The flick serve and receiving it.

The flick serve is a must to have in your armoury of shots. It must be deceptive and undistinguishable from your normal low serve (notice that I don't call it the short serve !!)

When I was a player I would always flick at least once in the first few points just so that it would keep the receiver honest and normally keep the pressure off my low serve.

But not only is it important to have a good flick serve but it's also important to be able to play it as a receiver.

Shots and footwork are constantly being added to, if you have watched any international badminton recently, you will see that for the flick serve when receiving the receiver's footwork is simply a couple of steps and a short jump backwards to try and hit the shuttle down or at least flat and hard. Most of the time they were off balance when hitting and their recovery was minimal (poor).

Their priority was just to hit down even if the shuttle was slightly behind them, they had no time to do a few steps then a scissors jump. Watch the chinese especially in the Sudirman cup their only priority was to hit down from the flick, their footwork and recover was in a way secondary but obviously practiced.

This is what I will be coaching this weekend to my players, they will not only be practicing the flick serve but the receiving also, then they will practice going forward for the low serve then reacting for a flick. The main objective to be hitting the shuttle down in the shortest time possible. Looking good and recovery will be secondary but also practiced.

National finals

Congratulations to DJ for winning the England National under 18 singles final, he also won the National doubles final on the same day at England Badminton headquarters in Milton Keynes.

He worked very hard and deserved it. He should be playing for England U 19's.

The "split Drop".

The "split drop" or "bounce step" or the "pretension jump" or you may call it something else. This first step is a must for all badminton players but even more so with singles players.

Some people say that the first step is in the mind, ok you could call that perception/experience or anticipation but the first physical movement is the split drop.

The split drop is simply a way of "loading" your leg muscles to prepare them for fast rapid movement, you need to push down to be able to push off fast, in football goalkeepers do it just before they decide which way to dive to make a save. I've even noticed some cricket fielders doing it before the ball is hit in their direction.

If your opponent is smashing/clearing/dropping from the rear court most players do the split drop as the shuttle is hit, personally I prefer my players to make the step slightly before the hit so that they have already bounced and are on the way up, especially when defending the smash. I feel that by doing it that way that they will be that bit earlier to the shuttle. The debate is should you prepare by doing the split step first or should you "react" to your opponent's shot, the argument is valid both ways. Of course during rallies other than from the rear court then it's best to be "reactive".

Requirements for singles.

What are the requirements to be a good singles player ?? My opinion in no particular order except No 1.

• Discipline
• Good footwork and movement
• High level of fitness
• Mental strength
• Able to hit the shuttle from anywhere in his court to anywhere in his opponents court.
• Strong smash
• Commanding at the net, killer instinct...not passive
• Obviously to have a good all round shot selection in all situations
• A thinking mind, strategic and always has plan A, B and even C when needed
• Physically, strong calves and quads with a slim torso are preferable.
  

Jumping smashes

Well we put them through it this morning, lots and lots of jumping, some have very good JS but some still need to be faster to the shuttle and improve their jumps. Still needs lots of work.
After 3 hours of training they deserved to be tired but we did give them some easier things to do to give them a working rest.

Lee Jae Bok

I'm disappointed that Lee has resigned as England coach, I've helped him out at many of his course sessions, and he has a great way of dissecting shots and explaining things. Most of all is his enthusiasm for badminton, he never tires of talking about it even when we where having a lunch break during an all day session we would still be talking badminton.

He was starting to help some of the younger players on singles at my local high performance cell including one of my players that should be playing for England, alas it has now changed and Lee is no longer coaching there.

Tough session

We only had 12 at this weekends' under 17's session, we did make them work hard for 3 hours but the kids enjoyed it.

We worked on diagonal movement, backhand net to rear court forehand jumping smashes. Some need to improve their travelling but generally they were pretty good. We will have to work on their jumping as they don't get high enough so next weekend is going to be quite painful for them !!

I have a lot of respect for some of them as they were there training an hour earlier than the rest, their attitude is excellent, one player was struggling near the end with an ankle pain but he persevered even though he was losing, he played on to win, this is what champions are made of and I told him so !! I also told him though that there are times when you have to retire from a game if the pain is substanial.