Badminton Sports: Techniques and Fine Points
Badminton
is the fastest racquet sport in the
world. To be good at badminton sports you need to be quick on your feet and
really agile. It provides a great cardio workout and demands high fitness and
stamina levels.
There
is no substitute for long hours of practice and single minded dedication. Proper guidance and rigorous court work
can help you improve your techniques and make your game better.
The
first thing that you need to take care of is your grip - the way you hold the racquet. It is the base groundwork of
playing badminton sports. Holding the racquet wrongly can reduce the power
behind your strokes, which can be a major disadvantage. It will also limit the
range of shots you can play and hence you might not enjoy the game itself.
There are two basic types of grips in badminton sports - the forehand grip and the backhand grip.
Good footwork is
a skill that you need to excel in to be a winner in badminton sports. Good
footwork will help you get to stray shots while maintaining your balance and
dodge your opponent. Jump, skip, bounce, shuffle, glide, lunge are some of the
things you need to do on a badminton court. Adjust your base position according
to the strengths and weaknesses of you and your opponent.
A
well timed and well placed serve is the most effective arrow in your quiver
when playing badminton. Mastering
various types of serves - high serve, flick serve, low serve and drive
serve is important to improve your game.
After
the serves comes the clears - most
crucial of all the badminton strokes that can be played overhead or
underarm. They can be played on both forehand and backhand sides. Practicing
your clears can improve your game to a great extent.
Badminton
drop shots are delicate shots which
when played with the right placement and timing can ensure you an upper hand in
the game. They can be played on backhand as well as forehand sides too. The
idea is to force the opponent to move to the front court so that the mid court
and the back court remain free. Drop shots in badminton sports are of two types
- slow drop shot and fast drop shot.
A
well executed smash shot is the deadliest
weapon that you can use on a badminton court. The power, speed, angle and
trajectory of a smash shot will determine how difficult it is for your opponent
to recover. A smash shot hit towards the downward direction with optimum force
is ideal.
Drives
are shots which cross over the net flatly
in a horizontal trajectory. Drives are attacking shots that are used when
the shuttlecock is too low for you to hit a smash. These shots can be played
straight down the court or diagonally. They are used more in doubles games,
where it is advisable to keep the shuttlecock at a low height.
Badminton
net play is an important area of the game which requires great amount of
refinement. These are delicate shots which involve a sudden change of the angle of the racquet to confuse your opponent.
Net shots are of three types - net shot, net kill and net lift.
You
can learn the techniques of badminton sports by working under a qualified coach
or observing the skills of professional players. But there is no substitute for
hard labor if you want to be good at it.