The Fitness Strengths and Techniques in Badminton

Strenghts

Fitness Component:

The main component in badminton would be co-ordination. Co-ordination is the body parts working together within a system. This is to have a good depth to see where the shuttlecock would fall. As well as see, what level in which you need to position the racket for a returning hit. You would also need Co-ordination to see how hard you need to hit, as well as angle, the racket to hit the shuttlecock without it landing outside the lines causing a foul and the opposition would score a point. Another reason you may use co-ordination in a play of Badminton is that when the opponent has hit the shuttlecock and it is falling, you must co-ordinate if the shuttlecock will fall outside the lines or inside. This would mean that, you could either, hit a returning shot to the opposition so that they will not score a point or make the judgment that the opponent has angled the shuttle too far. In recent performance of mine, I almost never missed a shot as co-ordination helped me to pinpoint where the shuttlecock would be landing in such a short amount of time. In one of my plays, the opponent had hit the shuttlecock so that it was very close to the net and just going over. Unluckily I was too far to reach the shuttlecock so I had to dive to reach it. My tactics when playing badminton is that I always want to think out my plan to gain a point before I do it and always trick the opponent so I can score easier points and be less risky in my play. An example of this is when an opponent is used to the play being very long and high clearances I would strategically hit the shuttlecock so that it would be very close to net making the opposition need to run and be outside there comfort zone to win the return shot. Although this is beneficial, this may also strike the player with arousal playing more disciplined in the next play.

Compared to an Elite player I would say I am similar to the co-ordination aspect because I am able to counter a drop shot with ease. However in some aspects of it I lack ability to hit the shuttlecock such as complex hits that are too far out of my reach or tricky to co-ordinate and because of my height disadvantage and advantage. I sometimes unable to reach low enough to play a defensive shot this is why to perform at the same quality as an Elite player. I may need to increase my flexibility or in general just strategy coming towards a Badminton game. Another match I was in was against an older opponent who had a higher muscle endurance, height advantage and stamina. However, I was able to win the game by using co-ordination; this is because when the opponent had a high arousal level, he was smashing the shuttlecock straight down towards the net that affected my ability to score a point as almost all my shots at that point in time where defensive. However, using co-ordination, I was able to hit the shuttlecock with enough power and angular direction he had to run back to the tri line scoring me the point. I won the point because he was used to the fact that he was scoring points so easily that once there was a change in play his body wasn’t ready for the shift in focus that he was unable to reach the shuttlecock in time giving me the wining point in that round. The opposition also used co-ordination to determine where the shuttlecock would hit however; he did not need it as much as me because he had a very limiting movement. He was used to the circumstances in which the shuttlecock kept returning to the same position that his use of co-ordination was being limited so when the shuttlecock changed positions his ability to use co-ordination did not comply and he missed hitting the shuttlecock. The result of having that hit did intimidate the opposition as he stopped playing risky shots and used more strategy.

Skill/Technique:

The fundamental badminton skills are essentially used as a foundation in a play of badminton; this can be from your stance to how you serve in a play of badminton. Making a habit of extensively practicing these techniques will immensely increase the development of your technique in a play of badminton. There are many variations of serves however the basic four are; Flick, High, Drive and Low. The flick serve is used to gimmick the original back handed low serve but ends up catching the opponent off guard from thinking that the shuttlecock will land closer to the service line where as it would have higher directory and further to the back the court. This is useful as it can either disorientate the opponent leaving the court open or making them play a risky shot which would most definitely lead to a point for me, however for an elite player they would be used to the idea of a flick shot being played meaning they would be very prepared and probably go the many types of training methods to combat this type of serve. The high serve is primarily used to push the opponent to the back of the court as well as giving you more time to think on the position you stand and which shot, they will respond with. The drive serve is used unlike the flick serve is played horizontal, fast and low over the net. This serve is to catch the opponent and stimulate an instantaneous response to the start of play. An elite player would prioritise this type of serve because they used to a fast-paced game of badminton and like to win as fast as possible meaning they would be able to conserve more energy. The low serve is to start the play off with drop shots and hits that are low to the net this is used if the opponent is confident in the ability of plays low to the net and giving them the upper advantage to predicting to what will occur in the rest of the play. In one of my plays I used a high serve to slow the opponent’s arousal levels down so when he returned the shot I could trick him and quickly play a fast shot which he would be unprepared for inevitably winning me the point. In a recent performance I used a drive shot because I could see that the opposition’s arousal levels where diminishing and they were getting tired this would give me the upper advantage as anything to immediate the person will play a lot clumsier than before as her energy is running out, this is why I decided to play a drive serve which would be a big change for the opponent as they wouldn’t be used to the fast shock of a quick underestimated however this also was a risky serve for me as I never used a drive serve before as the concept was quite unusual to me as if she did react fast enough I would inevitably lose the play. In the overall game this impacted the opposition as her arousal levels dropped because she felt as if she wouldn’t win a game and probably was very tired because of the constant change of play throughout the game making the opposition more aware but also a lot more tired.

