VIDEO - Footwork principle "Lead with the Badminton racket"
The most important thing in Badminton training is footwork. Without proper movement on the court, one will not be able to reach the shuttle and to execute good Badminton stroke technique even when reaching the shuttle but also will produce easy mistakes even in good positions on the court.
If we look at the masters of any game sports, if it is Lin Dan in our Badminton sport or Roger Federer in Tennis or Basketball masters like Steve Nash or former Michael Jordan - one thing shoots to the mind: they all have world class footwork that is far better then the footwork of other players.
One general problem is, that also the coaching education focuses a lot on stroke technique while the overall sum of ressources on footwork is limited compared to the ressources available on Badminton shots. Let's make an end to this - but starting with one principle we call in Germany "arm before leg".
In a lot of Badminton situations there is not much time combined with pathways required to overcome of two or less steps. For these situation is is important that before moving, the raquet goes directly to the desired point of shuttle impact or its direction. By using this one will be able to reach higher hitting points especially in the front court. If we look at defence masters like Lee Chong Wei from Malaysia or Marc Zwiebler from Germany on also recognized that in the fast mordern game of Badminton, to move the Badminton racquet first is the only possibility to reach a good smash near the line of the oponnent.
If we look at biomechanics incooparating this principle helps with balance (when also the left arm is spread out) and by effectivly changing base of support and center of mass relation when using the concentric action of the arm to also lean more towards the shuttle.
Sounds logical? A simple exercise with focus on that with many children on one court can look like this:
Enjoy,
Diemo Ruhnow
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About the author:
Diemo Ruhnow is currently working as Head National Coach Doubles for the German Badminton Federation. In his free time he writes for his websites http://www.badminton-training.com (English), http://www.badminton-training.de (German) and other Badminton journals.
