Tactics

in
Badminton Singles

Jake Downey

First published 2007

by Jake Downey

© 2007 Jake Downey

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be published without the prior
permission of Jake Downey.
The right of Jake Downey to be identified as the author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

1
 CONTENTS

The Badminton Game 1

Introduction 3

Part One – What are tactics? 4

The principle of winning – the logical structure of the game –
the situations in the game

Part Two – Learning tactics 10

Stroke-move tactical play: The basic tactical stroke-moves –
using the basic tactical stroke-moves against the opponent.
‘Building shots’ tactical play. Hitting to the empty spaces
tactical play. The situations

Part Three - Learning to use tactics in 20

games and practices
Stroke-move games – hitting to the space games - building and
attempted winning shot games. Practices to improve your skill in
using strokes as tactical moves.

Part Four – Planning your tactics 30

Player analysis questionnaire – how to use the information

Part Five – The On-court battle

2
 TACTICAL PLAY IN
BADMINTON SINGLES

THE GAME IS A BATTLE

(1) The game is a battle. The battle is between two opponents who
present each other with a problem. The problem is how to overcome
the opponent and win the battle.
(2) The deciding factor is `thinking'. You have to think to solve the
problem presented by the opponent who not only tries to prevent you
winning the battle but also tries to win himself.
(3) You are helped in this battle by the weapons you possess. Your
strokes are the weapons but they only hit the shuttle to those places
you decide the shuttle shall go.
(4) The decision to hit the shuttle to a particular place is made
according to the way you assess what is required to win the battle and
is determined by what your opponent does and where he is on the
court.
(5) A player with many strokes has many more weapons to use and
many more possible solutions to the problem. However these only
overcome the problem if used at the right time.
(6) A player with fewer strokes has fewer solutions to the problem
and so must try to win the battle with what strokes he has. He has a
bigger problem. He has to make do with what he has got.
(7) Sometimes strokes do not work as well as usual. A player must
accept this fact, adapt his game and try to solve the problem and win
the battle with the strokes that do work. A STROKE IS ONLY AS GOOD
AS THE RESULT IT ACHIEVES.

(8) With humans mistakes are inevitable in a battle. In this game

players have the chance to recover from a mistake and still keep in
the battle. Mistakes must be accepted as part of the battle and part of
the problem. A player who accepts them will try to correct them while
the battle is on.

3
(9) As a battle is neither won or lost before it has begun, nor is it
over until the rules declare one side to be the winner, no player should
expect to win or lose a battle before it begins or before it has ended.
(10) Winning is the prize for overcoming the problems presented by
the opponent throughout the battle.
(11) Once you enter the battle you must see what you can do to win
with what you have got working for you at the time. It is all you can
do.
(12) In a badminton battle, victory or defeat is never for all time. The
loser always lives to fight another day.

4
 LEARNING TACTICS

Introduction.
The purpose of this booklet is to offer some different ways of looking at
tactics in badminton singles which you may find helpful in developing your
tactical understanding in badminton in general and in using tactics
effectively in singles.

It is written mainly for players but should be of value to coaches also in

their task of trying to improve their players’ tactical skill.

The booklet is divided into several parts. Part one contains an explanation
of tactics and provides a simple model of the structure of the game from
which all tactics derive. Part two includes several different ways of
looking at singles tactics. Part three contains games and practices
designed for you to try out various approaches to tactical play which
should help to develop your tactical understanding. Part four explains
how to obtain the information you need to plan your tactics. Part five
discusses further factors in applying tactics.

5
 PART ONE

What are tactics?

Badminton is a competitive game. It involves a contest between two or

four opponents. The logical point of a contest is to try to defeat the
opponent(s) – to win. Tactics is the word used to describe the various
practical ways of trying to win the contest. Tactics is the practical
application of your strategy. Strategy refers to the general overall idea
or plan that you decide on to defeat the opponent(s) on the basis of which
you select your specific practical tactics. For example, in Singles, you
may decide that, strategically the best way to beat your opponent is to
tire him out over the course of the game – to exploit his lack of
fitness. You now decide that tactically the best way to do this is to
prolong the rallies and play at a fast pace to force him to travel quickly in
the court. This is your tactical plan or game plan as some call it. You
might do this by playing standard and attacking clears, sliced smashes
and fast drops all hit well within the confines of the court to allow a
margin for error, so that you do not make errors. Your strokes are the
means by which you make your tactical moves.

Another strategy may be to play to get him to give you the replies that
you want. You decide that tactically the best way of doing this is to
exploit his weaknesses and/or his strengths. For example, you know
his backhand clear is a weakness, so you hit the shuttle to his forehand
side to draw him out of position and then clear or lob his reply to his
backhand rearcourt and travel forward to wait for the weak backhand
clear or drop shot. Or, you may decide to exploit his slowness in
recovering from the rearcourt to the centre. So you play a standard or
attack clear to his rearcourt and hit your next shot to his forecourt
knowing that he may be slow in recovering from his rearcourt and hence
late getting to the shuttle in his forecourt. To exploit his strengths in this
way, e.g. his habitual strong cross-court smash to your backhand side,
you hit the shuttle high to his backhand side and give him time to smash

6
while you get ready to play a straight block to his forehand forecourt or
hit the shuttle quickly back over his head to the space he is leaving.

To plan a strategy and the tactics you will use to carry out this strategy
presupposes that you have the ability to do so and that you know what
your opponent is likely to do in a given situation. This implies that you
have sufficient technical skill, fitness and attitude to carry through your
tactics to the end. It also implies that you have the game intelligence to
play the right tactical shot at the right time in a fast moving game
with the situations constantly changing. It could also mean that you may
have to change your strategy and/or your tactics during a game as you
may have misjudged your opponent and chosen the wrong tactics or your
opponent may counter your tactics during the game which is something
an intelligent and skilful opponent may do. Also, against an unfamiliar
opponent, you may have to make up your strategy and tactics during the
game as you learn how the opponent plays. This is what makes the game
so interesting and enjoyable. It involves a battle of wits requiring
intelligence and imagination as well as technical skill and fitness to win a
contest against an equal opponent.

A player may have excellent technical skill; move fluently around the
court and can perform all the strokes; have superb fitness and meet all
the physical demands of the game without getting tired. He may have an
excellent attitude – he may be calm, patient, determined, adventurous,
competitive, fair and honest, a good sport, fearless and very tough. He
may be a joy to watch but if he lacks tactical skill and doesn’t know how
to defeat the opponent he will never be a good player of the game. He will
certainly not reach the higher levels of play.

Tactics therefore are an essential feature of the game for they give
meaning to it. They are not part of the game in the same way as are the
strokes and physical movement, fitness and attitude of the player. Tactics
cannot be seen physically; they are the underlying ideas which make
sense of everything that a player does on the court during a game. That
is not to say that we cannot work out what tactics a player is using. To

7
the intelligent observer, be it the opponent or a spectator, it is possible to
analyse the patterns of strokes being used by the player in a game and
determine what his tactics are and subsequently his strategy also.

It is too easy to say to a player, “You should have done this or that”. It is
not always easy, however, to explain why a player should have done this
or that which is perhaps why there is often disagreement between
spectators or coaches on how the player should have played the game.
And then, if it is possible to give a convincing explanation, it usually only
applies to a specific situation against a specific opponent. A player may
find himself in a similar situation in the future but because it is a different
opponent, the advice about “what he should have done”, will not work.
What is important is that the player develops tactical understanding so
that he can choose effective tactics in similar or different situations
against the same or different opponents either prior to the game and/or
during the game.

The problem therefore for any player and coach is how to develop such
tactical understanding. As a coach, this was my problem and from my
reading, study and practical coaching I eventually arrived at a solution.
The solution was to get players to understand and apply what I have
called the principle of winning.

