Wednesday, May 05, 2021

Basic to Basics: Juggling the Shuttle

This is a series inspired by the time I spent with a pal of mine, teaching him how to become a better player. I put together all my knowledge from the years in the sport, hoping that it'll work.

Instead of forgetting that it ever happened, I figured I make a series out of it and impart some more knowledge to visitors to the blog who want to know a little about how to become a better player.

Before we start, the obligatory copyright statement. Those who copy, shame on you.

Hey guys, found out some other site's been taking my article wholesale, so be a sport and bookmark the original site - https://everythinggoeshere.blogspot.sg

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Ok here we go.

Back to Basics: Juggling the Shuttle

This is something I like to do while waiting for my games to start (sometimes I'm early to the court and can't wait to change into my shoes). I'd pick up a shuttle from the tube and start juggling, keeping the shuttle to slightly above head height and rotating between forehand and backhand grips. 

What this does is that it trains you to feel the shuttle, and also allows you to get used to the sweet spot for your racket. Over time you'll familiarize yourself with how to hit the shuttle where to get whatever shot you need from them. Juggling the shuttle also trains your patience. 

In fact I just got off a session - 1,097 hits in one go. I'm sure a lot of you out there can get more shots in than I did, but I'm really stoked when I get above 1,000. I juggle in my room - it has a bed in the middle, air conditioning and a low ceiling so I also get to train some footwork and reaction whenever the shuttle goes off course. 

So here's a few ways you can challenge yourself. The goal is always the same - juggle the shuttle for as long as you can without letting it drop to the ground.

Basic Level: Just Juggle

For beginners, you might want to start off with this one. Just pick the shuttle up and start hitting it with your racket. Change grips to suit the way you hit the shuttle, and try as much as possible to hit the shuttle on the cork instead of the feathers. 

Once you get the hang of it you'll be able to direct the shuttle to various parts of the room and get a rhythm going. 

Intermediate Level: Spinning Nets Shots

Ok so you're able to control the shuttle pretty well and can confidently hit over 500 times without fail. Another game you can try for yourself is to try and create spinning net shots for yourself and learn to regain control of the shuttle. 

Make the shuttle tumble for as much as you can, and then hit it in a way that stabilizes it and allows you to continue juggling. The on-court applications for this one is self-explanatory. For more challenge, try and stabilize the shuttle as high up as you can instead of letting the spin die out from underneath. If you don't know what I'm saying, go back to the basics ya noob.

Higher Level: Speed Juggling

You can juggle straight, backhand, forehand, spins, left to right, right to left... now what's left for you? This is a personal one that I set for myself - I've never really gotten beyond 100 for this too.

The goal is to juggle the shuttle for as fast as you can, without letting it go above shoulder height. This takes a lot of concentration, control and reaction as you have to move beyond predicting where the shuttle will go and actually plan the shots so that you'll be able to keep hitting them. When I think about it, the racket is actually moving a lot more than the shuttle is in this exercise - if done well the shuttle won't actually move more than a few inches. 

This is a fun one - try it and let me know if it's challenging for you.


Additional Variants

  • Juggle the shuttle and walk around the court. Jog and run if you want more challenge, hitting the shuttle in front of you instead of above you. 
  • Mix in a few trick shots. I don't like this coz a fail usually resets your score. 
  • Juggle sitting down on the ground. This is exceptionally hard as well; I don't think I've ever gone beyond 200 hits. 


That's it folks. I hope you have fun trying these out. Let me know in the comments!

4 comments:

Yan Team badminton said...

When the world saw Jianzi for the first time, they were also blinded from something else, for a very long time...twas about 2000 years ago in China, after the guided badminton sages from all across the world would have passed on the badminton art to their disciples who would have sold it to kings across the globe..there were great world tournaments held in tremendous secrecy for kings in selected regions on Earth...it was done covertly and in secrecy for the chosen kings, sages and world badminton legends, on whose terms it was done...it is rumoured that badminton was invented before mankind and practiced by very ancient cultures (4000 years ago).. It was said that the king of China created a secret campaign of his own with an advanced blend of kung-fu and hosted a great tournament for their country and invited any 'bound to secrecy' player across the world who dared to enter... the grand prize was the Golden Goose (about 1000lbs of pure moulded gold)..however, all the players were contracted to lose a finger on their non-badminton hand for the king, should they be eliminated from the tournament (male singles & doubles, one gold goose per winner)..most would have played five tournaments (held every 4 yrs) until their retirement (some players would have also went the distance and managed with just three fingers, though no one losing 7 fingers ever won...(in rumoured text it was mentioned of a very famous guy that lost his five non-playing fingers before winning the goose.. he struggled with balance but overcame).. Jianzi is what the king and his council created to distract the other investigators, spies and informants who entered China from various parts of the globe seeking the new ball and pastime that was taking the oracles by storm...because they could not get underground access in the other countries..twas about 1000 years after when the word broke out from China ...and about 500 years after when it was printed and women around the world started playing. It is not known exactly how many players took part in the tournament, but recent sport skeptics have assumed that the tournament venue and participants were at least 5 enter the dragons (sworn secret, sealed and vanished underground)...there is no evidence of bloodlines, manuscripts, technical secrets, philosophy and match records to this day, but it is said that China won most world tournaments. There is also insufficient historical evidence of it ever being discontinued in China, while there was no remaining underground evidence of it in the other kingdoms/countries ...It is said they invented the metal racquet and metal strings (alloyed and very similar to modern-day poly strings) like their musical instruments and the shuttle by conical mathematics and applied aerodynamics (the goose shuttles were 'the greatest secret of all' in China (due to world secrecy orders), and Jianzi kept it well hidden...Jianzi was also adopted in badminton warmups and movement/coordination training and also used for foot badminton..which was the best-kept secret of Jianzi as not many knew it could be played over a net and in the sacred lines of court..it was within the badminton secret and not exposed until later in time -- (all goose shuttles were burnt after tournaments and specially hidden after practice)..China applied Kung-Fu arts (3500 years ago) to play badminton and it was only until badminton became perfected, things got dangerous for the sport. Can u guess the ancient Chinese name for badminton? bing- bang? kung-paow!? Every nation had a different name, but the rules were decided by the world council and were the same. It may seem that some kings of nations knew other kings of some nations centuries before their people knew each other, but I have no proof.

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Eric Civault said...

I inspired by the time I spent with a pal of mine, teaching him how to become a better player. I put together all my knowledge from the years in the sport, hoping that it'll work I also had my eye on another Japanese singles played. Kenichi Tago has an explosive edge to him that made his games very nice to watch. The young player also favoured the backhand over an overhead forehand swing and he is strong player
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