|
|
USBDF - badminton 101 |
||||
 |
BADMINTON
101 (articles contributed for badminton)
|
if you have a question about badminton, send email to ewhfung@yahoo.com and we'll ask one of the coaches and post it here.
|
|||
 3
QUICK TIPS FOR THE BEGINNING AND INTERMEDIATE DOUBLES PLAYER:
1.
GET YOUR SERVE IN 2.
MAKE A SIMPLE DROP AT THE NET 3.
SMASH TO THE MIDDLE If you can do all 3 consistently, you're well on your way to becoming an advanced doubles player. Good luck! |
|||||
|
Badminton
Training in Jakarta – Tangkas
Bogasari Badminton Club (TBBC) Nicholas Hardi,
reports on his one-week training and experiences during a trip to the
Indonesia capital. “My family and I left
LA on July 6th, 2003 by Singapore Airlines and arrived in
Jakarta on July 8th, 2003. The weather was very hot and humid;
it was almost unbearable. My father wanted me to feel the Indonesian way
of training for just one week while I was there”. Just to taste the
water sort of speak. Before I arrived, my
father has asked Tony Gunawan (2000 Olympic Men Double Gold Medallist) and
Ignatius Rusli (recent USA Badminton National Coach) about a decent and
reputable badminton clubs in Jakarta. Since Ignatius was trained in
“Jarum Club”, Kudus he referred that club to us but the club does not
have a junior training center in Jakarta so the idea of going to that club
is out of the question because the location or site is quite a way from
Jakarta. And I don’t want to be away from my parents in a foreign land.
Then Tony Gunawan mentioned Tangkas Bogasari which is located in the
western part of Jakarta where he used to train when he was around 12 years
old. In addition my dad told me that he used to be a member in that club
in the late 80s. The club is very similar to the Los Caballaros Sports
Club in Fountain Valley where it has 6 tennis courts, Olympic Size
swimming pools, fitness & Aerobics center, squash courts, Table
tennis, billiard & Video Games, sauna and jogging field. With that in
mind, we were determined to try it out at that club. Therefore, my dad
signed me up soon after we got adjusted with the time difference and the
weather. We were lucky that my
mom’s close friend whom we stayed with lived just 5 minutes away from
the sport club, So that is really convenience! Jakarta is one of the most
densely populated city in the world where during the day time about 18
million people go into the city to work and at night time only about 11
million people stay. So can you imagine the traffic condition during day
time ?? There is absolutely no space in Jakarta because starting at 9 am
to 7 pm every hour is rush hour. Even the distance from one place to
another is not too far from each other, but it takes a long time to get
to. On average one could visit up to 2-3 places a day maximum due to the
traffic congestion problem Jakarta has. There are no such things as
waiting in lines …. car drivers who are braver always have the chance to
move those who don’t, just
wait !! If you were to ask me
to drive a car in a city like Jakarta, I would probably
say “forget it !”. Anyway, I was very
lucky that way since I did not have to fight traffic every day. My dad had
warned me about the toughness of the training. But,
I did not expect it to be that hard especially having to cope it
with the humidity and the heat. The sport club is an ok facility with
9-carpeted courts. The lightning is not too great because they only used
fluorescent lights. So there I was on the first day of training thinking that I
could handle it just find got my ass kicked quite badly or I should say
embarrassingly by kids who were about the same age as me. The training program consisted of 3 full hours of play time with different players ranging from 11 – 16 years old. They were about 12-15 players. These are the Star players selected and chosen by the coach from a smaller private clubs around Jakarta. They were either number
1 or 2 players in their age group during the most recent Junior
tournaments. Erie, the
champion of U-11 years of age, does not look like one as at as he is
skinny and look powerless. But when you see him play, you would just be in
awe and admiration. He mastered so many trick shots and all his shots were
so difficult to get and return. He just made you work for every shot. So every day I had to
play a 15 minute match against one of these players on different courts
for the full 3 hours. On the
first day of playing, after second court, I could not even move my arm
to hit the clear all I could do were drop shots. I found out these kids
did not just give up …. They dived for all the shuttles as long as it
had not touched the floor. They did not make any unforced errors and the
rallies were long and tiring. My
body sweat uncontrollably. I had to drink so much water to keep myself
from dehydration. In my years of playing badminton at OCBC for almost 2
years, I never perspired like this. So during the first three days, I was
not really used to the length of each round, nor to the intensity and
speed of the players. Toward the fourth day, after numerous sessions of
workouts, running, and footwork, I became more accustomed to the style,
speed, and intensity. Since this club is
famous for producing world champions quality athlete like Hendrawan
(Silver Medallist Men’s Single Sidney Olympic 2000, & World Champion
Seville 2001), Rexy Mainaky & Ricky Subagja (Gold Medallist Men’s
Double Atlanta Olympic 96), they are becoming a training destination for players from
Denmark, Sweden, Taiwan, Africa, USA, Brazil plus others. Tangkas Bogasari club
offers training for 3 different age groups : 11-14 years old, 15-17 years
old, and 17 and above. The badminton programs look like this : Training Schedule : Mon thru Sat
Morning : 7:30 – 10:00 am Afternoon : 3:00 – 5:30 pm Evening : 5:30 – 8:30 pm Topics covered :
4 coaches : Hendry Saputra, Kurniahu, Benny Davidson, and Iin Indarwati Training fees : Weekly Monthly Long Term (min 2 months) Training fee *: US$ 125.00/person US$ 450.00 US$ 400 Accommodation : US$ 70.00/person US$ 300.00 Laundry Fee : US$ 35.00/person
Since my short training in Jakarta, I felt I have gained some poised and a bit consistency in my overall badminton skills, and on the personal level, this trip has given me tremendous amount of Asian exposure and experience. |
|||||
|
How to be a good singles
player?
