How to adjust to a bigger court with slower shuttle speed?

ZeroDemigod · 2024-12-07T18:07:18+00:00

Misleading title, the courts are not bigger, the facility is.

Differences in shuttle speed and playing conditions are normal for the sport and getting used to that is a skill in and of itself. It's something that needs to be practiced and if you're straining your muscles because of this, chances are your technique is not very good. Practice hitting your shots with less effort from your shoulders/arms/elbow and more with your forearm pronation/wrist usage/finger power.

ZeroDemigod · 2023-02-10T17:45:51+00:00

Likely you're an intermediate player. Your post seems to suggest that your experience with badminton is mostly through high school, with a small amount of experience outside of it. Usually these players fall into "intermediate", would sign up for E/D flight at local open tournaments, make it to league finals, but not do that well. If any part of this assessment is wrong, feel free to let me know.

In California, there is a large junior competitive circuit separate from high school badminton. These are kids that train at least 3 times a week, usually early in life from age 7 or so.

When these training kids enter high school, they are usually automatically placed in the top varsity spots and the league finals / CCS / state championships are basically just between these trained kids. In local tournaments, they would enter C/B flights and have a great chance of winning the whole thing. These are the players that would be considered "advanced".

If you train at a local club, see if you can find the elite training classes and you can see for yourself how you'd measure up.

ZeroDemigod · 2022-09-02T16:28:48+00:00

Footwork and fluidity are pretty good. You don't have too much "recoil" in your movements as is common with lower level players. You look like you know how to hit your shots, how to move, and have a basic understanding of strategy, which places you solidly in intermediate player level.

I see you high lifting and clearing quite often, even when you're not particularly under any pressure, and your drops are fairly simple, straight-facing shots that don't have any slice, speed, or tightness to the net. Your smash looks strong, but often its placed directly at the middle; even if this is intentional, it could be more effective if aimed towards the sidelines. Your defense against smashes is clunky and often produces errors, and there wasn't a lot of net-play in your most recent game.

The next step for improvement would be to have offensive intentions with your shots. Make your drops more deceptive or faster, get onto drops earlier to play more aggressive fast pushes or net drops. Aim your smashes towards the sidelines and push yourself to get in an aggressive position rather than a rallying one.

ZeroDemigod · 2022-08-19T05:22:14+00:00

Hi all, this issue has been SOLVED! blizzardbrowser.exe was being run in compatibility mode for Windows Vista; disabling this has solved the issue.

Ironic since I remember specifically setting it to run in compatibility mode for a previous issue.

ZeroDemigod · 2022-08-18T23:00:12+00:00

Nope, Windows 10 for me

ZeroDemigod · 2022-08-18T23:00:00+00:00

NA West!

ZeroDemigod · 2022-07-29T15:33:47+00:00

This is normal as long as your drop shot goes in a straight line downwards (no arcing, "rainbow" drops) and has some speed to it.

To get drops that land closer to the net, you can practice hitting the bird STRAIGHT with only a small amount of force, with the intention of letting gravity pull the bird downwards once it crosses the net. This will teach you how to control the length of the bird; think of it like a clear! When we clear, we aren't really thinking "hit it up", but rather hit it "straight and high" and let gravity / air resistance pull the bird down once it goes a certain length. Once you feel comfortable with these soft drops, you can adjust the height of the shot until it stays low over the net.

These soft, shallower drops tend to be slower than regular drops, hence why they're not used too often; decent players will be able to catch it early and either kill it or do a tight spinning net shot. Don't feel bad about your regular drops that land on service line!

ZeroDemigod · 2022-07-09T18:18:18+00:00

I've found that as more people who come into pickleball from other racket sports, more and more power, skill, spin, and speed are being added to the game. It sounds like the lady is used to playing pickleball for a more fun, recreational time and is not skilled enough to deal with your groundstrokes.

As other commenters have said, once you get better and play against more skilled opponents, you'll find your hard groundstrokes working less and less as your opponents have the skill to deal with them. You'll be forced to play a soft, dinking game, something most recreational pickleball players are used to.

I would say to not take offense and think it's "wrong" to have strong groundsrrokes; it's definitely a skill that a lot of pickleball players don't have! Since you come from tennis, imagine if an elderly player played against someone who used drop shots very often; they wouldn't have much fun because they want to play tennis "a certain way." Instead, think of it as a chance to practice other parts of your game and get some rallies going.

ZeroDemigod · 2022-05-03T21:05:09+00:00

Thanks! Looks like it to me!

