4A Division State Champions: Greenway

5A Division State Champions: Chaparral

Individual Championships: Saturday, 10-23-10

Watch for Illegal Serves

I know there is a lot to remember when your first match rolls around; not to mention the nerves! However, the most common mistake I see players do is to not watch for illegal serves by your opponent. Chances are that you will be playing someone that is of relatively similar skill to yourself and thus is just as nervous and concerned with their game as you are. However, any type of fault during the serve or otherwise is still illegal and should be called.

The shuttle must be contacted blow the waist and the head of the racket bust be below the racket hand when contacting the shuttle on the serve! Don’t forget the biggest fault especially with beginning players is that both feet must remain planted on the ground through the entire serve until after the shuttle is hit. You can rock on your feet to generate more power but your foot cannot slide on the floor nor come up off the floor at all! These are all faults and the service should change sides if it is called.

If you see your opponent make any of these faults, DO NOT HIT THE SHUTTLE! Do not even attempt to go for the shuttle. Keep yourself planted and after the serve has been made, inform your opponent that their serve was illegal and that it is now your service. A service fault is the same as any other fault, it can be questioned but once the call is made, it is done. If you opponent objects, they can call a line/service judge for the remainder of the match.

One more point. In the past I have seen instances where payers disagree on an illegal service call and there is a service check done where officials (coaches) come by and watch a “sample” service. This is useless and a waste of time. The offending player, assuming they know what they are doing, will ALWAYS correct their serve for the check and simply go back to their illegal serve after the check is done with. It’s better get a line/service judge for the remainder of the match in these cases.

Watch Your Lines

This is another big one. Being nervous during the first few games causes may players to unknowingly return shuttles that are out of bounds…by many feet! If you are practicing your footwork correctly and have played at least a few practice games, you should have pretty good idea of where the court lines are. Don’t get caught up in returning the shuttle simply because you forget that you can also win rallies when they hit out of bounds!

Break In Between Games

Between the first and second games of your match, you are given a one minute break. If you split, then you are afforded a five minute break. TAKE THEM! Not only does this give you time to collect your thoughts and your breath, but it also allows coaches to come by and give you advice on how your game is going and any changes in strategy they might recommend. If you find that you are having trouble in your match, seek out your coach during these breaks. If you are playing a high school match, you may only have one or two coaches and they have to watch not only all the games being played but also the students on the bench. This means that they may not know that you are between games at this point. You cannot leave the court (unless it’s between games 2 & 3) so try to call or make contact with your coach. If your coach is not available, then you should take this time to reflect on your game. What did you do right, what did you do wrong? What is your opponent’s weakness, what is yours? Self analyze and adjust your play as needed.

Bad Calls

It’s unfortunate but it happens. Sometimes your opponent will either purposely or unintentionally make a bad call. Unintentional bad call are just part of the game but if you notice that your opponent might be making bad calls on purpose, then you need to do something about it. These generally happen towards the rear of the court, especially on the back line. The first time you notice this, simply ask your opponent, “are you sure?” This simple question does two things: 1) if your opponent is cheating, it lets them know that you know what’s going on and 2) if it was truly a mistake, it lets your opponent know that they need to be a little more cautious in their watching of the shuttle around boundary lines.

If you notice a bad call again after you have confirmed/warned them, then you need to raise your racket and get a coach on the court to assign line judges. There is no shame in asking for a line judge. The rules of the game are there for a reason and they need to be respected.

Cheering

This is one the most shameful things that I continuously witness at high school badminton games; a lack of cheering. Badminton, like any other sport, is a competitive game. In high school especially, there is absolutely no reason not to cheer on your team and show school spirit! These are your class mates out there, your teammates, your friends! Hearing words of encouragement and cheering can truly make the difference between a win and a loss. It is an incredible confidence booster and really brings out feelings of camaraderie and sportsmanship! I’ve head the line, “it’s just badminton, why should we cheer” before. You never hear that about football, baseball, volleyball, softball, or any other sport in athletics. Badminton is a tough sport. It’s the second most popular sport in the world and if you are serious about playing it, then you need to act like it means something to you. If not for you then at least for your friends and teammates!

The facility is new and thus is in very good shape. The grounds are clean as is the main facility itself. The staff are generally friendly (see below for an exception). Most are young adults yet are still professional and always have a smile on their face. Patrons can be either day guests or members. Day passes are $5 for Peoria residents (must bring ID) and $6 for everyone else. Membership is about average with 3 months costing you about $60 for an adult. Most of the patrons tend to be younger with many teens and young adults filling the gym floors and rock climbing wall. However, there are a number of “wiser” members to balance out the makeup. Everyone seems to get along and aside from the occasional young hotshots, I have yet to see any sort of negative or dangerous persons or activities.

Badminton

Now for what you have been waiting for, the badminton review. I have been a member at Rio Vista for a little under a year now and while I use the gym for weight and cardio training multiple times a week, I must admit that I have only played badminton here maybe 10 times over the past 3/4 year (hey, I’m a busy guy). The badminton schedule tends to shift with the seasons but is currently on Friday’s from 12-4pm and Saturday’s from 12-3pm.

As most public badminton facilities in the Phoenix area tend to be, they seem to look down on the sport despite the fact that they do offer some decent court time. They seem to only offer it as an alternative for the passerby to take a break from their other “main” activity. As such, you will often see kids jumping onto the court who have just gotten out of a basketball game or from an after school activity program.Very rarely will you see experienced players here (in fact, I have yet to see any, other than myself). The courts themselves are like most, bottom lines (drawn and cut over more popular court lines like basketball and volleyball) and bad lighting (large round lights that point down). However, the nets are good and level and the ceilings are high. The court itself is in good condition and has no cracks, chips, or peeling.

While Rio Vista has a gym that holds two basketball courts and thus is capable of 4 badminton courts, they rarely if ever put up more than one. When I had originally joined this facility, I asked about setting up more nets and I was told that if there were people waiting, they would set up the second court (one side of the gym is ALWAYS an open basketball court). Unfortunately, these may have been fleeting words. A few weekends ago I went to a Saturday open badminton time with a few of the girls I coach and there happened to be another family playing on the only court. I approached the front desk and asked to have the second court setup (nobody was on the empty 1/2 basketball court) and they said sure. However, the maintenance guy seemed to have a problem with this order and spoke to what I can only assume was a facility manager. The manager came over and told me that they usually don’t setup the second court. I told him about the earlier promises when I became a member and reminded him that their gym schedule specifically states that 1/2 of the gym (2 badminton courts) is to be dedicated to the scheduled sport…which at that time was badminton. He replied by telling me that he would put it up for a little while but that if basketball got crowded, he would take it down. This disturbed me since it appeared that 1) he was playing favorites with member sports, not treating each member and their activity as an equal, and 2) that it was seemingly against the policy that is clearly stated on their gym schedule. When I raised this complaint with him, he did not respond and simply walked away.

Needless to say, while I love Rio Vista for the fitness facilities they offer, as a badminton player, if I had another choice in the area, I would stay away from playing here. However, if you are simply looking to hit around a bit and aren’t too interested in serious games or being taken seriously by the staff, then this facility is fine. I was hoping to make Rio Vista Rec Center the home the Peoria co-ed badminton team but I have since put that idea into question. Don’t get me wrong, that incident may have just been a fluke (everyone has bad days). Other interactions with staff have been very positive (even some other discussions of badminton with some of the front-desk girls). However, his ignorance and bias was seething and really turned me off to playing at this facility.

Racket up

• This is the biggest mistake most people make. Badminton is a very fast sport. Your racket needs to be up and in front of you ready to return the shuttle. Think of the center of your body as the center of a circle (your “badminton circle”) encompassing your entire body. The shortest distance to any point on your badminton circle is when you start from the center. So in order to reach the majority of shots in the shortest amount of time, you need to keep your racket up and in front of you.

