Even though your goal is to become the best badminton player, you can still make the training funny. Your training does not have to be all the same every day.
Some of the most fun badminton drills will also help develop your skills like footwork, for example. The main point is that you should just let it go once in a while to be more concentrated in the real training drills. If you are playing in doubles, these “fun badminton drills” can also help build team camaraderie.
If you never come across any full drills for you to play in badminton, I can share some of them with you. These drills are something me and my badminton playmates are sometimes playing when we feel our training is bored or the moment we are just not in the mood of playing a serious game.
Let’s see what I have for you to add some fun to your training.
1. Attack/Defense
When training in doubles, some of the fun ways to train is choosing the attacking and defending sides. After that, the game starts, and the first team having 100 points win the game.
Every rally starts with the defending team giving a high service to any area of the opponent’s court.
When playing this game, the points go:
Attacking team
- Smash Winners and Net Kill 10 Points.
- All other winners 5 Points.
- Lose attack/ Forced to Lift Minus 5 Points.
Defending team
- All winners 5 Points
- Force lifts 5 Points
2. English Doubles
This drill is usually played with two pairs but can be modified when practicing with two players.
The rules are easy.
Each player gets their own quarter of the court (if training with two players, each of them got their own side). When the game starts, everyone gets 10-20 points, and when the shuttlecock drops, the one whose quarter it drops gets a minus point.
You can do a lot of variations with this drill and modify it in a million ways.
3. Hot Potatoes
In this badminton drill, you need two players. The game is simple.
Each of you has your own side. And you will have two shuttlecocks to play with. The idea is to keep those shuttlecocks in the air as long as possible without dropping.
It is possible to settle some point system (for example, the same as in English Doubles).
4. Land Shuttlecocks into the Containers
To work on accuracy, place buckets or baskets on different areas of the opposite side of the court. See how many shuttlecocks the player can successfully serve or land into the containers. You can use this to work on the accuracy of shots in the service area, short drop shots, long end line shots, etc.
5. Mock Games
If you have many players and want to keep them all active and attentive, mock games are always enjoyable and educational. This is where a doubles game is set up, and the first person to make an error rotates out and makes way for a new player to enter the game.
That way, at every point, someone is rotating to get everyone involved. Or in s singles match to 3 points, the player that keeps winning remains on the court until they are beaten.
6. Smash and Clear
To practice smashes and clears simultaneously, have one group of players line up on one side of the net and the other group of players on the other. The one group clears the shuttle over the net to the far backcourt, and the group receiving the shuttle smashes it back. When all players have made it through the rotation a few times, switch positions.
Read also: What Makes Up a Foul in Badminton
7. Clear Shuttlecocks to Unoccupied Corner
To practice stamina and cross-court clearing, players can clear the shuttle to the unoccupied corner of the opposite side of the court and then run to meet the shuttle and clear it back over.
8. Practice Accuracy
As with the first drill mentioned, two players can team up and practice accuracy on the same side of the court. Both players must remain stationary and try to pass the shuttle back and forth without moving out of an imaginary circle.
9. Use Feeder to Hit Suttles
To practice footwork and stamina, have a feeder hitting shuttles over the net back and forth to opposite sides of the backcourt. The person returning the shuttles has to run back and forth cross-court, which improves shot accuracy.
10. Two Players vs. One Player
Two players versus one player is also an effective way of increasing stamina, footwork, and accuracy. Two players on one side of the netplay against one person on the other. This causes their reaction time to have to be twice as fast.
11. Playing Half-Court Singles
Half-court singles are a great way to improve the accuracy and placement of shots. A singles match is played using only half of the court on either side, so there is little room for error.
12. Shadow Play
The shadow play works on a player’s speed, fitness, and footwork. You shadow play from service return position-net shot-back to play clear- come back to the net and play kill. Repeat this drill 12 times with 25 seconds in between each time. (Shadow play is done without a shuttle)
13. Drill Without Racket
Another fun badminton drill requires no racket at all. To work on balance and speed, place four shuttles in each corner of the court. The player then moves as quickly as they can to place the shuttles upright. This is also a drill that can be timed and then improved on with practice.
14. King of the Court
You will have a lot of fun playing this if there are many players on the court. All players can gather together and play the game on a court. You can set some easy rules and regulations for all players to follow.
A winning condition needs to be set before start playing the game. Normally, a player who accumulates 3 points first will win the game.
The winner will be the king and remain in court. Other players will play against him to take him on. The king will remain to stay on the court until he loses in the game. The final winner will then switch sides by going to the court’s other half and becoming a new king to fight against those challenges.
Think Outside the Box
There are more opportunities in training than limitations. You can combine different drills or make some fun competitions to keep your interest in playing badminton.
It is important that even though the main idea in these drills is to have fun, you should still think of developing your skills simultaneously.
Skills are important but are so tactical. You can come up with fun drills where you can learn to improve your skills but have fun simultaneously.
You should choose the drills ideally to improve your weaknesses and train your skill to reach the next level.
Read also: Differences Between Tennis and Badminton
