| 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. |
|
Warm-up:
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. |
|
Warm-up:
Play net games. |
| After a low doubles serve, the
rest of the rally is played between the two service lines.
Flow and
Focus...Singles is a mental game
Since retiring from serious competition and three to six
hours per day of training, I have experienced a lot of self-imposed stress
that I cannot seem to shake. I recently started to play singles again
whenever possible and my stress level has gone down. I like to think about
playing even when I am not playing, and on the court, it is the only time
that I am free to think of nothing but the task at hand. Because it
requires (underline) complete attention, it forces you to shut everything
out. I remember my ballet teacher yelling out the question, "What is
ballet?" to which we first-graders responded, "Discipline!"
in unison, lisps and all. Although everything requires discipline, it's
far easier to have discipline when you have obsession.
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. |
|
Warning
|
|
The only problem with the
doubles-specialist-to-singles-player-extraordinaire transition is the
unavoidable disappointment that comes with a "bad practice."
This might be caused by lack of opponents, a plateau in your improvement
rate, or unpleasant personalities at the gym. We singles players must
persevere, still, in order to experience again what we had at the last
good practice.
These
are only a few of my thoughts on my favorite event. Badminton is a
complicated game, so of course there is much more to know than what is in
this short article. Perhaps I will write another for a future newsletter
to delve further into the makings of a singles player.
Source: Washington State Badminton Association Newsletter,
Summer 1996. Pg. 1-4.
Author:
Joy Kitzmiller
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