The Principle of winning

If the purpose of all strategies and tactics is to defeat the opponent and
win the contest, we can deduce that there is a fundamental principle to
which all strategies and tactics must conform and by which they can be
judged. This is the principle of winning which, in several of my previous
books1, I have also described as the ‘principle of attack. ’ This principle
can be stated in two ways:
1. ‘At all times try to create a situation in which it is possible to increase
your chances of eventually winning the rally’.

1
Winning Badminton Singles, Winning Badminton Doubles and Excelling at Badminton

8
2. ‘If you cannot increase your own chances of winning the rally then try
to create a situation that will reduce your opponent’s chances of winning
the rally’.
If your tactical moves do not create either one of these situations then
you have chosen the wrong ones to use – you have made inappropriate
moves.

As stated previously, your strokes are the means by which you make your
tactical moves. Consequently, if you apply the principle of winning in your
play, your strokes should cease to be thought of as just actions but rather
as moves. Your strokes and tactics should be one and the same. For this
reason it seems sensible to describe them as stroke-moves. The game
involves a contest in which the strokes are used as tactical moves played
in accordance with the principle of winning.

Think about it for a moment. In a game you will find yourself in a

situation, positioned somewhere in the rearcourt, midcourt or forecourt,
ready to hit the shuttle – to play your stroke-move(1) In that situation
certain stroke-moves are logically possible(2); for example think of the
full range of stroke-moves that can humanly be played from the forehand
rearcourt. However, what stroke-moves are actually possible(3) will
depend on your skill as a player – what you can actually do from the
forehand rearcourt. Once you play your actual stroke-move(4) you can
apply the ‘principle of winning’ to judge whether it was an appropriate
move (5) or not. Did your stroke-move increase your chances of winning
the rally or, if not, did it reduce your opponent’s chances of winning the
rally? If it didn’t do either of these then it was an inappropriate move.
Using these features, which are inherent in the game; make it possible to
construct a model of the logical structure of the game. See fig 1. below.

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Fig 1. The logical structure of the game.

SITUATION

(1) stroke-moves

(2) stroke-moves (5) an appropriate

logically possible stroke-move
(if played in accordance
with the principle of attack)

(3) stroke-moves (4) stroke-move

actually possible actually played

I have found this model very helpful when devising various approaches to
tactical play. Now, as the main aim is to defeat the opponent, I would like
to consider the situations in the game you will create when you play your
stroke-moves in accordance with the principle of winning.

The situations in the game

The court can be divided into three main areas: the rearcourt (RC), the
midcourt (MC), the forecourt (FC). You will play your stroke-moves from
high positions (above net height) or from low positions (below net height)
in each of these three areas. From each of these three areas you will hit
the shuttle to one of the same three areas in the opponent’s court with
the intention to create a situation in accordance with the principle of
winning. From this you can work out how many stroke-moves are
logically possible from each area of your court or your opponent’s court.
These areas provide the location for all the situations that you will
experience in the game and all the stroke-moves played to create these
situations. These include:
1. The stroke-moves played from the rearcourt: the forehand and
backhand smash, clear (standard, attack and defensive), dropshot.

10
2. The stroke-moves played from the midcourt: forehand and backhand
smash, drive, push, block, lob.
3. The stroke-moves played from the forecourt: forehand and backhand
net kill, push, basic net shots, lob.

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 PART TWO
WAYS OF LOOKING AT TACTICS

1. ‘Stroke-move’ tactical play

The basic tactical stroke-moves
If each stroke should be used as a tactical move it follows that there are
as many tactical moves as there are strokes. Consequently it could be
difficult to decide which stroke-move to use in a given situation in a game
in accordance with the principle of winning. Fortunately they can all be
reduced to four groups of basic tactical moves which are played with the
intention to have an effect on your opponent. In playing these moves it is
assumed that your opponent will usually be in a position to cover your
probable stroke-moves – usually near the centre of his midcourt.

Using the four basic tactical stroke-moves against the opponent.

1. There are stroke-moves used to send the opponent into the rearcourt.
These are: the clear, lob, long smash, push, drive, high serve and flick
serve.
The reasons for playing these moves are:
(a) To send the opponent out of position away from the centre of his court
and as far away from the net as possible.
(b) To reduce the effectiveness of the opponent. He should not be able to
make things too difficult for you from the very back of his court.
(c) To create space.

2. There are stroke-moves used to send the opponent into the forecourt.
These are: dropshots, block to the smash, net replies and the low serve.
The reasons for playing these moves are:
(a) To send the opponent out of position away from his centre.
(b) To create space.
(c) To force the opponent to hit the shuttle upwards.

3. There are stroke-moves used to exploit the opponent in the midcourt.

These are: smash, long dropshot, drive, push and net kill.

12
The reasons for playing these moves are:
(a) To attempt a winning shot.
(b) To create space.
(c) To force and upward hit.
(d) To force a weak reply.
(e) To force an error.

4. There are stroke-moves used to send the opponent to the sides of the
court.
All the strokes can be used to create this type of situation.
The reasons for playing these moves are:
(a) To send the opponent out of position away from his centre.
(b) To create space.

How do I know which stroke-moves to play in accordance with the

principle of winning?
The answer to this question lies in how you apply the principle of winning.
So let me remind you of what it states:
1. ‘At all times try to create a situation in which it is possible to increase
your chances of eventually winning the rally’.
2. ‘If you cannot increase your own chances of winning the rally then try
to create a situation that will reduce your opponent’s chances of winning
the rally’.
If your stroke-moves do not create either one of these situations then you
have chosen the wrong ones to use – you have made inappropriate
moves.

How do I do choose the appropriate stroke-moves?

The term ‘stroke-moves’ is used to make the point that each time you hit
the shuttle you should be making a tactical move in accordance with the
principle of winning. A rally in a game usually consists of a number of
stroke-moves played by the players. It may take several stroke-moves
from each player before either one manages to create a situation which
will increase his chances of winning the rally.

13
For this reason I have grouped the stroke-moves you may use to do this
into two types. These are building shots, used to create a situation in a
rally from which you can attempt a winning shot, which is used to try
to end a rally.

2. ‘Building’ shots and ‘attempted winning’ shots tactical

play
Building shots.
There are two types of building shot.
(a) Shots that move your opponent out of position away from the central
area of his court and yet which may give him time to get into position to
hit the shuttle but which will certainly give you enough time to get into
position to cover his probable replies.
(b) Shots that move your opponent out of position and give him less time
to get to the shuttle and yet allow you sufficient time to get into position
to cover his replies.

What stroke-moves can I use as building shots?

Any stroke-move can be used as a building shot: smashes, clears, drops,
lobs, drives, net replies, net kills, the serves. All can be used to
outmanoeuvre your opponent as you try to create a situation which will
increase your chances of winning the rally.

Attempted winning shots

You use these when you have created a situation in which you can
attempt a winning hit. I have described them as ‘attempted winning shots’
with the emphasis on ‘attempt’ as you cannot ensure that you will hit a
winning shot. Consequently you should always travel into position to
cover the opponent’s possible replies to be ready just in case he is able to
return the shuttle over the net.

What shots can I use as an attempted winning shot?

Usually you would use the downwards hits: the smash, fast sliced drop
shot or net kill to hit the shuttle quickly to the floor. You could also use

14
the attack clear or flick serve. It depends on where you are positioned
and where the opponent is positioned.

Non building shots

There are two other types of shot which do not fall within the category of
building or attempted winning shots. Both you should try to avoid
playing.
These are:
‘Hit and hope’ shots
I use this description simply to describe the sort of shot you might use
when you are really in difficulty and don’t know what to do. You hit the
shuttle back over the net and just hope that it will get you out of trouble.
You may have to improvise here and on occasion, you might develop a
new stroke that could be useful in similar situations.
If your shot does surprise your opponent and catches him out then you
may be successful and get yourself out of the difficult situation. After all it
is a ‘hit and hope’ shot.