How to Enjoy Singles? How to be a good singles player?
How to Enjoy Singles? Being
good at doubles does not mean that you can play singles--everyone knows
that. Less obvious is the fact that most good singles players are
clueless on the doubles court. The strategies and teamwork of doubles
are highly difficult and require years of game playing. However, if you
are already a doubles specialist, then learning to play singles is the
easy part and can only enhance your doubles game and limited court time.
Part
of the enjoyment of any sport is achieving "flow," which is
the happy medium between anxiety and boredom. We occasionally experience
this in a doubles game of players of comparable ability. Unfortunately,
the range of abilities in badminton is infinitely broad and the pieces
of the game that one can perfect are so varied that close competition
rarely occurs. As a singles enthusiast, I can say that flow occurs most
often in singles, because it is much easier to find two closely matched
players than it is to find four! Also, you can play your game without
messing up an incompetent partner, in your mind. What it takes to play the event ?
Front to back court movement: The
lines "I am really more of a tennis player" or "I prefer
doubles" really mean "I am best at the side-to-side movement
that is natural for humans such as myself." I admit it. Moving
blindly backward and then forward like one of the three musketeers is
not natural and it initially feels icky. I think the butterfly stroke
feels icky, too. If all sports only required movements that were innate,
everyone would have a gold medal. You have to train your body to adhere
to basic footwork principles for badminton, just as you must move your
arms like Barbie for swimming. All it takes to get from the net to the
back is a jump and a twist. With correct body positioning, most shots
are only two steps away. The
ease with which we observe international caliber players move is hard
earned. Just as in ballet, moving smoothly requires powerful muscles and
a lifetime of special exercises. However, the most dramatic results in
your game will occur in only a few weeks of training. Things to do: Shadow drills: Half-Court Singles : Agility exercises : Since
everyone you know is a doubles specialist, unless you can vary the pace
of the shot and hit it within five inches of the sideline, smashing in
singles can be disastrous. Now that you move like a dream, you want to
challenge others to do the same. We singles players do not fight to the
death, we fight to the pain. In
order to move your opponent to the far reaches of the court, you must
consistently clear and lift to the back line and drop and redrop tightly
to net. You will soon notice your opponent's lack of footwork training,
because he or she will constantly be out of position and unable to
recover. At that point to will always float over to your opponent's
desperate shot and place it cruelly just out of reach of his flailing
racket with a maddening lack of emotion. Things to do: Warm-up:
Begin
every badminton session with five minutes of solid clears, trying to
incorporate footwork. This may sound easy, but many people do not hit
only clears in a five-minute warm-up. Build up to ten minutes.
Eventually, you can include cross- and open court clears.
Warm-up: Play drop-lift games. Warm-up: Play net games. The
game of badminton not only requires the finesse but also the total
concentration (mental). Because it requires (underline) complete
attention, it forces you to shut everything out. I remember my karate
teacher yelling out the question, "What is karate?" to which
we white belt student responded, "Discipline!" in unison, lips
and all. Although everything requires discipline, it's far easier to
have discipline when you have obsession. Flow
and focus are interdependent. You cannot achieve flow if you are not
focused, and it is difficult to focus when there is no flow. To
experience flow, do not challenge a beginner to a game of singles--he
will make you anxious. Nor should you challenge your boyfriend to a game
in order to prove yourself and beat him to a pulp. This will bore you.
