A badminton player must practice specific tactics to improve at this racket sport. And to strengthen his badminton game over time, he must learn how to play the game properly.
It’s crucial to be adaptable with your preparation and game strategy. So, you must simultaneously concentrate on your speed, focus, and skill for overall improvement.
And to aid you in improving your game, I have mentioned a few principles in this post below. So go through these principles and apply them to your everyday work.
So let’s dive in:
Tips to improve your game?
Let’s begin with:
1. Movement
Badminton is a fast-paced sport that requires good moments to play, ideally on the court. Effective movement techniques help lessen the long-term stress on your body, allowing you to use less energy during matches. Make sure to blend all the various movement types when practicing to improve your overall game.
You can practice running or sprinting, lunging, starting, and stopping as the primary movements. These motions will help you improve your stamina and agility, allowing you to maneuver around the court without exhaustion.
2. Skill development
To play badminton, you must master basic skills like good footwork, gripping, and stroke technique. Among all these techniques, footwork is the most important and challenging to master.
Work on your footwork to move quickly and efficiently around the court. Practice side steps, lunges, and jumps to improve your positioning. Your ability to easily cover the court is improved by having good footwork, which also enhances the coordination between your legs and other body parts.
Also, you should further enhance your performance by regaining strength in the critical muscles with valuable workouts.
Rather than this, there are numerous drills you can use to enhance your footing. So, every day, practice your footwork throughout your warm-up. You can better get into position and execute a shot with effective footwork.
Secondly, you must also master different grip styles for various shots and situations, as they affect your control and power.
Last, you must also develop proper techniques for shots like forehand and backhand clears, drops, smashes, and net shots. Regular practice and coaching can help refine your form.
3. Hand-eye coordination
As a badminton coach, in the many years of my coaching, I have seen many players make common mistakes, such as hitting the shuttle incorrectly or missing the shot. And these mistakes can lead you to lose points during the match.
So the best way to avoid such mistakes is to improve and work on your hand-eye coordination.
Also, to improve your hand and eye coordination, you can perform various exercises and play fast-paced sports like football, tennis, or squash.
4. Practice drills
You can practice different kinds of drills to improve your game. Some of the joint exercises and drills are as follows:
- Shadow drill
Performing footwork and stroke drills without a shuttle will improve your movement and timing. Shadow drill is one of the advanced drills in badminton, and to perform this drill, you don’t require an opponent, while it involves actual movement and technique without physically hitting the shuttle.
This drill helps you improve your movements and coordination on the court. But ensure you cover the back, mid, and front courts effectively. With good footwork, you go from the court’s center to its six corners. And shadow drill helps you improve your footwork coordination and response time on the court.
- Multi-shuttle drill
Practice with multiple shuttles to simulate real-game situations and improve your reaction time. The multi-shuttle exercise increases your stamina and endurance while assisting in developing your offensive and defensive abilities.
Remember that you will need a partner or a shuttle launcher to toss the shuttle your way at random to complete this exercise. On the other hand, you must accurately and swiftly knock the shuttle back.
- Hitting shuttle at one point
Intermediate and advanced players can practice this drill to improve their drops and clears. Your coach or another player will take a position at one spot on the floor, whether by the net or the backcourt.
The only place on your court where you must hit the shuttle is where your coach stands. The coach may take the shuttle from wherever on your court. It aids in enhancing the shot’s accuracy, movement, and speed.
5. Recovery
One of the most apparent parts of developing your game is how quickly you can return to your starting position and prepare for the next shot. Getting to the shuttle will be difficult if you haven’t taken your base position. So, getting the shuttle when making shots from the base position makes it more straightforward.
So, footwork is essential in this situation. You must practice a lot to return to the starting position after each shot.
6. Master different stances
There are different stances in badminton you need to master to improve your game. You need to understand when and how to move into the perspectives mentioned below:
- Defensive stance
A defensive stance is one of the easiest stances to learn and perform for a player compared to others. Players choose this stance when they think their opponent will make a hard move.
Also, it helps you perform some easy sideways movement on the court and effectively return your opponent’s smashes. It is a comfortable stance that every player should master, whether a beginner or a professional.
- Backward attacking stance
A backward attacking stance can benefit players who love to perform powerful shots with more speed. A player generally uses this stance on the backhand court while performing a lift or any other attacking shot. It helps you send your opponent to their rare court after playing a powerful shot with the help of this stance.
It even helps you perform some fast and quick backward movements. The back-attacking stance is slightly similar to the receive and serve stance. Not all badminton players can perform effective shots using this stance. So you need to practice this stance to exploit your strength.
- Forward attacking stance
This stance is usually used when trying to play an overhand forehand shot. If you want to play this shot, wait for your opponent to play for a defensive block and a net shot.
Also, it allows you to perform some fast and quick forward movements and helps to force your opponent to move to their rare court and limit their options.
- Receive and serving stance
The receiving and serving stance is quite similar to the backward attacking stance. However, in this stance, you have sufficient time to wait and be prepared for the next moves.
Also, remember that while serving, your feet should remain on the badminton court. Or else it will be counted as a fault.
- Lunging
Lunging is a vital movement technique in badminton that can significantly improve your game. It allows you to cover a greater distance on the court, helping you reach shots that would otherwise be out of your range. It even enables you to respond faster to shots played closer to the net or at a low trajectory. It lets you get into position quickly and prepare for the next shot.
You can maintain better control over your shots by lunging toward the shuttle. This improved balance and stability allow you to execute more accurate and controlled shots, whether a delicate drop shot or a powerful smash.
The proper lunging technique involves coordinated footwork, contributing to overall agility and mobility on the court. Regular lunging practice helps improve your footwork and movement efficiency.
7. Play with high-level players
Playing against better opponents pushes you to raise your level of play. High-level players’ higher skill and intensity force you to adapt and develop new strategies to compete effectively. High-level players often possess many shots, tactics, and strategies. Playing with them exposes you to these advanced techniques, allowing you to learn and incorporate them into your game.
Also, playing against tough opponents teaches you to handle pressure situations, which is crucial in competitive badminton. You’ll develop mental resilience and the ability to perform well under stress.
And being around skilled players can motivate you to set higher goals and aspire to improve your game. Their success can serve as a source of inspiration for your growth.
8. Perform additional physical activities
To improve your game, you can also perform additional physical activities like playing with training rackets to strengthen your wrist power and shot accuracy, performing agility drills, and shadow drills with the help of your coach, which will help to improve your running technique. These additional activities will help you develop your lunges, moments, and overall game.
Rather than this, you can also practice strength or core training to improve your balance, muscle strength, and coordination.
9. Observation
You can also learn different shots or movements by observing another player perform them. Please take note of the movements when you watch badminton matches or videos, and try to apply them to your practice.
Your body needs observation since it is easier to remember and execute a shot after watching a film from all angles.
10. Change is inevitable
You must change your training and game plan to adjust to your opponent’s playing circumstances. You will be disadvantaged if your opponent can predict your game, so you must change it immediately.
Additionally, you must alter your strategy because doing so will fool your adversary and make it difficult for them to predict your next move.
Final Words
So these are some practical ways to help you improve your game. A good badminton player must have good footwork, racket-handling skills, and agility to play effectively.
Rather than this, you can also mix practice with theory, watch badminton videos, and even take training sessions to improve your game.
And in case you have any queries or questions going through your mind regarding this post, feel free to ask us or pin up your questions in the comment section below.