Champions react differently
Quote from an All England champion
“You don’t have to play perfect Badminton to win matches.
Just make fewer mistakes than your opponent”
When I started coaching I tried to eradicate all errors
It never happened
Initially, I thought that was my job. If I could remove all errors from my players, everything would be great.
Of course, it was possible, and it wasn’t a productive aim for them or me. It certainly created a stressful environment that I now know hampered their development.
I wish that I’d learnt to live with (even love) errors. I certainly needed to react differently.
Starting in this court will ‘constrain’ the player in their choice of movements
Types of Errors
If you want to read the longer version of this post, click on this image and read 6 Ways to take a different look at errors
Do you agree with these statements
6 types of errors
- errors that are ‘forced’ by the opponent and their good play
- errors that resulted from tactical choices
- errors caused by the situation, the score in the game, the players’ mind
- errors that seem to happen every time a particular stroke was used
- errors caused by fatigue
Do you think that there are any other types of ‘errors’
Tips for Players
- Not every error you make is your fault. Your opponent can 'force an error' from you with their play.
- You will make a choice in a rally and it won’t always be correct, but use that knowledge and try again
- At certain times in a match, you may make strange/different choices. Look out for these moments and prepare for them
- No matter how positive you are, if you have a critical technical fault, you will be more prone to making a mistake… Talk with your coach about this
- It’s almost impossible to play ‘perfect’ badminton and its a goal not worth chasing. Instead, try to make fewer errors than your opponent 🙂
Tips for Coaches
- Learn to study a match and identify both unforced and forced errors look like. Sometimes your players will be forced into making a mistake. Consider this and adapt your response
- If you don’t incorporate tactical (real-game tactics) into your sessions, then when in competition, your players will make some choices that you don’t feel are appropriate.
- Consider and identify the number of player-led decisions you incorporate into a weekly practice.
- Can you identify those moments in a game when emotions play a big part in the things your player does, how do they react at those times?
- It NOT important that your players can perform perfectly for 2 min rallies in practice. It’s important that they can react to a mistake immediately and in a positive adaptable way. Train them to cope not to be perfect.
- Understand that critical technical faults will affect the outcome of a rally, learn to technically error-proof your players and banish ‘classic technical faults’
Players don’t intend to make mistakes, so be relaxed when they happen
consider the cause, then start working on a plan – repetition isn’t always the cure
Send me a question
I’m always grateful if you have read this far.
If there is anything that you have read that has helped or that you disagree with, then please send me an email.
I promise to read all your comments
It would be great to hear from you contact@badmintonandy.com
![Early Preparation always - Duplicate - [#38141]](https://badmintonandy.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/early-preparation-always-scaled.webp)
![Keep your racket up - Duplicate - [#38056]](https://badmintonandy.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/keep-your-racket-up-scaled.webp)