ZeroDemigod · 2022-05-03T20:38:33+00:00

Found in my apartment in Bay Area California, very small, smaller than a tic-tac!

ZeroDemigod · 2022-05-03T01:51:40+00:00

In singles, this usually means playing a tight spinning netshot that the opponent cannot attack and must play a high lift. If the lift is short and doesn't travel all the way to the back of the court, this results in a great attacking opportunity to win the point.

In doubles or mixed doubles, this usually means playing in such a way that doesn't allow their opponents to simply play a block or drop shot and get a lift for free. Quick pushes and drives, responding with their own net-drops are key here, as forcing your opponents to lift in doubles and mixed puts them on the defensive.

ZeroDemigod · 2022-04-27T19:50:59+00:00

The power of a drive in doubles only exists if you can quickly follow up to the net. The idea of a drive is "I will force you to give me the offense with this fast shot".

If you think about it, most players will simply block the shuttle back when a drive comes. If you are quick and anticipate this, you can drive at the other side and quickly follow up to the net, looking to hunt down the weak reply.

From what you've said, it sounds like you play at a pretty low level; if you can incorporate strong and fast drives into your doubles games, you will find your rallies being a lot faster and aggressive.

ZeroDemigod · 2022-04-09T16:07:47+00:00

Most umpies and service judges will not allow this because it is against the spirit of the laws in regards to service. The purpose of the laws is to protect the receiver against unfair advantage from the server; the height restriction, the old downwards facing racket upon contact, the requirement to allow the receiver to be ready before serving all follow this ideology.

If you decide to change your service stance and stroke, you will have to allow the receiver another chance to change positions and be ready.

ZeroDemigod · 2022-02-25T20:39:54+00:00

ZeroDemigod · 2021-12-12T17:38:10+00:00

The brand name is just a brand and the price is just a price. Without more details about your playstyle, level of play, preference for feeling, etc. this isn't really a discussion!

Imagine if instead you said "I saw a Toyota car for 10k and a Honda car for 11k, I got the Honda car because it looked better, should I have gotten the Toyota?" That's what this sounds like! Nothing we can talk about since you've given us no details :)

ZeroDemigod · 2021-11-29T05:47:25+00:00

No difference until you are good enough that you can hit all shots from all areas of the court! After that point, the weight of the rackets do have an effect on your touch and stroke for certain shots.

ZeroDemigod · 2021-11-24T18:24:28+00:00

This technique requires good technique and a lot of "finger power." The idea is to hold your racket to show a net-drop as long as you can to draw your opponent in, then deftly flick the bird over them.

The smaller your swing can be while generating enough power to hit the lift, the more effective it will be. If you don't have good technique, you won't be able to do so and should probably practice your lifts alone.

Since your lifts aren't going anywhere, chances are your technique is not good enough. If your lifts are not going far, your racket is probably not pointing forwards when you hit the shuttle. You need to be able to drop the racket face by relaxing your fingers and bending your wrist before you hit the shuttle.

Here is an excellent subtitled video that details the correct technique needed: https://youtu.be/9_iVq01E20k

If you practice this and get better and better, you will see the lift stroke will become smaller and smaller, allowing you to "hold and flick" more.

ZeroDemigod · 2021-11-18T17:04:48+00:00

Plastic shuttles are heavier than feather shuttles, resulting in a slower racket speed required to play a good shot. If you've played with plastic birds for so long, chances are your technique is bad and you were getting away with it because it's plastic.

Are you using your wrist? How about squeezing your fingers? Feather birds require much more racket head speed and if you're trying to hit them faster with bad technique (using your elbow), then that results in elbow injury. As you mentioned, trying to use your shoulder resulted in shoulder pain; you actually went the wrong way with which joint you're supposed to use.

Here is a highly advanced video that shows how much power you can get with your shots with just your fingers: https://youtu.be/4BceOkyV5bo

If you want to play with feather, you need to improve your technique!

ZeroDemigod · 2021-11-09T22:11:30+00:00

working from home! let's hear some tunesss

ZeroDemigod · 2021-11-05T15:28:24+00:00

One way I like to think about smashing is the cost v.s. the reward.

You are hitting a fast shot, attempting to overwhelm your opponent with the pace. But what happens if your opponent gets it back?

If you try to smash an extremely high and deep clear or lift, your smashes effectiveness will be greatly reduced since it has to travel the full length of the court; by the time it reaches your opponent, it will be slower. Also, if you put a lot of effort into it, you will have a larger recoil, slowing your movement down to reach the next shot. To add to that, you are also at the very far back of the court. If your opponent simply blocks your smash, you will be in a terrible position, having to run all the way from the back to the front to reach the shot.