Play people near your level that are willing to play seriously. Here you
will have some success and your ability to focus will improve with every
game. Once you've experienced the headiness of true flow, there is no
turning back. At this point, some obsession with singles will be
inevitable, focus will become clearer and flow will occur with more
frequency and ease. These things are essential to loving singles and
craving the discipline it requires. Warning The
only problem with the
doubles-specialist-to-singles-player-extraordinaire transition is the
unavoidable disappointment that comes with a "bad practice."
This might be caused by lack of opponents, a plateau in your improvement
rate, or unpleasant personalities at the gym. We singles players must
persevere; still, in order to experience again what we had at the last
good practice. Being
good at doubles does not mean that you can play singles--everyone knows
that. Less obvious is the fact that most good singles players are
clueless on the doubles court. The strategies and teamwork of doubles
are highly difficult and require years of game playing. However, if you
are already a doubles specialist, then learning to play singles is the
easy part and can only enhance your doubles game and limited court time.
Part
of the enjoyment of any sport is achieving "flow," which is
the happy medium between anxiety and boredom. We occasionally experience
this in a doubles game of players of comparable ability. Unfortunately,
the range of abilities in badminton is infinitely broad and the pieces
of the game that one can perfect are so varied that close competition
rarely occurs. As a singles enthusiast, I can say that flow occurs most
often in singles, because it is much easier to find two closely matched
players than it is to find four! Also, you can play your game without
messing up an incompetent partner, in your mind. What it takes to play the event ?
Front to back court movement: The
lines "I am really more of a tennis player" or "I prefer
doubles" really mean "I am best at the side-to-side movement
that is natural for humans such as myself." I admit it. Moving
blindly backward and then forward like one of the three musketeers is
not natural and it initially feels icky. I think the butterfly stroke
feels icky, too. If all sports only required movements that were innate,
everyone would have a gold medal. You have to train your body to adhere
to basic footwork principles for badminton, just as you must move your
arms like Barbie for swimming. All it takes to get from the net to the
back is a jump and a twist. With correct body positioning, most shots
are only two steps away. The
ease with which we observe international caliber players move is hard
earned. Just as in ballet, moving smoothly requires powerful muscles and
a lifetime of special exercises. However, the most dramatic results in
your game will occur in only a few weeks of training. Things to do: Shadow drills: Half-Court Singles : Agility exercises : Since
everyone you know is a doubles specialist, unless you can vary the pace
of the shot and hit it within five inches of the sideline, smashing in
singles can be disastrous. Now that you move like a dream, you want to
challenge others to do the same. We singles players do not fight to the
death, we fight to the pain. In
order to move your opponent to the far reaches of the court, you must
consistently clear and lift to the back line and drop and redrop tightly
to net. You will soon notice your opponent's lack of footwork training,
because he or she will constantly be out of position and unable to
recover. At that point to will always float over to your opponent's
desperate shot and place it cruelly just out of reach of his flailing
racket with a maddening lack of emotion. Things to do: Warm-up:
Begin
every badminton session with five minutes of solid clears, trying to
incorporate footwork. This may sound easy, but many people do not hit
only clears in a five-minute warm-up. Build up to ten minutes.
Eventually, you can include cross- and open court clears.
Warm-up: Play drop-lift games. Warm-up: Play net games. The
game of badminton not only requires the finesse but also the total
concentration (mental). Because it requires (underline) complete
attention, it forces you to shut everything out. I remember my karate
teacher yelling out the question, "What is karate?" to which
we white belt student responded, "Discipline!" in unison, lips
and all. Although everything requires discipline, it's far easier to
have discipline when you have obsession. Flow
and focus are interdependent. You cannot achieve flow if you are not
focused, and it is difficult to focus when there is no flow. To
experience flow, do not challenge a beginner to a game of singles--he
will make you anxious. Nor should you challenge your boyfriend to a game
in order to prove yourself and beat him to a pulp. This will bore you.
Play people near your level that are willing to play seriously. Here you
will have some success and your ability to focus will improve with every
game. Once you've experienced the headiness of true flow, there is no
turning back. At this point, some obsession with singles will be
inevitable, focus will become clearer and flow will occur with more
frequency and ease. These things are essential to loving singles and
craving the discipline it requires. Warning The
only problem with the
doubles-specialist-to-singles-player-extraordinaire transition is the
unavoidable disappointment that comes with a "bad practice."
This might be caused by lack of opponents, a plateau in your improvement
rate, or unpleasant personalities at the gym. We singles players must
persevere; still, in order to experience again what we had at the last
good practice.
|
|||||
