Badminton is one of the most famous indoor sports. You must have watched badminton at the Olympics, and yes, the game is equally fast.
One thing is sure about this sport: players need a terrible amount of fitness and stamina. However, that doesn’t mean a rookie can not play this sport for fun. Then, experience will teach them the rest.
But what are the basic skills in Badminton? In this article, we will discuss the skills that a beginner badminton player needs.
But First, What Are The Basic Strokes In Badminton?
To master the basic skills of badminton, you need to know about the basic strokes in the game. After all, without these strokes, you won’t be able to execute any shots.
Remember that the power of all Badminton shots is directly associated with how well any player performs their strokes.
So, what are the basic strokes in badminton? Primarily, there are four strokes:
- Underarm backhand,
- Underarm forehand,
- Overhead backhand and
- Overhead forehand.
The 7 Basic Skills In Badminton You Must Know About:
Some people will say these skills are needed, and others say those skills are required. Here, we will talk about a couple of things that are needed most, from your stance to position everything.
1. Grip
Sometimes, you may wonder how a player plays a backhand shot so quickly and effortlessly. Holding a bat is easy, but there is a proper way to have a bat.
Otherwise, you can not control shots, give your opponent a proper smash back, or avoid wrist injury. You can easily play both forehand and backhand strokes if your grip is correct and correct.
Hold your bat as you are handshaking with it. Place your thumb in a comfortable position. Also, do not tighten your grip. Instead, handshake as comfortably as you can.
A friendly grip will allow you to lead your wrist to do anything. And most importantly, it will give you flexibility, and you can avoid an injury.
- Push your index finger a little forward when you play a forehand stroke.
- When you play a backhand stroke, push your thumb a little forward.
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2. Stance
The game’s strategies are entirely different in singles and doubles. But the most important thing as a badminton player is to take the proper stance.
You may have seen that players don’t run in a badminton match. Instead, they take one or two steps, and after every stroke, they return to their original stance.
A correct and stable stance will give you easy movements. So, your opponent will not have a clear place to drop the shuttle.
Also, your stance depends on whether you are right-handed or left-handed, your opponent’s strategy and type of play, and how you will pursue your game like an offense or defense.
- Attacking Stance
When your opponent forces you to play an overhead forehand stroke in the third court, you must face the sidelines, legs and shoulders width apart, and keep your racket leg behind.
Now, you need to raise both of your arms to attack. This stance will allow you to generate power and strike the shuttle downward.
- Defensive Stance
Suppose you have given your opponent a free shot and the chance to play the shuttle freely. To be in a defensive stance or defend the smash, you must face the body towards the net and put your racket at the waist height. Then, relax your non-racket arm in a comfortable position.
- Net Stance
This stance is required when your opponent can play a net shot. It would be best to place your racket leg forward and the other leg backward. Then, keep your racket slightly above the waist and raise your other arm.
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3. Footwork
Grip and stance are the basic skills in Badminton. But what are the skills involved in playing the game? The footwork will give you an upper hand in a badminton game when your opponent is equally fit and plays well.
A badminton game consists of organized and effective movement on the court. Most coaches and players give priority to footwork more than any other thing.
You may need to play a shot in the net, the next shot in the third court, and the third shot again in the net. There is no proper explanation of how you can be good at footwork. But I can give you some tips. But before that, you need to be fit, fast, and agile to be a good badminton player. Here are some tips.
- After every shot, go to your basic stance and prepare for any stroke.
- Move only two or a maximum of three steps frontward or backyard.
- Move only 1 step sideward.
4. Serve
Suppose you are good at footwork, playing any shot, or know how to use every stance, but your service is not good enough. Then, you are on the losing side in the first place. So, you have to practice how to do a good service.
Let me give you an example. You are servicing, and that is a bad one. Then, your opponent has the advantage in the first shot. And it would be best if you survived for a couple of shots before you fail to stroke the shuttle to your opponent’s court.
There are two types of service. A high serve is a service where the player places the shuttle in the far back end of the opponent’s court. The advantage of this serve is that the opponent can not smash back, and you will get time.
The other service is called a low service. Here, the player aims to put the shuttle just above the net and in the front corner. If the execution is poor, then there is a high chance that you will get a smash. It is also a drop-shot badminton.
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5. Smash
To be a good badminton player, you must know how to smash. If your opponent is an excellent agile player, you have to face many difficulties while playing.
Smashing is a shot in which a player tries to play the shuttle to the opponent’s court powerfully. Players try to stroke the shuttle to the opponent’s body or too far from the opponent.
You can see the maximum time players get the point with a smash. There are mainly three types of smashing in a badminton game.
- Forehand Smash
- Backhand Smash
- Jumping Smash
6. Drop Shot:
Amongst the basic skills in Badminton, you need to know about the drop shot; perhaps the most technical skill is knowing the drop shot. These delicate shots can help you win several points – simply put, they will allow you to aim at scoring under the garb of deception.
Played with both forehand and backhand, drop shots are used to move your opponent to the frontcourt. In turn, you will have space on both the backcourt and midcourt to exploit. Moreover, there are both fast and slow drop shots – you can play them depending on the situation.
Knowing how to play drop shots is one of the primary badminton skills – if you can develop this skill correctly, you can quickly become an expert in the game.
7. Clear Or Lob:
The lob or clear shot in Badminton can be best described as one of those shots that comes with a simple inverted ‘U’ trajectory. Primarily played boldly from the frontcourt, the shot aims to ‘lob’ or ‘lift’ the shuttle right over your opponent.
The idea here is to land the shuttle close to the court’s baseline at such an angle that it will be difficult to clear the shot. This shot is very similar to a drop shot in challenging your opponent with a sudden motion; only in this case does the motion have to be backward.
Plus, the shot can be played by both forehand and backhand. Generally, this shot helps create space both in the middle and frontcourt, opening several opportunities. This is perhaps one of those basic skills in Badminton that you can learn with a little bit of practice.
Final Words
If you ask me to define the basic skills in Badminton, here is all you should know. It is impossible for someone to master every skill in one day. But with time and experience, you will learn and execute every possible skill in a match.
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