Do you practice to seek an advantage
Too often practice is only focused on one players performace
Where do you direct attention in practice?
Which side of the net should coaches be looking at to gather information
Why not consider the impact on your opponent?
Recently, I asked a player what they had been working on in their badminton practice.
The reply sounded like they had given some thought to what they wanted. It was specific and detailed
This is what they said….
“I want to improve my backhand in singles, especially when it’s pushed deep behind me”
I asked what specifically it was about their backhand that they wanted to improve
The replies included some technical elements and general thoughts, here are a selection.
… I keep getting caught and can’t take the shuttle early – I think it could be that my elbow is too low
… It’s just too loopy when I play it – maybe my grip is bad
… My footwork is bad – I’m not taking up good positions
After considering the players comments above :
where do you think they are directing their focus?
I had a conversation with their coach
We agreed that elements of the reply sounded like a coach analysing technique. We wondered why it felt like that
After reflecting on what the player had said, we realised that all the points concerned what they were doing, not the effect on the opponent.
They certainly didn’t mention what they would like to do with the shuttle that would limit the opponents’ options and decisions. They only included technical aspects and only those that applied to them.
We agreed that trying to limit an opponent should be
one of the major things that players try to do in a game, and therefore practice
Were we expecting too much
Have coaches conditioned players to focus on only themselves (their technical performance)
We became slightly worried, maybe we had. Or, maybe we just assumed that players would “look over the net” at the effect of what they were trying to do on their opponent.
Are players comfortable talking about the effect of what they do on their opponents : on reflection, we weren’t sure.
Could we encourage players (and coaches) to ...
- Consider the effect on your opponent – how would that change our thoughts?
- Realise that a 'perfect' stroke or technique may not be requiured, even if possible – how different would our desire then be?
- Consider a ‘tactical’ fix to your perceived ‘technical’ problem – maybe technique isn’t all you need to think about
- Understand that focusing on only technical aspects can be limiting, even detrimental – do you agree?
Where are you ‘looking’ (focusing your attention) in practice?
Do you want a conversation?
I’d like to hear from you if you have a viewpoint on anything that you’ve read
We don’t need to agree, but explore viewpoints.
It would be great to hear from you, send me an email : contact@badmintonandy.com
This is part of a series of conversation starters.
Although not in detail, the posts are written to get you thinking and talking with others.
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