Badminton Speed is Something That All the Best Players Have. There's Rarely a Shot They Can't Reach as They Glide Gracefully Across Court.

Well the Good News is That YOU Too Can Increase Your Speed Easily and it Doesn't Take Years of Practice to Learn How?

Now I'm not a qualified badminton coach, I'm a fitness expert, so none of the advice that I will ever offer is about improving your shot technique, although I will occasionally share things with you that have made a big difference to my own game.

But there's one thing that I do know for sure... and that's this...

The faster you move around the court, the better a player you'll always be, for 2 main reasons.

Firstly you'll be harder to break down, your opponent will have to play more accurate shots to put the shuttlecock in to places where you can't get to, which will force him/her in to making more errors.

Secondly, because you'll be faster to shots, you'll get in to position much sooner and therefore be better balanced, prepared and more stable in readiness to hit your returns. If you're always playing shots 'on the run' most of your strokes won't be as good as they could be.

So obviously improving your fitness generally is going to have a big effect on your game, but one of the best ways to improve your ability to move around court is to work on the speed of your feet, and that's what this video is about...

Footwork...

There are many ways to improve the speed of your feet and your movement around the court and it's something that will make a big difference to your game.

My training program 'How To Get Fit To Win' contains loads of speed work and fitness drills you can use to improve your speed and fitness, but I just wanted to share with you a quick video about a funny little technique from your school days that you can use in your own back yard when you have a spare few minutes to increase the speed of your feet.

Another thing I've always found works for me is that if I prepare myself mentally before each point, that is I focus my thoughts on moving my feet quickly and staying up on my toes all through the point, then I'm always much faster to everything and a lot sharper.

Anyway, here's the video for you now. If you have any questions or comments at all about this clip, just send me an email to this address jago@badmintontrainingtips.com

Hope you enjoy the video!

If you want to discover more exercises and fitness drills that you can do to improve the fitness, strength and stamina of every muscle used in Badminton then you should check out my NEW badminton fitness training program here to find out more: -www.badmintonfitnesstips.com/badminton-training.com

Here's how to draw a hopscotch court using a piece of chalk. You can obviously adapt it however you like, by making it longer etc. But remember, the real reason behind using these markings is to get you in to the habit being on your toes and thinking about what your feet are doing.

Here's a few suggestions of how to do some hopscotch drills. By the way, traditional hopscotch isn't played like this, you use a stone to move from one square to the next.

I would recommend doing some of these exercises (you can choose which you prefer)2/3 times a week for 5-10 minutes. Always concentrate on your feet, staying on your toes throughout and aim to build up the speed you do each movement at.

Technique #1 

Hopscotch to the end as shown in the video clip and then jog backwards to the start. Use this as a fitness exercise as well by completing 10 in a row without rest as fast as possible. If you time this on a stopwatch, you can make it more challenging by trying to beat your previous best each time. Take a minute to rest and then repeat.

Technique #2

Hopscotch to the end as shown in the video clip and then swivel on one foot on the last square to face forwards again before hopscotching back to the beginning. Repeat without rest until you have completed 10 shuttles. Take a minute to rest and then repeat.

Technique #3

Hopscotch to the end as shown in the video clip and then hopscotch backwards to the start. Repeat without rest until you have completed 10 shuttles. Take a minute to rest and repeat.

Technique #4

Hopscotch to the end as shown in the video clip and then sidestep back to the start facing one direction, then repeat and return back to the start using sidesteps facing the opposite direction. Repeat without rest until you have completed 10 shuttles. Take a minute to rest and repeat.

Technique #5

Use only the single squares to hop on one leg, down and back. Repeat by using the other leg when you reach the start. Continue without rest until you have completed 10 shuttles. Take a minute to rest and then repeat.

Technique #6

Using only the double squares, jump with both feet, down to the end and back.
Repeat without rest until you've completed 10 shuttles. Take a minute to rest and then repeat.

REMEMBER - To get better at anything, you need to constantly progress or increase what you're doing. Making it more challenging by increasing the speed you do each hopscotch for will make the exercises harder, doing them for longer will be more challenging and also having less rest will crank up the intensity levels.

I hope you enjoy trying out these footwork drills and see some improvements in the speed of your footwork.

For more techniques to improve your speed, stamina and power on court take a look here now - Badminton training

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