Welcome to the series that gives you access to expert opinions and views on all things badminton
We asked a group of experts (coaches and players) …….
Do you keep a record of your opponent’s strengths and weaknesses ?
I had a system for notes and new ideas
I used to keep them in an alphabetical notebook, which travelled with me everywhere
Any opponent’s obvious strengths and weaknesses went in there in pen, and new things to try against them went in in pencil.
Once I knew that the idea worked against them, I confirmed it in pen…… the system worked well for me.
I could access my notes from anywhere in the world
Initially, in a little notebook until I got more tech-savvy and had it in a document on my computer that I could access on all of my devices wherever I was in the world
I’m actually an old school notebook kinda gal
My notebook lives in my racket bag.
I take some broad notes on a player the first time I play them, then, depending on the outcome of the match, I will update them the next time or just have a read over.
After about 10years of doing this, it’s quite funny to read back over, see some names that maybe don’t play anymore or how my note-taking style has changed as I’ve progressed as a player.
I record all sorts of things – not just wins and losses
It’s always good to have a daily journal as a badminton player – note every small detail of your daily program and progress.
How you feel it training, what is working, what you need to concentrate on, be your own coach.
During tournaments, also note down on opponent’s strengths and weaknesses so the next time we are up against them we have some idea what strategies to play against them – video analysis helps too.
Ask your coach to take notes of your matches, then compare the points you’ve made against theirs.
You may find something interesting as well as some surprises 
Do we keep a record of opponents – YES !!
We have a huge document in Notion (an app that we use 24/7) which is really easy to fill out.
We find it’s great to use when doing video analysis or just a quick read before we go onto court!
Yep, A-Z library of all players – a lot of work, but worthwhile
Written in a schedule, moved to digital, and saved to the digital footage archive
Lots of work, but if you do it one match at a time, it’s certainly worth it.
Why would you not keep a record as a professional player, everyone else is !
The way I do it is old school
These days as a coach, I record these aspects when I’m coaching my players.
- Game plan and the main aim or goal of the game
- Strengths, weaknesses of them and maybe their opponents
- If the game plan is working and what changes I’d think about making
Notebook and pen of course … I’m old school 😉
Maybe I could have done things differently
When I was a player, I didn’t really keep a record of my opponent’s strengths and weaknesses.
I used to do a little bit of video analysis and put a few notes down on where I thought I could possibly get an edge on the opponent.
Looking back, I think it would have been beneficial to have notes filed away on players, but as I was playing a vast amount of different players and not really playing the same player in successive tournaments.
I also played singles and doubles, so it would have been difficult to keep on top of all the analysis of each player.
I’m not sure what I would be doing now if I were playing again.
I used to have a book with some thoughts about opponents
On Tour, we mainly meet the same pairs anyway, and we know them quite well, so I don’t take as mnay notes anymore
Also, we/our coach do a new analysis of the opposing pair for each match anyway, so we don’t miss out on anything they might have changed since our last meeting. This preparation before games is vital.
We do have software that helps in analysing games and makes the cutting of the video summaries we do a lot easier. I don’t know the name, unfortunately.
Jeppe, our Coach is super good at it.
Thanks to everyone for their time and considered thoughts
If you’d like to join this expert team and start sharing your knowledge, send me a message and I’ll send you some questions
It would be great to hear from you
Email : contact@badmintonandy.com
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