do with an opponent who has read last issue's article on returning serve in doubles and is now giving you all sorts of problems on your serve? Before you flick every time, here are some ways to neutralize the rushed return:
If you are the server's partner, try the following: