Footwork article [Badminton Bible]

[MikeHopley]

Jeez, this was a tough one. :eek:

Badminton footwork (http://www.badmintonbible.com/articles/footwork/)

This is sorely lacking pictures, but nevertheless I think the text alone is useful. There's also more to cover, such as recovery movements.

Hope you like it. :)

[Lefty]

woo, the last one was heavy stuff but i'm feeling brave so I may have another read

you can take pictures of my feet if you like, although probably more for the "How NOT to do it" poses :)

[MikeHopley]

woo, the last one was heavy stuff but i'm feeling brave so I may have another read

That's another reason that pictures are helpful: they break up the text and make people feel it's "lighter". ;)

[Peter Warman]

I'll be "reviewing" as soon as I can.

Footwork is good once you've mastered it, it's training your feet thats hard. I think you would have to think every shot about your feet for a couple of weeks until you do it without thinking.


Can't wait to read it...............................


:)


Oh, and keep up the good work Mike, it's needs to be said. I've never had coaching before and this seems to be the best way, especialy considering many people have been saying that their coaches don't know this much information!

:cool::cool:

[MikeHopley]

Thanks Peter. :)

Footwork is good once you've mastered it, it's training your feet thats hard. I think you would have to think every shot about your feet for a couple of weeks until you do it without thinking.It takes a while to sink in, certainly.

I don't think you necessarily need to muster that intensity of concentration (if you can, great...). I'm quite sure my students are rarely thinking about their footwork when they play games, but nevertheless they improve (they don't always notice it, of course...).

I find that most improvements tend to be incremental, rather than all-or-nothing. Although in some cases it's like switching on a light bulb, and that's always gratifying. :)

One example that I'll never forget: back when I was just starting coaching, I decided to take a break from doing things "correctly": I spent one session coaching spinning net shots to a group of near-beginner school seniors.

This was completely against respectable coaching practice. Spinning net shots, I knew, were "advanced". Not for beginners. Not covered by Coach Part One, and hence I wasn't qualified to teach them. I'd only been playing them myself for a few months and wasn't especially competent (I'm still not ;)).

But the kids picked them up immediately. First time. After less than five minutes coaching. I could hardly believe it. One guy played a perfect spinner on his first attempt.

That taught me a few useful principles:
Not to inflict my own limitations on my students. Just because I found a shot difficult, didn't mean they would.
To experiment; to respect "the book", rather than worship it.
To set aside some sessions for advanced stuff, even if I think it's well beyond their capabilities. If nothing else, it plants the idea of the shot in their heads.