Get back into position

• Being able to return anything hit at you is great, but of course during a match, the point is to keep the shuttle away from you, thus, you need to be positioned correctly after each shot you make in order to be ready for wherever the next shot may go.
• In singles, this almost always means that after your shot, you should be returning to the center of the court. Transitioning a variety of shots into fluid body movements to get you back to the center of the court takes practice but it is possible and we will go over them during practice. The only time during singles when you do not want to make the transition to the center of the court is after you make a net drop. You need to take one step back toward the center of the court and react to the opposing player’s next shot. This is to prevent the opposing player from simply re-dropping and causing you to needlessly move around the court.
• In doubles, positioning can be very confusing but once mastered, it is the skill that separates the pros from the amateurs. Doubles rotation will be covered during practice, as the concepts cannot easily be understood through writing.

Knees bent

• Your knees should never be locked; they should always be bent and ready to spring. Not only does this ready you for movement on the court but it also allows you to lower your center of gravity when on defense, thus giving you more stability during quick defensive shots. Then after you transition a defensive attack into an offensive opportunity, keeping your knees bent prepares you to quickly attack the shuttle.

On your toes

• This one goes hand-in-hand with keeping your knees bent. You should never be caught flat-footed. If you have ever watched a boxing match, you will notice that the boxers are always on their toes and their feet are always moving. This is because they need absolute split second reactions to keep from getting hit. Take a lesson from them and whenever you are on the court (yes, even between points, matches, and during practice) always keep on your toes and keep your feet moving. This keeps you agile and ready to react quickly.

Watch the shuttle

• You would think this was an obvious one but a lot of people end up watching either their opponent’s racket or their body in hope of figuring out where the shuttle is going to be hit. Experienced badminton players know that deception is the name of the game, especially when their opponent is of comparable skill to themselves. Always watch and react to only the shuttle. Do not make a move until the shuttle is contacted and you know where it is headed.

Of course there are many more strategies, skills, and fundamentals that we will cover during practice, but these core principals are what you need to know before you can even begin to elevate your badminton game.

• Do not store the shuttles outdoors or in overly hot/dry areas (for the truly dedicated, storing shuttles in the refrigerator is ideal). Heat will dry out the feathers making the shuttle brittle; reducing the life of the shuttle. If possible, store them indoors and do not leave them in your car for extended periods.
• Steam/humidify the shuttles you plan on using 1-2 days prior to playing. This conditions the feathers and increases the durability of the shuttles. To steam shuttles, leave them in the tube but remove both end caps. If you have a hand-held steamer (used for cleaning or de-wrinkling) shoot steam into the bottom of the tube (where the shuttles are removed from) avoiding the cork. If you do not have a steamer, hold the open tube over a small pot of boiling water. Continue either method until steam emerges from the far end of the tube (a few seconds). Seal the tube with the end caps. An alternative method is to place about 2-3 inches of hot water into a shallow bowl. Remove all the shuttles and, holding the cork, dip the feather end of the shuttles into the hot water for about 1-2 seconds. Because fathers repel water, it will not soak through. However, the small amounts of hot water that do collect will be enough humidify and moisten the feathers over the course of the next 1-2 days. Immediately place the shuttles into the tube and seal it.
• During breaks in play, if you notice that the feathers of the shuttle are in disarray, gently run your fingers between the feathers such that they become aligned and straight. This will help prolong the life of the shuttle during play.
• When a shuttle begins to fly awkwardly or looses its feathers, it’s time for a new shuttle. However, chances are that the used shuttle can still be used for drills like hitting against the wall, shuttle pickups, net drops, and other drills where consistent shuttle flight is not absolutely necessary. I almost always keep a tube of used shuttles in my bag for this specific reason.