I don’t know about you, but I’m very rarely able to leave the Badminton court feeling really happy with the way I’ve played. I know that to some extent it’s because I am by my very nature a perfectionist in every thing I do, but also just because I can’t just switch my game on and off like that.

Some days I can be absolutely brilliant and other days I can be totally awful and that’s how I played last night… awful.

But the biggest problem for me yesterday was that I just couldn’t get in to the right frame of mind… I wasn’t up for it and to be honest we should have won hands down. The guys we were playing weren’t anywhere near as good.

But that is the problem.

When I’m playing someone that I feel is not as good as me, I completely switch off and I think I just try to coast through. But it doesn’t work, in fact it never works out like that, I just end up looking rubbish.

It’s so frustrating because I can be a good player, but I only tend to play well when I’m faced with a tough game. The tougher the better. In fact if it’s one that we’ve no chance of winning, I’m at my best, go figure??

So I’m not sure how to beat this one, perhaps you’ve got some suggestions that might help me or anyone else.

If you do, please leave a comment in the box below. Your help would be very much appreciated.

So, you’ve got all the latest trendy microfibre clothing, supportive and grippy footwear, the best racket money or your bank balance can afford, you’ve signed up to this website, got yourself fitter as a result, you’re playing Badminton in the best conditions and have a good rapport with your partner.

And at a crucial point in a game you miss the shuttle. You offer profuse apologies to your partner and probably come out with ‘never saw the shuttlecock’ or ‘where on earth did that come from?’

Obviously it’s something to do with the lighting or the background colour of the walls.

Perhaps you’re having an ‘off day,’ you’re tired from a hard day at work, may be you’ve not done your Badminton warm up properly. Any excuse will do and it’s usually those shots that you always get back that start getting missed.

Ever thought of getting your eyes tested?

If you already wear spectacles, perhaps it’s been some time since your eyes were checked. It seems silly and hardly related to playing Badminton I know but how about getting your eyes fit.

I suggest that your eyes are the one thing in your Badminton training that you will have completely forgotten about.

Ever wondered why you seem to hit so many frame shots, why is it so many shots are not being hit clean?

It’s pretty simple really, if you can’t see the shuttlecock clearly when you’re playing Badminton how on earth can you hit it properly?

It’s just a thought – think about it.

Here’s an interesting post from my good friend ‘coach’ Dave all about the importance of an effective and thorough warm up.

Dave’s a seasoned veteran player and what he doesn’t know about the game just isn’t worth knowing.

Have a read of his post, I’ll bet you do most of this yourself…

“I wonder how many of you have picked up injuries this winter? If you have I strongly suspect that the very cold winter we’ve just experienced may well have something to do with it.

Doubtless you’ll have turned up ready to play wearing several layers to keep out the cold, I know I did. Probably got straight on court and banged the shuttle about for several minutes, usually overhead clears, got into a bit of a sweat and then decided that you had done your ‘warm up.’

At this point you are associating heat, specifically body heat, with being ‘warmed up’. Still wondering how you got injured? Or why that niggling ache is not going away?

I’m here to tell you that the pre-game 5 minute knock-up is NOT a warm up.

Sure your racket arm has loosened up, breathing will have increased and heart rate will have gone up, that amounts to perhaps 10% of your body – what about the other 90% ?

Your feet, ankles, knees, hips, spine and neck, the associated muscles and tendons etc, all need preparing for the movement and exertions that are associated with the game of Badminton.

Cast your mind back over the last few months, have you ever seen anyone ‘warming up properly’ prior to playing ?

Thought about doing it yourself ?

Bet you haven’t, probably because you thought you didn’t need to, or more likely, you’d be too embarrassed to be seen doing it.

This website I’m sure has covered it thoroughly, why not print some of the relevant articles and put them in your gear bag. Read them regulary, and if you feel embarrassed about being seen, find somewhere where you’ll not be seen, perhaps do them at home, providing the journey to your Club is not too long.

There is no substitute for adequately preparing your body ready for play.

The odd 15 second static stretch is not enough.”

What is a Badminton Drill and how can it improve your game?

Quite simply a Badminton drill is a practice.

No, not practising Badminton, by playing or knocking a few shuttles across the net to your partner. A Badminton Drill is a practice. It’s a practice of a specific skill or element required to play badminton.

The drill itself can take many forms but will usually target a small and specific area on which to work, such as a net drop shot.

Let me give an example from my own style of play, I invariably have my racket ‘down’ either to the side or in front, even when at the front of the court. A better position for the racket and me as I’m 6’2”, is to have my knees slightly bent and the racket head raised to shoulder or head height.

I need to Drill this habit into my head. So my partner and I play the ‘patty cake’ game, both stand just back of the front service line and try hitting the shuttle as horizontal and as close to the net tape as possible.

It becomes a ‘game’ when there are no rules, i.e. freedom to hit shuttle on either forehand or backhand. But it becomes a Badminton drill when you continually just do forehand. It can be further broken down into say, near forehand and far forehand.

Drills are better than practice because they’re more specific to particular areas, so you can isolate your weak shots/areas of play and develop those.

Badminton drills should be done over a long period. An hour spent on a particular training drill is nothing, and what’s more it should be regularly repeated throughout your training regime.

Another practice drill might be ‘mid court backhand cross net return’, bit of a mouthful that, but if your partner can deliver the shuttle to the right area this is easily practicable, but the main purpose of the drill could be to get you to change from a forehand grip to a backhand grip!!..

A Badminton drill is a repetition of a small but necessary skill, it’s something that all the top players do regularly and if you have any dreams of becoming a better player, then you will need to spend some time working on your own specific weaker areas by using Badminton training drills on a regular basis.