’ Nothin’ shots’
These are shots played without any purpose to them. You just hit clears,
smashes, drops, lobs and others. It has become a habit to perform these
strokes as actions only, in the game, without giving any thought about
how to use them as tactical moves to create situations which will increase
your chances of winning the rally. Such shots are typical of many junior
players who have been drilled by coaches to perform hundreds of such
strokes in mindless routines/drills doing so called ‘practice’.

3. ‘Hitting to the empty spaces’ tactical play

Though you would obviously use your stroke-moves to hit building shots
and attempted winning shots to the empty spaces on your opponent’s
court, it is possible and quite effective to do so, as your main tactical play,
without even thinking in terms of stroke-moves and building shots. Two
main tasks in singles are to try to control your centre by travelling into a
position where you can cover the possible replies from your opponent;

15
and to try to move your opponent out of position and/or away from
control of his centre. There are several ways of doing this:

(a) Hit the shuttle to the empty spaces.

• You will force him to move away from his centre.
• He may be slow moving off the spot in the centre and be late
getting to the shuttle.

(b) Hit the shuttle to the space furthest away from your opponent.
If he hits the shuttle from his backhand rearcourt you could hit your next
shot to his forehand forecourt so he has to travel the long diagonal of the
court. Or you could hit the shuttle first to his forehand FC and then to his
backhand RC.
• He may be slow recovering from his rearcourt.
• He may be slow running the distance on the court.

(c) Hit the shuttle to the space your opponent is leaving.

• He may be quick recovering towards the centre and you can
wrong- foot him.

(d) Hit the shuttle to the spaces at the sides of the direction your
opponent is travelling in.
• He may be more of a straight line runner and not good at changing
direction quickly to the sides.

Hitting to the spaces in this way can be effective because it puts the
emphasis on what you do to your opponent. This is particularly helpful if
you are the sort of player who performs the strokes without giving much
thought, if any, to their purpose – perhaps the result of doing numerous
repetitions of mindless routines. By hitting to the empty spaces you don’t
have to think of your strokes but simply hit to the spaces and hope that
you can eventually get a chance to hit a winner. It does make you aware
of one way of using your strokes effectively. Unfortunately the weakness
of just hitting to the empty spaces in this way is that such tactics are very
simple and limited. Without consciously or unconsciously seeing your

16
stroke-moves as building shots played according to the principle of
winning, there is no guarantee that you will play intelligently to create a
situation to increase your chances of winning the rally. It is also unlikely
that you will be able to adapt your tactics relative to how your opponent
plays.

If you want to hit to the empty spaces using your stroke-moves as

building shots then you might ask the question: What sort of building
shots and attempted winning shots shall I play?

The immediate answer to this question is to play shots that are in

accordance with the principle of winning and that allow you time to
recover into position to cover your opponent’s replies. However, as your
intention will be to create a situation that will increase your chances of
winning the rally, it may help you to decide what shot to play if you could
recognise what sort of situation you are in at the time.

The situations
In a game, whether you are positioned in the RC, MC or FC there are only
two basic situations you will ever find yourself in
These are:
(a) Situations where you cannot do much with the shuttle.
(b) Situations where you can do something with the shuttle.

What can you do in either of these situations?

Though there are many shots you could play in either or these two
situations they can all be reduced to five types only. These are:
1. You give your opponent a shot he cannot do much with. You could play
a safety shot as a building shot - hit a standard or high clear to the centre
of the rearcourt (RC). This would be an example of the first type of
building shot. Alternatively you could hit the lower and faster attack-clear,
an example of the second type of building shot.

17
2. You do something with it. You could play a building shot or attempt a
winning shot.
3. You try to cause your opponent to give you a shot you can do
something with ( you play a faster building shot, use deception, wrong
foot him, play to his strengths or weaknesses and so on).
4. You give your opponent a shot he can do something with. For example:
(a) You don’t think and play a shot with no purpose to it, e.g. a ‘nothin’
shot or ‘hit and hope’ shot. For example you hit the shuttle to the wrong
place at the wrong time, e.g. a drop shot when you are off balance in the
RC and your opponent is waiting in the FC.
(b) You hit a poor length clear or dropshot, or a high cross-court smash
which allows the opponent to intercept easily and play a reply to his
advantage.
5. You do nothing with it. You make an error (hit the shuttle out or into
the net).
So you see - there are 2 basic situations and 5 possible things you
could do in each situation. Now look at the chart below.

Situation Chart
1. You give 2. You do 3. You cause 4. You give 5. You do
opponent a something opponent to opponent a nothing with it
shot he with it give you a shot shot he can do
cannot do you can do something with
much with something with

Situation 1.
You cannot
do much with
the shuttle

Situation 2.
You can do
something
with the
shuttle

18
Let’s see how you can use this chart. Look at:
Situation 1. You cannot do much with the shuttle.
Consider the possible replies.
In this situation the least you could do would be to (1) give your opponent
a shot he cannot do much with. It would be risky to try (2) to do
something with it, like attempt a winner. No 3 would be intelligent and
skilful badminton if you could manage it; No 4 would be rather stupid and
No 5 would be very stupid

Situation 2. You can do something with the shuttle.

Let’s consider the possible replies.
In this situation No 1 would be OK but rather negative badminton and a
chance missed to put pressure on your opponent and make life difficult for
him. No 2 would be positive attacking badminton if you played a building
shot which gave your opponent less time and perhaps gave you the
chance to attempt a winner. No 3 would be similar as you could use
building shots to exploit your opponent’s game in some way. No’s 4 and 5
would be unintelligent and quite inappropriate (though to err is human
and can happen sometimes – but not all the time). Unless, of course,
you are deliberately playing to his strengths so you can anticipate his
usual reply in that situation.

Summary
These are three different inter-related ways of looking at tactical play all
of which comply with the principle of winning. They are all worth
considering as they all can contribute to developing your tactical
knowledge and understanding as you learn to apply them in practice and
competition.

The idea of seeing the strokes as tactical moves, as ‘stroke-moves’, places

the focus on what you do the opponent rather than on the stroke itself.
The most important aspect of tactical play is your focus on defeating the
opponent with your strokes being used as weapons to execute your
tactical moves.

19
The idea of building shots and attempted winning shots derive from the
fact that it may take time and a number of stroke-moves, a rally, to
eventually create a situation which will increase your chances of winning
the rally. The stroke-moves that you use, therefore, have one of two
functions; as building shots or attempted winning shots. Consider them
as such and you then have some means of judging the shots that you play
as being the right shot at the right time in creating a situation in
accordance with the principle of winning.

The idea of hitting to the empty spaces is very simple and basic. It is
what players do all the time in a game. Its importance as a tactical idea
is because, as with the stroke-moves, it put the focus on doing something
to the opponent. It is progress away from just performing strokes in a
habitual and aimless fashion. A player simply hits the shuttle to various
empty spaces to move his opponent out of position or to catch him out
with the intention of winning the rally. If players did this intelligently
whenever they played I am sure they would win more often than not. It
would not be necessary to think of their strokes as tactical moves or as
building shots. Unfortunately, not all players do this intelligently. Many
players may do this without any real tactical purpose; they hit the shuttle
to the empty spaces in the hope that they will win the rally. They don’t
necessarily hit to the right space at the right time. It can too easily
become a habit to hit shuttles to the empty spaces just as it can become a
habit to hit clears, smashes etc and lose sight of their main purpose – as
a means to defeat the opponent. For your strokes to be effective as
tactical moves they should be used in accordance with the principle of
winning. The shuttle can be hit to the empty spaces, indeed it is a
sensible tactic, but only if done so as part of a rally of building shots used
to create a situation in which it is possible to attempt a rally winning shot.