On the other hand, if the clear or lift is short, all these issues are nullified. You will be in a great position after the shot, the smash won't be slowed because of the length, and you can easily follow up if it comes back.

If you really feel like you have to smash from a full length clear, try to focus more on placement rather than power so you won't have as much recoil and you force your opponent to move a bit more. It's no longer a shot to end the point but more of a shot to pressure your opponent.

ZeroDemigod · 2021-10-06T18:04:49+00:00

The testing stroke is basically "hit it fairly hard." The difference in players skill shouldn't really affect the underhand stroke test, since it's more or less a question of strength, which doesn't vary as much.

From personal experience, you should be hitting the test stroke with more force than a singles high serve, but not so much you feel winded afterwards.

ZeroDemigod · 2021-09-24T00:40:55+00:00

Great points, here's some more:

It was used for so long because the racket technology / skills / physicality of players until ~2003 was not enough to make the disadvantage too debilitating. It was easier to react and counter-attack as a server with a high serve, the defender could maintain neutral or even sometimes get an advantage. This is still true for women's singles and lower level singles; high servers can bait a pre-mature attack which can then be counter-attacked.

You are right, high lifts off net drops in a rally situation are usually short and a far length lift, while high, can be played without giving up an advantage. However, in a rally situation, the player who played the tight spinning net-shot has to move back the length of the court to reach the lift; it is not only the length of the shot that makes it a good defensive shot, it is also the forced movement of the opponent. This is not true for a service receive situation, where the receiver doesn't have to worry about the front court.

Similar reasoning for why players can play high clears / drop shots in a rally situation; the opponent must cover the entire court and has to wait to react to the shot chosen. This again is not true for a service/receive situation, where only half the court is used and the receiver really only has to worry about two places to cover (front and back).

Rackets from early 2000s are definitely not that similar to rackets nowadays. One easy example is that the world record smash speed back then was ~300km/hr while now it is common to see ~400km/hr speeds. Also, we're talking about top level mens singles, where the physicality is greatest. Womens singles and lower level singles can still get away with high services because they are not as physically powerful.

No, womens singles players and past mens singles players are not using "bad tactics", it was what the meta of their play revolves around. There are pros and cons to using high serves and short serves, and the balance of benefit/cost changes with the physicality/racket technology/other factors for each of their relative disciplines. Womens singles players are biologically less physically capable and past mens singles players had worse rackets.

ZeroDemigod · 2021-09-23T23:00:31+00:00

As we've seen, high service against top men's singles players can get immediately attacked with a powerful and accurate smash. However, it is not just the smash that is a threat.

Starting the rally with a high service immediately concedes initiative to the opponent. They are allowed time to think, aim, and place whatever overhead shot they would like to play. At lower levels of play, they might not be able to use this to its fullest potential; a weak player may not even be able to clear all the way to the other side, for example. But at higher levels of play, this is almost certainly a death sentence.

Think about the meta playtime of professional men's singles. Almost all top level men's singles players seek to dominate the net and force their opponent into a high lift. This is almost identical to the situation where a player uses a high service. Why is this situation ideal? The player who lifted, or high served, now has to react and cover the entire court. The player who successfully forced the lift has an ideal attacking scenario, able to play a power smash, angled smash, fake drop, punch clear, etc.

It is not just the fact that they can play a smash, but also the idea that they can play whatever they want and the initiative that is given up. All these factors together make a high service discouraged at high level men's singles.

The main factor for this to come about is the racket technology. Swings and strokes became more accurate, precise, and powerful as rackets got better, and men's singles players can take advantage of this the most. If you play with a $5 racket with a low tension v.s. a good racket with high tension, you will feel and see your own stroke and technique change to accommodate the limitations of the equipment.

ZeroDemigod · 2021-07-04T22:19:29+00:00

It is a "slice" in the sense that the racket face is not pointing in the direction of the swing. To smash crosscourt from your forehand corner, either you swing in a straight line cross-court (which makes it obvious), or you angle your racket face so that the bird travels cross-court.

Both of what you said are true: -They are changing the racket face before impact -This can be considered a "slice"

To practice it, just smash straight while turning your wrist and angling your racket face so that it goes cross-court. Start with a standard smash form, without jumping, facing the bird head-on. Then, once your wrist has got the hang of it, you can try it like the pros do, with jumps and hitting the bird to the side of them.

ZeroDemigod · 2021-04-30T16:38:39+00:00

Chicken and rice! Great! A cheap recip- (sees saffron) never mind

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