Beginner Badminton Drills
There are many elements to badminton, and becoming a good player means learning new skills and constantly evaluating your technique. Luckily, there are beginner badminton drills for every aspect of the sport, from serving to conditioning. When you’re starting from the bottom, learning the basics of every aspect of badminton is essential.
Gripping the Racket
The racket should be held as if it is an ax, with the head perpendicular to the floor when held in front of you. It would help if you gripped the handle loosely with the bottom of the racket level with the bottom of the hand and fingers spaced slightly with small gaps between them. It would be best if you only tightened the grip upon impact with the shuttle.
Beginner Badminton Drills for Positioning
The ready position is the essential stance to learn. It is about 6 feet behind the service line, at an equal distance from the court’s edges. Get yourself ready by standing at a wider stance: your feet should be a little more than the shoulder-width apart. It would help if you lowered your waist a little and shifted forwards onto the balls of your feet, with your knees bent slightly.
You should keep your body relaxed and don’t lean too far forward. If you hold your racket in your right hand, you should slightly step forward with your right foot to be ahead of your left foot by about half a foot in length. If you hold your racket in your left hand, then your left foot should be slightly ahead. This will put you in the best position to move quickly when your opponent takes their shot.
Beginner Badminton Drills for Stepping
In badminton, the way you move around the court may be slightly different from what you are used to.
Generally speaking, you should step when moving forwards and shuffle when moving backward. At first, learning not to step backward may be difficult for some newbies to grasp, but it is well worth drilling as it will make moving around the court much faster. This is not set in stone, and the exceptions to this rule will become clear when you play and get more experienced.
Beginner Badminton Drills for Movement
The following drill is aimed at increasing your speed and acceleration from the ready position described earlier. Many beginners are slow at pushing off because they don’t use their strength correctly.
When pushing off, you should use your ankle and calf strength by starting with your weight on your toes or even with your heels slightly off the ground and making a small jump before you move to use the energy stored in your tendons. The jump should be small and fast. Keep your feet close to the ground, as lifting your legs high is a waste of valuable time.
If done correctly, this small jump will allow you to speed up much faster in whichever direction you choose, and is why most professional players do this small jump to increase the power of their push off against the ground.
A good way to practice this is by skipping, lifting the feet only just high enough to let the rope pass beneath to simulate this movement as closely as possible, and developing strength and explosiveness in your calves and ankles.
Practicing the basic shots is one of the best drills a beginner can do. These shots include:
- Serving
- Drop shots
- Net Shots
- Smashes
These can be made easier by having a partner throw the shuttle up for you to hit. Allowing you to practice specific techniques rather than practicing random shots all at once in a rally. As you get more advanced, training will be much more effective if a partner has hit the shuttle to the place where you are to take the shot you are practicing.
It would help if you practiced your beginner badminton drills a few times per week before your regular training. This way, you are still fresh and more likely to use the correct form.
Badminton Skills for Beginners
The keys to being a good player in any sport are the skills, conditioning, and determination you as a player have. This article will cover the basic badminton skills to be mastered. These are the 5 basic shots that will give you a solid foundation to progress your badminton game. You will cover the other badminton skills for beginners at a later date.
Badminton Skills: Basic Shots
Serve
The serve is arguably the most important shot in badminton and a fundamental shot in your repertoire of badminton skills. A good serve will put you in a strong position to win the point, and a bad serve will put you in a vulnerable position. There are two types of serve; the forehand serve, and the backhand serve. We will only cover the forehand serve in this guide as this is the easiest and most consistent type.
Clear
The clear is another fundamental shot in badminton. Its importance is often overlooked as it rarely scores and doesn’t look as flashy as a smash or drop shot. The main aim of a clear is to give you time to recover for your next shot.
You can also use it to put your opponent in an awkward position to return. The first situation mentioned is done by sending the shuttle high and deep towards the back edge of the court. This is where you gain the time while the shuttle is in the air for as long a time as possible.
To get your opponent into an awkward position, you should hit the shuttle again towards the back of the court, but this time flat rather than high to reduce the time your opponent has to react.
Drop
Technically, a drop shot is any shot that lands between the service line and the net. It doesn’t matter where it is taken from. The main idea behind this shot is to force your opponent to return the shuttle by hitting upwards. This makes it much less likely that they will score. The closer to the net you can get the shuttle, the more likely you will score.
Drive
The drive is an aggressive shot used to pressure your opponent into making a mistake or a poor return. It is a quick flat shot made at around shoulder height with the wrist while the shuttle is still in front of you.
Drives are versatile with a range of angles that can be covered with just the basic grip covered in beginner badminton drills. This grip will allow you to cover backhand and forehand without changing grip, saving time returning a shot.
Smash
The smash is a compelling shot. You use the energy from your whole body to perform this shot, making this a great addition to your badminton skill set. It is speedy and is used to score a point by not giving your opponent enough time to react and return the shuttle.
You should position yourself behind the shuttle and move into the shot as it drops, striking it at the highest point you can reach to generate the most power. You should get the shuttle as close to the net as you can and make sure to aim at the floor as far away from your opponent as possible.
It is important not to overwhelm yourself when first learning these badminton skills. You should set realistic goals to work towards, only learning one or two shots at a time. When you can get a rally going with a partner using some of these shots, you should check out some of these beginner badminton drills to help you progress even further.