The situation chart provides a simple way of judging the sort of situation
that you are in. It does this by reducing the variety of different situations
to two types and what you can do in each of these. The idea of judging
the situation can be effective in helping you to play the right shot at the
right time. For example you can judge your shot as, “I shouldn’t have

20
played an attempted winning shot in that situation as it was a situation in
which I couldn’t do much with the shuttle.” or, “I played a poorly
performed building shot (a short clear) and gave my opponent a shot he
could do something with”.

21
 PART THREE
.

LEARNING TO USE TACTICS IN GAMES AND

PRACTICES

The intention here is to enable you to try out the various forms of tactical
play in practice games. This will help you to become familiar with using
your strokes as tactical moves to create situations which increase your
chances of winning the rally

1. ‘Stroke-move’ games
Game one: Learning to use the move to the rearcourt
Play one game of singles up to between 5 to 15 points. There is one
additional rule:
Rule: Before either player can attempt a winning shot in a rally, e.g. the
smash, he/she must first make the opponent step into his rearcourt to hit
the shuttle.

Once the opponent has done this you can attempt a winning shot at any
time in that rally. If you do so before doing this you lose the rally.
Note: This will ensure that you hit a good length high clear or lob which is
essential in singles play. It will also help you to learn to watch your
opponent and judge the length of your clear by where his feet are
positioned as he hits the shuttle. It will also help you to know more
accurately where you are in the court when you hit the shuttle from the
rearcourt area

Game two: Learning to use the move to the forecourt

Play one game of singles up to between 5 to 15 points. There is one
additional rule:

22
Rule: Before either player can attempt a winning shot in a rally, e.g. the
smash, he/she must first make the opponent step and/or reach into the
forecourt with his racket to hit the shuttle.
Once your opponent has done this you can attempt a winning shot at any
time in that rally. If you do so before doing this you lose the rally.
Note: This will ensure that you hit accurate drop shots or net replies to
move your opponent out of position and to hit up from near the net. It will
also help you to watch your opponent to see whether he has to hit the
shuttle from inside the forecourt so you will be able to judge the accuracy
and effectiveness of your stroke-move.

Game three: Learning to use the basic moves to send the

opponent to the sides of the court.
Play one game of singles up to between 5 to 15 points. There is one
additional rule.
Rule: Before either player can attempt a winning shot, e.g. the smash,
he/she must first make the opponent travel completely into (with both
feet) one side of the court to hit the shuttle and then immediately have to
travel completely to the other side of the court to hit your reply, e.g. into
the right forecourt and the left rearcourt.
Once your opponent has done this you can attempt a winning shot at any
time in that rally. If you do so before doing this you lose the rally
Note: This game will ensure that you exploit the width of the court as you
hit cross-court shots as you use your stroke-moves to move your
opponent out of position to the sides of the court.

Game four: Learning to use the stroke-moves to exploit the

opponent in the midcourt
Play one game of singles up to between 5 to 15 points. There is one
additional rule.
Rule: Before either player can attempt a winning shot in a rally he/she
must first force an upward hit from the midcourt. The shuttle must be hit
from below the waist level of the of the opponent.

23
Once your opponent has done this you can attempt a winning shot at any
time in that rally. If you do so before doing this you lose the rally.

Note: This will help you to use the long dropshot, the drive, push and net
kill as stroke-moves, rather than just the smash, to force your opponent
to hit upwards from the midcourt.

2. ‘Hitting to the space’ games

Game I: Play a game of singles and try to win by moving your opponent
out of position by hitting the shuttle to the empty spaces on his/her
court. These are the sides and centre of the RC and FC and the sides of
the MC.
Advice: Remind the players to return to the centre of their MC after each
hit.

Game 2: Play a game of singles and try to win by hitting the shuttle to
the space furthest away from the opponent.
Advice: This is useful for players who are slow at getting back into a
central position after playing their shot. They will be late getting to the
shuttle.

Game 3: Play a game of singles and try to win by hitting the shuttle
back to the space that the opponent is leaving.
Advice: This is useful for players who are quick at getting back into
position after playing their shot. They can be caught out.

Game 4: Play a game of singles and try to win by hitting the shuttle to
the space which is in a different direction to the one the opponent is
leaving.
Advice: This will usually be to the sides of the player and can catch out
the player who is not very agile and is slow to change direction sideways
quickly. For example, if the opponent has hit the shuttle from his
forehand rearcourt and is recovering to the centre midcourt you can hit
your reply to his backhand rearcourt or to his forehand forecourt. Both of
these shots will cause him to have to change direction sideways.

24
3. ‘Building’ shot and ‘attempted winning’ shot game
This game is the most important of all as the sole purpose of all the shots
you play in this game will be to apply the principle of winning: to create a
situation which will increase your chances of winning the rally or to reduce
your opponent’s chances of winning the rally. If you can consider your
shots as such then you should eventually play with more purpose and
intelligence. You will still use your strokes as moves and you will hit to
the empty spaces on your opponent’s court but now there will be a
specific tactical purpose to doing so; you will be applying the principle of
winning.

Consider also here the importance of the situation chart with its two basic
situations and the five possibilities in each of those situations. It is
important because it will help you to decide what type of situation you are
in and what sort of building shot or attempted winning shot to play and
where to play it.

Game. Play a game of singles of 9 or 11 points (no setting). There is one

additional rule.
Rule: Before you attempt a winning shot in a rally you must hit at least 3
or 5 building shots. You decide on the number. Any time after that you
can attempt a winning shot.
If the opponent returns the shuttle you can either attempt another
winning shot or continue with more building shots until you have created
another situation where you can attempt a winning shot.

Advice
Only select shots as building shots and attempted winning shots that allow
you to get back into position to cover the replies. Do not play a particular
shot as a building shot or an attempted winning shot if you cannot get
back into position to cover the replies. If you do so it would not create a
situation which increases your chance of winning the rally.
If you are under pressure and need to make time for yourself to get back
into position to cover the opponent’s possible replies then you can play a
safety shot. Simply hit the shuttle very high towards the centre of his

25
rear court using a high defensive clear as a building shot depending on
how much time you need.
Once you decide to play your building or attempted winning shot then
concentrate on performing each stroke as well as you can. Don’t worry
about the opponent getting to it. If he is out of position and has to travel
to get to the shuttle he will not be able to do much with it anyway;
especially if you hit an effective building shot and you are in position and
ready to cover his probable reply.

Play the game the way you like to play and feel comfortable with. It is
your game. Your choice of building shots and attempted winning shots is
entirely up to you. You are in charge of what you do and as long as what
you do has a sensible purpose to it - then do it.

Comment
During the game only you will know whether it was your intention to hit a
building shot or attempted winning shot in accordance with the principle of
winning. You should also know, just as will any coach or spectator in this
instance, whether you played the right sort of building shot or attempted
winning shot in the type of situation you were in. Spectators will actually
see it as not the right sort of shot to play in that situation. You will also
know if you have hit a ‘nothin’ shot or a ‘hit and hope’ shot. You will know
all this because you should be able to judge if the shot you played was in
accordance with the principle of winning.

The ability to think and use intelligent tactics doesn’t come immediately.
You must think about it over time and practise playing in this way
whenever you play singles. It requires you to judge what you do during
the game and correct or alter your game as you play. In this way you will
be able to plan tactics and apply tactics, or devise ongoing tactics in a
game, which will increase your chances of winning. In doing so you should
develop your court craft and play with more intelligence and purpose.

26
To play the game in this way will make you more aware of your strengths
and any weaknesses you may have which will include: any lack of
technical and tactical skill, fitness or a poor competitive attitude.

In fact, everything you must learn to play the game well derives from
what you need to apply the principle of winning against any opponent. So
let me now consider some of the things that you need to learn.

27
Practices to improve your skill in performing your strokes as
tactical moves

The purpose of these practices is to re-emphasise the idea that your

strokes are not just actions but also tactical moves. Consequently there
can be two ways of practising any stroke. Usually you would learn how to
perform the action for a stroke. For example, the ‘standard clear’; you
would learn it as a ‘throwing action’ with the racket starting position, the
preparation, and the hitting phase as part of the stroke cycle2. You would
practise this action until you could perform it with fluency, accuracy and
consistency. Then you would normally be expected to hit numerous clears
in practice to ‘groove’ the stroke, to develop your technical skill. Though
you may be aware that the function of the clear is to send the opponent to
the rearcourt it is often the case that your focus is not on what you do to
the OTHER player but on your SELF and how you perform the action. The
result of this is that, even if players are told the function of the stroke, all
too often they hit clears in practice which are of a poor length and too low
as they try to complete their scheduled practice of 10, 20, or 30
repetitions of the stroke action. Then, in a game, they do the same thing
and wonder why the opponent is able to intercept the clear and smash
from inside the doubles service line, just inside the midcourt.

The solution to this problem is to consider and to practise both aspects of

the clear or any other stroke from the outset: the stroke as an action and
the stroke as a tactical move. As soon you can perform the action of any
stroke (technical skill) you should begin to practise it to develop your
tactical skill, as a tactical move with the focus on what you do to your
practice partner. In fact, this is the measure of how well you are
performing the stroke. You will perform a good ‘clear’ if you can
consistently move your practice partner to his rearcourt and create
enough time for you to be back into position to cover the possible replies
(even though you know it is a ‘clear’ practice you are both doing). The
clear is used here as a building shot.

2
See my book, ‘Excelling at Badminton’ chapter 9.

28
The practices
The main purpose of these practices is to emphasise the difference
between a technical practice and a tactical practice. To switch the focus
from how you perform the strokes to what you do to your opponent. I will
select a few strokes for you to learn how to do this and then you can
adopt the same method for other strokes. In each stroke selected I have
described one practice to develop your technical skill and one practice to
develop your tactical skill so that you can compare the difference. In some
practices one player may act as the feeder while the other player practises
to improve his performance.

First Stroke
1. The forehand clear – technical skill.
This practice is called ‘the forehand clear’.
Instructions: Perform 10 repetitions – a 20 shot rally.
A in the centre MC. B in the centre of his RC
A serves high to B.
B hits a forehand clear to A’s centre RC.
A travels to his RC and hits a clear to B and then stays in his RC.
Both players continue to rally from the RC until they have completed a 20
shot rally.
This practice can be developed to make it more complex and difficult,
.e.g. by adding the travel phases, but the emphasis would still be mainly
on the action – the performance of the stroke - and not the outcome –
what it does to the OTHER player; though of course you would still expect
the stroke to be effective in what it does to the other player.

2. The forehand clear – tactical skill

This practice is called: I am going to use my forehand clear as a building
shot to make you travel into your RC and allow enough time for me to get
back into position in my MC to cover your possible replies before you hit
the shuttle.

Instructions: Get it right 5 times

A and B stand in the centre of their respective midcourts.

29
A serves high to B’s centre RC and then takes up a defensive stance ready
to defend against a possible smash.. He watches B to see if he has
arrived with his feet in the RC before he hits the shuttle. If not A serves
again until he can do this. If he succeeds then:
B hits a high clear to A’s centre RC and then watches A travel to the RC
while recovering to his centre MC to arrive ready to defend before A can
hit the shuttle from inside his RC. Thus A travels into position in the RC to
hit the shuttle as B travels to his centre.
Note: If A has not travelled all the way into his RC and B has not
travelled to his centre MC before A hits the shuttle then the practice
begins again.
The players practice in this way until they can use the clear as a tactical
move (a building shot) successfully. With practice they should be able to
get it right for a rally of at least 10 shots – 5 repetitions each. If the rally
breaks down before then, i.e. if either player fails to do the practice
effectively, they stop and begin again.

Note: It is important that A and B recover to their centre each time to

take up a defensive stance whilst watching the other player so that they
each see the outcome of their stroke-moves; that they are building shots
used to move the opponent out of position and to create a situation in
accordance with the principle of attack.

Second Stroke
1. The forehand x-court drop shot – technical skill
Instructions: Perform 10 repetitions – 20 shot rally.
A (as the feeder) stands in his right MC about 1-2 metres behind the short
service line.
B stands in the centre of his right RC
A serves high to B.
B hits a fast cross court flat or sliced dropshot to A
A lobs the shuttle back to B positioned in his right rearcourt.
The rally continues for 20 shots and then the players change over.

30
2. The forehand x-court drop shot – tactical skill
This practice is called: I am going to use my x-court drop-shot as a
building shot to make you move from your centre position to play the
shuttle from near the floor at the side of your FC/MC area.

Instructions: get it right 5 times.

A stands in his centre MC.
B stands in the centre of his right MC in a receiving serve stance.
A serves high to B’s forehand RC and then stands astride the centre line in
a defensive stance ready to cover B’s possible smash.
B travels to his RC and takes up the smash position (to look as if to
smash). B hits a fast x-court drop shot to aim the shuttle to land near the
floor at the side of A’s right court, near the short service line and the
sideline.
A travels across and lobs the shuttle high to B who has remained in his
RC and then recovers to his centre line in the MC as if to defend against a
possible smash.
The players continue to rally in this way until B has hit 5 successful x-
court drop shots, i.e. until B has caused A to move out of position to hit
the shuttle from near the floor at the side of his court.

Note: It is important that A recovers to his centre line each time to take
up a defensive stance so that B actually sees the outcome of his stroke-
move, that it is a building shot used to move the opponent out of position
and to create a situation in accordance with the principle of attack.

Comment
These technical and tactical practices are very basic and one would expect
to develop them further to make them more difficult and complex
technical or tactical practices in conjunction with other stroke-moves and
by adding the elements of uncertainty and competition. For example, in
the second tactical practice, B will be allowed to hit a straight smash to
A’s left midcourt so forcing A to get back into position to defence. Or, B
may have to travel forwards towards the centre MC to be ready for a
possible net reply to his drop shot. The purpose here is simply to illustrate

31
the difference between a technical and tactical practice. In a technical
practice the focus is on the action of hitting the shuttle - on your SELF. In
a tactical practice the focus in on the outcome - what you do to the
OTHER player - on your use of a stroke-move as a building shot or
attempted winning shot in accordance with the principle of winning.

Some more examples of technical and tactical practices.

I will explain what each practice is called and then you can construct a
practice similar to the previous technical and tactical practices.
1. The forehand smash.
(a) Construct a technical practice.
(b) Construct a tactical practice.
This practice is called: I am going to use my forehand smash as a
building shot to make you move from your centre position to play the
shuttle from near the floor at the backhand side of your MC area.

2. The backhand block to the smash

(a) Construct a technical practice
(b) Construct a tactical practice.
This practice is called: I am going to perform a backhand block as a
building shot to your smash to make you travel to the forecourt to play
the shuttle from below the net in your forehand FC.

3. The forehand attack clear to the backhand RC.

(a) Construct a technical practice
(b) Construct a tactical practice.
This practice is called: I am going to hit a fast low clear over your head to
make you move from your central position and give you less time to get
to the shuttle in your backhand RC.

32
 PART FOUR

PLANNING YOUR TACTICS

“Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles with no
danger of defeat”.3

If you are going to devise a game plan prior to playing your opponent or if
you are going to devise your tactics as you play then you should know
something about how your opponent plays. This will include:
• his strengths and weaknesses
• his favourite shots
• what he is likely to do in a given situation
Additionally you should also know the same things about your own game
as your tactics depend on what you can do in a given situation to counter
your opponent’s moves and to create situations in which you can increase
your chances of winning the rally.

How can you get to know your opponent’s game. Usually you do so by
playing against him. If you play against your friends regularly in informal
and formal competitive games you will usually get a good idea of what
they are likely to do in a given situation and how to play against them.
You will have learned this from experience even if you are not consciously
aware of having done so. This is particularly the case if you are a better
player and win more often than not. But if you lose regularly then you
have to ask yourself why this is and then do something about it. You will
have to learn about both your own game and your opponent’s game so
that you can compare his game with yours and work out what he can and
cannot do and why he can defeat you.
The most direct way to learn about his game is by observation, recording
what he does in the game and then analysing it. You can do this:
• by playing against him and then rely on your memory to complete a
questionnaire

3
“Six Essays on Military Affairs”, page 21, Mao Tsetung, Foreign Languages
Press, 1972.

33
 • by watching him, recording the game using a system of notation
and then completing a questionnaire
• by videoing him and then watching the video to get the answers to
the questions in your questionnaire or using a computer to analyse.
You can learn about your own game from:
• memory and a questionnaire
• observe yourself on video and analyse your performance using a
questionnaire or a system of computer analysis.

As it is unlikely that you will have access to computer analysis then the
most effective way to analyse how your opponent plays is to use a video
recording and/or a questionnaire. Once you have detailed information
about how you both play, you can then work on your strengths and
weaknesses to improve your own performance and be aware of your
opponent’s strengths and weaknesses in planning how to play against
him.

PLAYER ANALYSIS QUESTIONNAIRE

This method is used to gain more information about an opponent. It is

simply a questionnaire which focuses attention on particular aspects of
an opponent's game. If you complete a questionnaire on all potential
opponents you can build up a file which can be referred to whenever
necessary. At the same time doing so will help you to learn to analyse
an opponent's game. Assume you are due to play a strong opponent - a
study of the questionnaire will indicate his favourite shots; his
movement patterns; his replies to a particular order of shots. It is
possible to be prepared with a good insight into the opponent's game
and to have already worked out the opponent's possible replies in
certain situations. With practice you can build up a complete picture of
the opponent's game. You can print out the following questionnaire in
which I have provided space for you to answer the questions.

34
 Questionnaire

1. Name of Player

2. Age

3. Ranking

4. Physical build-tall, medium, small/heavy, light, muscular/gymnastic,

athletic.

5. Results this season (only good opponents)

Won (name opponent)

Los (name opponent)

Things to look for

1. SERVE – the opening stroke-move

(a) Does he serve low or high?

(b) Does he use a backhand or forehand serve?

(c) Where does he serve: sides or centre?

(d) Where does he recover to after the serve, e.g. attack or defensive
stance in the MC.

(e) What do you think would be good replies to his serves, i.e. building
or attempted winning shots. Think of the different situations he puts you
in with his serve.

2. RECEIVING THE SERVE

(a) Where does he position himself to receive a serve?

(b) Does his position vary at all?

(c) What stroke-moves does he play in reply to: the low serve, high serve –
from his forehand or backhand sides?

(d) What grip does he use to receive serve?

35
3. REARCOURT STROKE-MOVES
(a) What stroke-moves does he play from a high position at the sides or
centre? Does it differ on his forehand or backhand side?

(b) What stroke-moves does he play from a low position at the sides?

(c) Is he quick or slow to recover after playing a particular stroke-move?

(d) Where does he recover to: midcourt centre each time or in another
position to cover your possible replies?

(e) What sort of reply do you think he expects from you to his stroke-move?

(f) What sort of reply(s) do you think would be effective against him in the
situation from which you would play your stroke-move.

4. MIDCOURT STROKE-MOVES
(a) What stroke-moves does he play from a high position at the sides or
centre? Does it differ on his forehand or backhand side?

(b) Is he quick or slow to recover after playing a particular stroke-move?

(c) Where does he recover to: midcourt centre each time or in another
position to cover your possible replies?

(d) What stroke-moves does he play from a low position at the sides?

(e) What grip does he use when defending in the midcourt.

(f) What sort of reply do you think would be effective against him in the
situation from which you would play your stroke-move.

(g) What sort of reply do you think he expects from you to his stroke-move?

5. FORECOURT STROKE-MOVES
(a) What stroke-moves does he play from above net level, just below net
level, from near the floor at the sides or centre? Does it differ on his forehand
or backhand side?

36
(b) Is he quick or slow to recover into position after playing a particular
stroke-move?

(d) Where does he recover to, to cover your possible stroke-moves?

(e) What sort of, reply do you think he expects from you to his stroke-move?

(f) What sort of reply do you think would be effective against him in the
situation from which you would play your stroke-move?

6. GENERAL QUESTIONS
(a) What is his favorite stroke-move, if any, in a particular situation?

(b) What is his strongest stroke-move in a particular situation, in relation to

your game?

(c) What is his weakest stroke-move in a particular situation, in relation to

your game?

(d) Is there any recognisable pattern of stroke-moves he uses as building

shots to create a situation which increases his chances of attempting a winning
shot? In what situation does he attempt most of his winning shots?

7. DECEPTION
(a) In what situations does he use deception?

(b) What particular stroke-move does he use for deception?

(c) How does he try to deceive you?

(d) How does he recover after using deception?

(e) What sort of replies do you think he expects from his deception?

(f) What do you think you might do if you know he uses deception in that
situation?

8. FITNESS
(a) Is he quick off the spot and does he get to the shuttle quickly?

(b) Does he recover quickly after making a stroke-move?

37
(c) How does he seem physically after a long hard rally if he wins or if he loses
the rally?

(d) After a long hard rally can he play another long rally or does he attempt to
go for a quick winner?

(e) How does he play when he gets tired?

(f) How do you know if he is tired?

9. ATTITUDE
(a) How does he react if he is losing? Does he have a negative or positive
attitude?

(b) How does he react if he is winning?

(c) How do you think you might play him when he is losing or when he is
winning? Would you continue as you are or change your tactics.

10. WHAT SORT OF PLAYER IS HE:

(a) Likes long rallies?

(b) Patient, steady -tends to wait for mistake?

(c) Attacking-goes for winners, etc?

(d) Plays a fast game?

(e) Plays a slow game?

(f) Confident?

(g) What is he like in a tense situation: cool, nervous?

(h) Anything else you can think of?

38
COMMENTS
This is a very basic questionnaire. If you answer all the questions you
should obtain a good picture of each opponent. If you want to change
any questions or add to them to create your own questionnaire then
you should do so.

Once you have completed this questionnaire on possible opponents you

should complete it on yourself. Either use your memory or get a friend
to video you when you play.

How to use the information?

There are several ways that you can use this information to improve
your performance and help you to defeat your opponents.

1. Make a profile of each opponent.

Use the questionnaire to write a profile, a picture, of each opponent.
This way you can build up a file on each of your opponents which you
can update when necessary. A study of an opponent’s profile prior to a
game will remind you of how he plays and what strategy and tactics to
adopt against him. You simply need to remind yourself of the sort of
moves he makes in different situations and how you might counter
those moves. Do his stroke-moves allow you to make use of them to
create a situation in which you could attempt a winning shot? If so
write down the situation and the counter move that you could make.
Then think about how your opponent may counter your move.
The order is:
• his stroke-move
• your counter stroke-move
• his likely counter moves to your stroke-move
• your possible reply

With careful study and analysis it is not too difficult to plan your replies
for each possible pattern of stroke-moves that your opponent uses.

39
2. Practice
Once you have analysed your game and your opponent’s game you may
find that you need to learn or improve your technical skill, your stroke
actions, so that you can use your stroke-moves effectively as tactical
moves. Likewise you may find that you need to practise using your
stroke-moves in a particular situation so that you can counter your
opponent’s moves and exploit his weaknesses.

Your performance as a player depends on four basic aspects: your

technical skill, tactical skill, fitness and attitude as opposed to those of
your opponent. As the sole purpose of your strategy is to win the battle
then your strategy will focus on exploiting one or all of these aspects of
your opponent’s game, which you will do by your tactical play. To what
extent you can do this will obviously depend on your own skill, fitness and
attitude as you can expect that your opponent will knowingly or
unknowingly be exploiting your performance in the same way. This is why
it is important that you should be continually trying to improve your
performance through careful planning, fitness training, effective technical
and tactical practices and play.

40
 PART FIVE

THE ON-COURT BATTLE

(Getting an edge on your opponent)

By now you should have some idea of the sort of tactical moves you can
make in a game and how those moves cause the opponent to travel to
various positions on his court. However, with two equal opponents, your
tactical moves, though appropriate, may be insufficient and you would
need to think how you might play them with more effect to increase your
chances of winning. In any contest between equal opponents, players who
win usually manage to get an edge on their opponents. They have
something extra which they bring to their play. In this Part of the book,
therefore, I want to discuss some general ideas and ways of increasing
your own chances of winning. – how you might get that edge on your
opponent when you are on court trying to win.

As I wrote at the beginning,

“The game is a battle. The battle is between two opponents who present
each other with a problem. The problem is how to overcome the opponent
and win the battle. The deciding factor is ‘thinking’. You have to solve the
problem presented by the opponent who not only tries to prevent you
winning the battle but also tries to win himself.”

The ‘principle of winning’ states that you should try to create a situation
which will increase your chances of winning the rally or, to reduce your
opponent’s chances of doing so. Here are a few suggestions on how you
might get that edge on your opponent which will make the difference
between winning and losing.

1. Outmanoeuvre him:
(a) Hit to the spaces and move him away from his centre until he is
late getting to the shuttle or cannot get to it to play a shot.

41
(b) Lull him into expecting a shot to the same place so he that covers
that and doesn’t get back into position to cover other possible shots
and so leaves some of the court open for you to hit the shuttle there.
For example you may hit 3 consecutive shots to the backhand
rearcourt so that he hangs back expecting another shot there.

2. Exploit his lack of fitness: endurance, speed, flexibility, strength,

agility. Tire him - prolong the rallies or play at a faster pace until he
tires and cannot cover the court and/or begins to make errors.

3. Upset his game.

(a) vary the direction – mix straight and x-court shots.
(b) alter the tempo, i.e. slow the game down or speed it up.
(c) variety- use different types of shot and speeds.

(4) Deceive him.

(a) Pretend to do one thing and then do another. Example: pretend
to move in a direction before he hits the shuttle, i.e. bluff him by
making a feint. Or, go as if to play a net reply and then hit the
shuttle over his head as he travels forwards to the net.

(b) Delay your shot. Hold your racket as if prepared to hit and
then delay the hit until he commits himself to moving before you
hit the shuttle.

(c) Eliminate stroke habits. Make your preparation look identical for
similar shots then your opponent will not know where the shuttle is
going until you actually hit it. For example adopt the smash
position for all forehand overhead shots so that you look as if to
smash and then the opponent cannot anticipate whether you will
smash, clear or drop.

5. Play to his weaknesses. You do this so that you can predict the
return or know he is likely to make a weak return or an error. For
example many players will hold the racket in a forehand grip when in

42
the ready position or defending in Singles. If you hit the shuttle
quickly to their backhand side many players will not be able to change
to a backhand grip quickly so they will still use their forehand grip
with the result being a weaker shot. This is particularly the case with
the smash to the backhand side. The reply of a player who is using a
forehand grip is usually a block to the forecourt rather than a lob.

6. Play to his strengths. It is sometimes necessary to do this

because you can predict what he is likely to do with the shuttle. If
everything else has been tried it might be the last resort. You might
for example give your opponent an easy shot on his forehand knowing
he will attempt a straight smash. You can anticipate this shot and try
to cut it off and play it to the open court and perhaps force him in
return to give you a shot you can do something with.

7. Get to know his body language and anticipate what he is

likely to do. Many players have particular habits which they show as
they perform various strokes on the court. If you think about it you
may find that you already read the body language of players who you
play regularly. For example some players will drop the elbow and bend
their racket arm when they intend to hit a drop shot. Others will hold
the racket in a different grip for different shots. If you study your
opponents while they are playing and use the questionnaire to direct
your attention to specific things that they do you should begin to
recognise their habits from their body language.

8. Exploit his attitude: impatience, recklessness, fear of

losing/winning, lack of concentration. As long as you behave within
the Laws and the spirit of the game you are free to exploit the
opponent’s attitude just as you may exploit his fitness or technical
skill.

9. Take up an effective court position

I have referred throughout about recovering into a position to cover
your opponent’s possible replies. Good positional play is an essential

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part of good tactical play. Usually beginners are advised and taught to
return to the ‘central base’, the centre of the midcourt, after hitting the
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shuttle. This is a position which is equidistant from the front and sides
of the court. This occurs in many basic practices and helps to instill the
habit of doing so in players. This is good advice at the beginning but as
you improve you will need to vary your positions slightly relative to
where the opponent is when he hits the shuttle and the sort of shot you
might expect from him. So let’s consider some of the ways you might
position yourself when covering your opponent’s possible replies.

(a) The Funnel – dividing the angle of the possible returns. The word
funnel is used to describe the position of one opponent relative to the
other as he hits the shuttle. Usually a player dividing the angle of the
direction of the possible returns of his opponent thinks only of shots
passing on his right and left sides. However badminton is a three-
dimensional game and the shuttle can be hit upwards as well as to the
left and right of the player. After making a shot you should try to
position yourself square on to the opponent even whilst traveling into
position. You then will appear
to be looking down a funnel
and, like a goalkeeper, you
will attempt to cover all the
possible space, at the sides
and above you to prevent the
shuttle getting past you. You
will also be a position to
travel to the shuttle that is in
front of you or is traveling
behind you.

The funnel

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(b). Facing the hitter. It is important to position yourself correctly in
relation to the position of hitter (the opponent) as he positions himself
to hit the shuttle. If the hitter is in his right court then you would turn
to your left, square on to the hitter. If he is in his left court you would
turn to your right. And if he is in his centre you would stand facing
down the middle of his court. As suggested above while in the funnel
you should stand as much as possible square on to the hitter so that
you can move easily to cover shots that are hit to your right or left
sides. In the forecourt you may stand in a forward attacking stance
with your racket leg forward ready to attack a net reply; or, you may
stand in a backward attacking stance with your racket leg to the rear;
or, in the midcourt, you may stand in a sides defensive or attacking-
stance with your legs sideways apart ready to defend against a possible
smash.

10. Invite a reply. It is possible to ‘persuade’ your opponent to give

you the reply that you want. For example if you play a net reply to his
block to your smash you could ‘invite’ him to play a net reply also which
you are ready to attack. After your net reply simply partly withdraw
from the net into a backward attacking stance – the same as a
receiving serve stance – as if to cover the lob to the rearcourt. This
opens up space in the forecourt and ‘invites’ your opponent to play a
net reply which you have planned for and can attack. Likewise if you
play a very tight net reply you can stand in a forward attacking stance
which takes you nearer the net and reduces the space between you and
the net. The opponent is ‘invited’ to lob the shuttle high with you now
ready to travel backwards to smash.

