How often do you achieve your maximum on court?

May 22, 2021January 22, 2023 badmintonandy

There were some matches where I played my best, but it hasn't been many

Also, it’s difficult to judge that because obviously Badminton is a game of mistakes and you always do some in a match. So you also always have the feeling, that you could‘ve done better. Even if it’s only one tiny thing.

The important part is to not get frustrated about not hitting the perfect shot every time but to make the best out of what you are capable of on that particular day. If you win in the end, it doesn’t matter if you didn't play your absolute best.

It's hard to determine, so shift your mindset

There isn’t a 147 or a nine darter in badminton so I have always found it very hard to determine whether I was at my best in a match or not?

Was my opponent at his best? Did that impact on my 'best' ?

Having worked with several players who strive to perfection it has been a challenge to shift their focus to other ways to get closer to a different perfection:

focus on getting a certain tactic to a tee! Nail the right tactics can be exceptionally satisfying and it shifts focus from hitting the best possible shots to hitting the right shot at the right time. A completely different mindset!
where you can be at your best and be in control .... warm-up, racket grips, shoes etc. Again shifting the focus on the controllable.
you can control your training efforts and it’s likely 90% of your court time. Here is where you can focus to raise your abilities.

I don’t believe in being at your best in the moment. I think when players reflect on their best matches they probably can pinpoint to results but were they truly at their best, I am not convinced.

This is interesting, I'd say it's very rarely you reach your maximum on court

It will depend on what you think is maximum and whether you are talking mentally, tactically or physically!!

Also, what you think or coach thinks could be different too and this should be discussed. It will be different for different practices.

Perfection is pretty much impossible to achieve.

Strive to be the best you can be and improve from the last time you played to the next. This will ensure you are pushing to become better, might not always be the case but you are trying.

This is dependant on what the definition of ‘maximum’ is within this context

It is obviously easier to get to my maximum if I am for example doing a multi feed session with little rest or an intense bike for a long period of time.

The factors that occur in competition play are difficult to replicate in a training session due to nerves, stress, anxiety that occur in competition play. An example, in football it's easier to practice penalties in training sessions than perform a penalty in-front of a huge crowd when a title may be on the line.

So in terms of performance, I think it’s hard to replicate maximum in training as you don’t have prize money, WR points, sponsorship on the line.

But I can honestly say I turn up to every training wanting to give my maximum in whatever form of training we are doing.

I'd rather set goals than always strive for maximum

I attempt to achieve my maximum in every session - however, I know this is not possible so I always set myself a goal of getting the best out of myself in that session.

Whether its working on my mental, setting up some tricky drills to test me or just trying to enjoy a session when I know my body isn't in its best condition. Being a perfectionist in training is a strong habit to have, but accepting the realism around this is key.

No-one achieves perfection daily.

Yes be tough on yourself when you feel like you're not achieving your goals, but assess the situation fairly, do you have valid reasons (not excuses) for failing today?