Beginning badminton

All of my life I have been acquainted with the sport of badminton. How wouldn’t I? Living in a country that is crazy for the sport (Indonesia), it would be difficult to not be. My father was a decent player, many of my friends played it and the country used to have some of the best players around (although that trend is beginning to change).

Just to give a glimpse of how much badminton is loved in Indonesia. I still remember vividly to have occasionally played the sport as a child with my friends on a soil based court, using bamboo sticks firmed by nails to the ground as the lines, with large tree canopies as the stadium, without any shoes! We would sometimes trip over the bamboo sticks and get hurt by the nails sticking out of them. We would play in the rain, in the day, in whatever opportunity we could. Nevertheless we had fun, tons of them.

Albeit spending a lot of time playing it, did we get any better? Unfortunately, the answer is a firm no. This is perhaps because badminton (like any other sport) is highly technical, and needs tremendous amount of dedication/knowledge to be really good at it. It’s just not enough to want to get better in the sport by only playing it without learning any sound technique.

After a long time of not really having any interest in the sport, I have just begun to nurture interest for it again. At first I felt frustrated with the fact that I was very bad in it. But little by little, I feel that I am improving.

It isn’t really that hard to hit a shuttle with a racket. Even my 4 year old son could do it. However, to get better results with less effort, and to be able to enjoy the game more, knowing sound technique will significantly help. There are many good (free) resources scattered around the internet. One of the best resources available is badminton bible. There are also good coaching videos available on youtube, which feature former world champions like Zhao Jianhua and Peter Rasmussen (check out badminton connect for more details).

From my currently short experience playing badminton, I feel that knowledge of the points below really helped me enjoy the game more:

1.)Proper grip of the racket

2.)Proper stroke motion

3.)Proper footwork

4.)Knowing the available strokes

5.)Knowing the basic tactics for doubles and singles

(For starters, you can find all of these on badminton bible)

For a total beginner like myself, I found that knowing these things improved my game a lot, thus making the game more fun for me. And it feels great to be able to stay healthy and have fun at the same time. Of course what is equally important is to go on court and practice what you have learnt. God willing, with the proper knowledge, you will come to love the sport!

Badminton Techniques #1: Lin Dan’s front court lob

I am currently reading a book on a detailed analysis of some of the pro’s badminton techniques. The analysis is given by Japan’s Kenichi Tago, who is the finalist of the 2010 All England men’s singles. He was eventually beaten by world number one Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia. Please bear in mind that this is merely translation of what I have read. Nevertheless, I hope it can be of benefit to whoever reads it.

The first part discusses about the front court lob, using China’s Lin Dan as the model player. The front court lob itself is a shot played in response to an opponent’s net shot or drop shot to the front court. When playing this shot, one needs to keep the backswing motion as minimal as possible, to make it difficult for the opponent to guess whether it is going to be a hairpin net shot or a lob. One thing that one should pay attention to is to react quickly and use efficient footwork to comfortably get under the shuttle. Even in difficult conditions (such as reaching the shuttle late), one should try to use the same swinging motion to deceive the opponent.

The front court lob is an excellent play to defend while looking for opportunities to gain the upper hand. The lob gives sufficient time to prepare for the next shot. And whenever the opponent’s reply is weak, one can be fully ready to take the advantage. Furthermore, as stated before, since the action during the shot is a very concise one, the opponent will not be able to directly guess what shot is going to be played (a lob or net play), thus making the shot even more effective.

Normally, when lunging for the execution of this shot, all of the center of gravity is transferred to the advancing racket foot. However, in the case of Lin Dan, with his speed, the center of gravity is also shared with the rear (non racket) foot, thus making it a less difficult and quicker task to return to the base position. The key here is speed and effectiveness of the footwork to reach the shuttle. Lin Dan’s speed is one of the reasons why he is one of the best in the world.

One of the exercises that can be done to improve the footwork needed to execute this technique is to do zigzag lunges, while trying to maintain the center gravity at the rear non racket foot. This exercise can be done anywhere, and will definitely improve one’s footwork.

Introduction

Hi! Thanks for dropping by to this badminton blog. I am actually still very much a beginner of the sport, having only started several months of semi-serious badminton. Although I have played badminton in the past, I never really looked deep into the sport. I never realized that it is such an exciting sport!

Nevertheless, I’d like to make documentation of every little thing that I learn along the way, thus I'm writing in this blog. I hope it can be beneficial for whoever reads it.

Cheers,
Fendrri