Weakness

Fitness Component:

A Fitness Component I am weak at would be agility. Agility is the response from open or closed influence from the environment that modifies the arrangement of the body parts, rapidly and with control. In badminton agility would be needed for the many different shots the opponent can pursue against you such as if the opponent keeps hitting the shuttlecock so that its hitting the furthest away from the net, you would be used to standing at the back and getting ready for the same shot however if they suddenly switch it up and hit the shuttlecock really close to the net you would need agility to get to the shuttlecock as you could potentially be losing a point. In an elite game the shuttlecock always skims the net as being closer to the shuttlecock gives the opponent less time to react this is why they play so close to the net and at a high speed so that the opposition can react to slowly and miss the shuttlecock wining the person the point. In a recent performance the opposition kept hitting the shuttlecock close to the net making the change of play very limited for me so when they suddenly hit the shuttlecock far I had to quickly change my direction to hit the shuttlecock so that I would win the point however because agility is one of my weaknesses I couldn’t turn direction with perfect control so I stumbled making my hit clumsy and getting the shuttlecock outside the area winning the opposition the point. In another recent performance the play of shuttlecock was very diagonal and the play didn’t have any change of play within it so the opposition decided to play the shuttlecock short and very low to the net I couldn’t change direction fast enough to return the shuttlecock to the opposition loosing me the point although a benefit of most of these hits from the opposition is that it made more awake and alert of the new hits so that if they did play another sneaky hit I would be ready for it, however I still lost. Not having good agility affected my play a lot as it diminishes my arousal levels because I feel like I’ve already lost so I don’t try as hard which inevitably makes me lose the game. The opponent was more influenced to play risky shots because I was unable most of the time to reach the shuttlecock and losing interest in the game and the more I was uninterested the better the opponent played so the cycle continued until the opponent won the game. Agility benefited the opponent as when I tried won of the techniques they used against me or a new one they were able to quickly change direction and react to the change of play I was putting on the performance.

Skill/Technique:

A Fitness Component I am weak in would be Drop Shots. Drop shots is a softly hit shot, usually with backspin, which drops abruptly to the ground. Perform a Drive Shot you must use a forehand grip. Stand sideways with your non-racket hand facing the net. Shift your weight to your rear foot, bend your elbow holding the racket and prepare to hit the incoming shuttle as you hit the shuttle, straighten your elbow, tapping the shuttle as you hit it. Drive shots would be useful in Elite player games as it allows them to trick the opposition and can be really easy point if done correctly and at the perfect time of play a shuttlecock so softly hit that it falls to the playing surface just after clearing the net. A smash Shot is similar to this type of shot as its main purpose is to also get the shuttlecock to also drop very closely to the net however to perform the smash shot as its says in the name of it you have to smash it which is very effective as a speeding shuttlecock traveling straight down is very hard to combat in badminton. In a recent performance of mine I was attempting to trick the opponent by playing far shots, this was to get their body used to the repetitive play so that in the next returning high shot I could play my move of a drive shot unluckily at the time I was very used to the concept of drive shots and hit the shuttlecock a bit too high this gave the opponent enough time to run and do a well-positioned smash shot which I didn’t have the best reaction time so I was clueless on whether I gained a point or the opponent had returned the hit unluckily didn’t score. This affected my game play as I felt more cautious to play drive shots or play any shots to high and close to the net so that they can’t get another smash shot.