11. Hitting to the centre or the sides. It is often an advantage to

hit from the sides of your forecourt, midcourt or rearcourt rather than
from the centre of these areas. The reason being that if you hit from
the sides you can hit the shuttle down the line to the side of the
opponent or across the full width of the court with less risk of hitting

45
the shuttle out of the side lines. This is particularly the case when the
shuttle is high in your rearcourt, midcourt or forecourt. The opponent
will find it more difficult to cover all your replies. When you hit from the
centre of the court to the sides of the opponent’s court you must direct
the shuttle towards the side lines and hence there is more risk of
hitting the shuttle out of the sidelines. For this reason a good tactic is
to try to get the opponent to create a situation in which you can hit the
shuttle from your sides. One way of doing this is to hit the shuttle to
the middle of your opponent’s rearcourt, midcourt or forecourt. Most
players will return the shuttle to the sides of your rearcourt, midcourt
or forecourt and give you the angle that you want. This is particularly
the case when hitting a long drop shot aimed to land close to the
opponent’s body on his right or left side when the opponent is
positioned in the centre of his midcourt. This creates a situation in
which he cannot do much with the shuttle and usually he will try to
reply to the sides of your forecourt, midcourt or rearcourt. If you are
ready you can anticipate and then hit your shot from the sides.
If the opponent hits the shuttle towards your centre rearcourt, midcourt
or forecourt then simply hit it back to his centre until he hits it to the
sides of your court. One player who used this tactic frequently was
Morten Frost, the Danish All England champion in the 1980s. He used
to play a long drop shot to the centre Midcourt then recover to his
centre and wait for his opponent to try to hit the shuttle away from
him to the corners of his forecourt or rearcourt. As soon as he did
Frost would anticipate and attack the opponent’s reply. The best reply
to Frost was to do the same to him instead of hitting to his corners.

12. Walk or run back into position after your shot. Many
practices in badminton use routines in which the player is always
running forwards or backwards to a central base. This is not always
necessary and is often counter productive. The only reason for
running back into position to cover the replies is if you know you will be
late getting to the shuttle. For example, if you jump backwards to hit
the shuttle in the rearcourt then you would still travel backwards
through the air after the hit and before you land. Obviously then you

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will want to make up for the time taken to travel backwards before you
land. As soon as you land you would try to get back into position as
quickly as possible – so you would run. How fast you run would depend
on where you have hit the shuttle. If you have smashed it then you
would need to recover more quickly than if you had cleared it.
Alternatively if you are in balance in the rearcourt before the shuttle
arrives then you would hit it with your weight coming forwards and can
walk back towards your centre ready to move quickly once the
opponent has hit the shuttle. If you always run then you can be caught
out by an opponent who hits the shuttle back to the space you have
just left or in another direction to the one you are traveling in. It is
often difficult to change direction at speed.

The same applies to the lob from the rearcourt. If you hit a very high
lob to the middle of your opponent’s rearcourt then you have time to
walk back into position to defend against his possible smash. If you
perform a shallow or poor length lob then you might have to run
backwards very quickly as you may have less time to get into position
before the opponent hits the shuttle.

So I would suggest that if you are in balance and in position to hit the
shuttle before it arrives then if you smash, clear, drop from the
rearcourt then simply walk towards your midcourt ready to cover your
opponent’s replies. If you lob high from the forecourt then walk back to
your midcourt ready to defend against a possible smash.

13. Watch the shuttle and the opponent

As suggested above many players are trained to run back to their
central base after hitting the shuttle. This is practised so much that it
becomes a habit. They are also usually taught to watch the shuttle all
the time to the extent that they don’t watch to see what the opponent will
probably do. The consequence of these two factors is that some
players hit the shuttle and then focus first on running back to the
central base (hopefully to divide the angle of returns) and then focus
second on watching the shuttle. What happens then is that the player

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usually has to wait until the opponent hits the shuttle before he can
move to get to it with the result that he is often late getting there.

My advice is as follows. Think of the other side of the court as a big

picture occupied by the opponent. After you have hit the shuttle into the
opponent’s court focus mainly on watching the opponent as you travel into
position to cover his/her possible replies. You know where you have hit
the shuttle so you don’t need to focus so much on watching the shuttle.
You will see it but the main focus is on watching the opponent. If you
focus on him you can see how he prepares to return the shuttle and you
can then judge what he is likely to do and so prepare for it.

Alternatively when the opponent hits the shuttle towards you, you should
focus on the shuttle mainly. You will still see the opponent in the picture
and you should know where he is likely to travel to cover your replies. In
my opinion the rule should be: 'Watch the opponent mainly when you hit
the shuttle away from you and watch the shuttle mainly as it travels
towards you'.

14. Reduce your errors – percentage play.

The purpose here is to reduce the possibility of making an error and yet
by playing safely to give no advantage to your opponent. Here are a
few typical examples.
(a) Clears and lobs to the rearcourt. Too many players hit the shuttle
too close to the sidelines as they aim for the corners. Length here is
more important than direction. So aim your clear or lob to land in the
opponent’s centre rearcourt or the middle of his right or left rearcourt
and allow a greater margin for making an error. There will still be
sufficient angle to force the opponent to travel out of position towards
the side of the rearcourt to make his reply. As you become more
accurate you can aim the shuttle even wider towards the sides of the
opponent’s rearcourt to force the opponent further out of position.

(b) Drops to the forecourt. Slow drop shots should be straight or to the
middle. In general a slow cross-court drop shot will give the opponent

48
more time to reach the shuttle and to play a shot to his advantage. You
might have given him a shot that he can do something with. Cross
court drop shots should be faster to give the opponent less time to
reach the shuttle and maybe a building shot he cannot do much with.

(c) Smashes from the rearcourt. Most players only consider the smash
as an attempted winning shot. In fact it is often more effective as a
building shot when hit from the rearcourt. That means that it is hit hard
but with more control and accuracy to force the opponent to play the
shuttle from low at the sides of the midcourt on whichever side you aim
it for most effect. He must therefore hit the shuttle upwards and so
give you the chance to hit the shuttle downwards again. If he hits a
good lob reply to your rearcourt you use the smash again as a building
shot. If he hits a poor reply high to your midcourt or forecourt then you
can attempt a winning shot. The closer you are to the net the more you
can attempt a winning shot as more of his court space will be open for
your smash.
.
15. Changing tactics.
The advice usually given is don’t change your winning tactics. So if the
tactics you are using are effective then you should keep using them.
When not to change tactics
Unfortunately players sometimes do change their tactics when it is
unnecessary. It might seem appear that your tactics don’t seem to be
working so you change them. My advice before doing so is to consider
whether or not it is your tactics that are not working or your execution
of them. You could still be using effective tactics, e.g.
outmaneuvering your opponent and exploiting his lack of fitness but
your technical skill is letting you down. For example your clears are
hit too low and the opponent is able to intercept and hit his reply
before the shuttle reaches the rearcourt. Rather than change your
tactic you should make sure that you hit a good length clear as a
building shot. As this could apply to any stroke-move I would suggest
that you give some thought to your performance of your stroke-moves
before you change your tactics. For example, have you hit accurate

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and effective clears, drops and smashes as building or attempted
winning shots. It is also the case that you might be tempted to
change your tactics because your opponent seems to be playing more
positive badminton. For example, if you have won the first game or
you are leading in the final game against a good opponent you should
expect such an opponent to fight back. He may begin trying harder to
win and in so doing exert more pressure on you. The main thing is
not to panic and immediately change your tactics. What you should
do is be prepared for the change in your opponent’s attitude, to dig in
and be prepared to work harder yourself. If you do so your tactics
may continue to be effective.

When to change tactics.

If your tactics are no longer effective even when you have considered
the comments above then you may need to change your tactics - to
adopt plan B so to speak or devise new tactics relative to the
situations that you are now meeting. For example your opponent may
have realised what tactics you are using and has changed his to
counter them. Alternatively he has decided that his tactics are not
working and so he has changed them. You may now be confronted
with new problems which your current tactics are unable to cope with.
You have to devise other tactics.

Remember what I said at the start of this book.

“The game is a battle. The battle is between two opponents who present
each other with a problem. The problem is how to overcome the opponent
and win the battle.
The deciding factor is ‘thinking’. You have to think to solve the problem
presented by the opponent who not only tries to prevent you winning the
battle but also tries to win himself.
Winning is the prize for overcoming the problems presented by the opponent
throughout the battle”
This is what makes the game so fascinating. Enjoy your battle!

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