Accuracy in Badminton: Key to Accurate Shot Placement

Why do you want to have accurate shot placement?

The main purpose is to:

  • move your opponent out of position
  • make him work hard for the shuttle
  • force him to return a weak shot

If you watched international badminton tournaments, have you ever wondered how world class players are able to direct shuttles to land RIGHT ON the lines?

Well I can tell you this is NOT LUCK. Of course they’re not able to place the shuttle on the sidelines/baselines perfectly all the time, but the point is:

They are able to control where they want the shuttle to land!

You can do that too! Of course, what makes their shots so perfect is through lots of practice. You can also produce beautiful shot placements through practice.

But first, you MUST know the key technique for good placing accurate shots.

Follow Through

The key to place the shuttlecock accurately near the in/out lines is to follow-through.

Following through simply means completing your swing towards the direction you want the shuttle to land.

Before implementing the follow-through technique, make sure you’re
doing the correct badminton strokes, especially when you’re doing a complete swing.

The get the correct swinging motion in badminton, learn the proper technique for the basic badminton strokes.

A common mistake most people make is returning the shuttle without
doing a ‘full swing’. They return the shuttle by merely touching it with
their rackets.

If you don’t do a complete arm swing in your badminton stroke, the returned shot will

  • be poor in quality
  • flies slower
  • and have poor accuracy

Sacrifice Power for Accuracy

The badminton smash is a winning shot. This means that it’s used with the intention to win badminton rallies.

It’s the most powerful badminton shot. Hence, requires you to exert a lot of power. However, as you focus on power, you’ll tend to have poorer accuracy in placing your shot. This is because the smash direction is less certain when your focus is on power.

The BEST spot to place a smash is on the sidelines

Understand that there is a trade off between power and accuracy of a
smash. This means that when you want power in your smash, you’ll have
less accuracy in placement.

If you want to place your smash as close to the sidelines as possible (high accuracy), you’ll need to forego some power.


Common Mistake in Underarm Clears

One very common mistake among badminton players is that they rely too much on their wrist to generate power.

Take note that your wrist action helps kick in extra power. The main source of power for any type of badminton shots is the swinging motion of your badminton stroke.

DO NOT depend too much on your wrist especially when hitting underarm clears. Concentrate on performing the correct swing motion. Using your wrist will make the shuttle fly too far and eventually make it fly out the
court.

If you generate too much power from your wrist to hit a cross court underarm clear, there’s a high chance that you’ll “over-hit” it and have the shuttlecock fly pass the sidelines.

Practice for Accurate Shot Placement

The main factor to hit shots at precise spots is through PRACTICE!

In order make shuttles land on the baseline through lobs or clears, you’ll need to know the right amount of strength to put into your strokes.

In order to make shuttles land on the sidelines through smashes, you’ll need to know how much power you need in your smash.

As you practise, you’ll be able to hit accurate smashes while inserting more power into the smash.

Take international players for example, they’re able to hit POWERFUL smashes, while directing the shuttle accurately towards the sidelines.

They practise a lot. Therefore, they’re able to produce powerful smashes with accurate placement.

ALL THIS COMES WITH LOTS OF PRACTISE!!

Racket Specification for Better Badminton Shot Placement

Basically a stiff racket shaft and higher string tension helps improve your shot accuracy.

However, stiff rackets and high string tensions require the user to have extremely good badminton skills. Why? Find out more through the links below:

Click here to read on stiff badminton racket shafts

Click here to read on badminton string tension

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