You have 3 choices, choose one!
- start with the player in their BH / RTH court
- start with the player in their FH court
- it doesn’t matter which court
I consciously make this decision every time
when introducing overhead hitting to a novice player
I always start with the player in their BH / RTH court
I wished I’d known the advantages
Initially, I thought that it didn’t matter, but when I considered the options and advantages it gave the player and me, there was no choice!
It would have saved me so much time and lessened the chance of inappropriate/limited techniques from developing.
It’s a simple choice, and the differences between using either court really surprised me
Starting in this court will ‘constrain’ the player in their choice of movements
It will help with
- the feeding
- the body rotation
- the initial body and racket preparation
- encourage quick racket preparation
- encourage a lift up off the court
- reduce and possibly prevent techniques from developing
It gives the player the best chance of success
and helps to establish some of the essential elements for a great overhead
It’s a great time to explore the use of the Backward Chaining teaching method to progress the practice.
Starting in this court, the coach will find it easier to reduce or increase the difficulty by changing the players starting position, feeder’s position and the elements of the feeding.
Importantly, all this can be done whilst maintaining the essential technical elements
Because you start in the ’round-the-head’ court
doesn’t mean you are coaching ‘Round-the-head’ hitting actions
What could happen if you started in the other court?
The FH side of the court
Consider how the practice would differ in terms of feeding, player progress and development of core techniques IF you were to start overhead coaching with the player in their FH court.
The images below show the 2 differing (but still effective) techniques in the FH court.
Hitting without rotation is also important
However
Which technique would you like to encourage and develop in novice players?
The variability that allows for hitting without rotation (these are not negatives)
- Feeding that is too quick for the player to hit and rotate
- Feeding that is too wide for the player to hit and rotate
- The player moves at a slower pace letting the shuttle 'go past' them
- The shuttle can easily be taken just below head height
- The racket preparation is different to that in the RTH court
Do you agree with these statements
“when starting in RTH/BH court …
- the shuttle will be passing over the players’ non-racket shoulder rather than out to their ‘open side’, therefore removing the opportunity to play a deep fh pull when the feed is too flat
- in the FH court, players must be allowed the choice of rotating or staying sideways (block jumping) when striking the shuttle, the player decides
Why not give it a try and consider the advantages
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
