Hey, I'm a beginner and I was wondering how I would go about learning to keep the shuttle low during rallies. So many of my shots travel up, and as a result I lose rallies that were going to my advantage, lose points that should have been easy etc. I often lose to people who are slower at getting around the court and have less stamina than me, simply because so many of my shots aren't low enough to put any pressure on them. Is there any technique to keep in mind if I want to get better at keeping the shuttle low?
Just aim low, what else is to say. But if this is about singles, it should not be your goal to keep all the shuttles low, then your shots will get counter-attacked and you won't have time. Deep high shots give you lots of time to get back to the centre.
Based on your description, it sounds like you could have techniques problems. A coach will be able to tell why and tell you how to correct it.
The most likely "technique problem" here is not getting to the shuttle fast enough to take it while it's still above the tape. Make it your mission to take the bird early, rather than let it come to you. Then you will have the option to hit down or flat. Not always , but at least more often.
Doubles or singles? I presume doubles because it is more important. The trick is: 1. the raket should be faced downwards when hitting. or at least straight. 2. Don't always use full power. The preparation needed to do a full power hit may take some time so the shuttle has already reached a low point. Use taps, pushes and even blocks. In most situations I found myself in, a slow and weak shot that travels downwards is more threatening than a powerful shot that travels upwards (except a good clear or lob) 3. Reach up, hit the shuttle at the highest point, even it means you lose the advantage of power. direction and trajectory beats power. 4. Going with a lesser power also means the shuttle may go downwards earlier. Imagine a short service that goes down afer initially hit upwards. The same with drives, smashes, push, etc. These points especially occurs during drives because drives exchange are so fast and most of us just go by power to hit it hard. Often the shuttle goes a little bit upwards and our opponent than can just block it so it goes down
Thanks for the advice all, most informative. Basically I have to take the shot as soon as possible and avoid the temptation to smash every time right? I'll see if someone can correct my technique if that's off, and I'll put this advice to use when I next play. Thanks!
one more thing, hit the shuttle with your racket facing downwards or just straight facing the front. of course there will be many shots into the net at first, but don't be disheartened as your shots will gradually improve.
hi there, Learning to keep the shuttle low during rallies is not just about having the correct approach and technique to produce such hit but you also need to device the correct strategy from the beginning to minimize the chances for you to being force to lift the birdie regularly while playing. Assuming that you have the correct approach and sound technique to produce descent/quality shots in all your OTHER hits then this 3 critical strategy will improve your chances to keep your birdie low: - Learn and able to produce quality net play hence controlling the front court most of the time - Learn and able to produce fast flat drives at all angles. - Learn and avoid from taking backhand and try to make around the head hit instead. IF the quality from the point of validity and accuracy of all your offensive hits such as drop/slice/half smash/smash is not that satisfactory then you must practice to improve it as well. The ability to maintain and playing low level shots, even how simple it may sound to your ears is a game play that is both a skill and strategy by itself that is very important both in single and ESPECIALLY double when it comes to gaining the advantage of dictating the paste of the rally while playing. To able to play at a convincing level, those are all the requirement that you must have first as an ingredient to produce such game play. SS
please check your grip! without proper grip you cannot even play the correct shot, let alone play it well.
Don't worry I've got the grip right at least I could barely return the shuttle before I learned the right grip.
Isn't this forum a wonderful resource, droidsteel? Within a couple days you received excellent advice. The simple answer to your problem was: Ensure your grip, improve your speed and footwork, learn to master all shots and devise professional-style strategy. Easy! Do update us on how you get along.