Badminton is a swift sport that requires good reaction speeds, many people believe that you need a partner to play against to improve your skills in Badminton, but that is not actually the case. In this article, we will tell you how to play badminton alone to practice and improve your skills whenever you want.
So how do you play badminton alone? The answer is that it depends on what skill you are trying to train and improve.
For example, if you are trying to improve your return serves, you can hit the shuttlecock at the wall and hit it back when it bounces back at you.
You can also get a timer and see how many times you can bounce the shuttlecock off the wall and back in 1 minute to practice your reactions time. Also, you can practice your ‘smashes’ against the wall and at the same time try and return them.
Make sure to stay consistent with your badminton practices, you will not see results from the moment you start, but you will after a good amount of solo practice sessions.
How to Practice Badminton?
One of the most common ways of practicing badminton is against other players, preferably at your skill level. Below we will list some of the ways to practice badminton that do not include solo practice.
Practicing with a player at your level
Arguably the best way of getting involved in badminton and improving when you are starting is by practicing with other beginners or players at your level.
The benefits in this are that you can move slowly and get a grasp of the game, and in fast indoor sports like badminton, when you are playing against better players than you, you have a lower chance of being able to hit back the shuttlecock.
Most beginner or low-skill players hit the shuttlecock back and forwards between each other, attempting to keep it in the air for as long as possible without it touching the ground or the net.
This is a useful practice as it teaches you how to control the shuttlecock better and get it to land where you want it to. You also start to learn moves such as chipping the shuttlecock, drop shots, and returning the shuttlecock over the net.
Practicing with a better player than you
This way has its positives and negatives, but regardless of this way, you still improve as you practice badminton. Some people may argue that it is better to be challenged to learn faster, and that is true to some extent; however, in badminton, when it is not an even match, in a lot of cases,s the worse player does not even get the chance to touch the shuttlecock.
Playing against a better player than you will see you run back and forths a lot more from the sides and the net and the end of your half of the court.
This will improve your knowledge of the court and also literally force you to use new types of shots to be able to clear and return the shuttlecock from the back of your court, deal with the constant small chips over your net, and also how to counter smash shots which is an essential thing that you need to master if you will want to improve in badminton.
What Is Solo Badminton Practice?
Solo Badminton Practise is various drills and training methods that train you to compete against friends, family, or even in tournaments.
Practicing your smash shots at the wall
1. First, make sure to find a nice wall that has no other objects that may get in your way and interfere with your practice, such as windows, drain pipes, posters, and letterboxes, for example.
2. Next, do a smash shot towards the wall and analyze how quickly you could do that smash shot and how obvious it was that you were planning and going for a smash shot. This is very important as smash shots can be easily countered even by intermediate-level players if they have good reason to believe that you are preparing to do one.
3. Practice smashing shots in different angles to improve your game and make yourself a more versatile player.
4. The next step will be to practice and master the art of returning smash shots that come back from the wall. Do not worry. Not every shot in this exercise needs to be a smash shot. Instead, it would help if you aimed to try and stabilize the situation by doing lighter shots at the wall and then position yourself for a follow-up smash shot.
Practicing your return speeds at the wall
1. This practice will improve your reaction speeds and your control when hitting the shuttlecock.
2. Set yourself realistic aims. For example, start with doing 20 or 30 returns in a minute from the wall. It would be best if you also aimed for the shuttlecock not to touch the floor, but when starting these exercises, it is permissible to let it bounce off the floor sometimes.
3. Practise makes perfect in these exercises. It may take a very long time to see results. Still, by simply adding 5 extra returns every time you have achieved your previous goal, you will see a noticeable improvement in your skills.
4. For added difficulty, you can also add some smash shots in between. This is also very useful as in badminton. You need to be unpredictable and explosive in just a millisecond notice, so your opponent has no time to react physically.
Practicing control without needing a wall
1. Not every solo badminton practice requires a wall. Instead, a useful way to practice your control is to grab a badminton racket, a shuttlecock and then start trying to see how many times you can hit the shuttlecock up in the air over and over again using just your badminton racket.
2. For added difficulties with this, you can try and increase the height you hit the shuttlecock up in the air. And another useful trick is to try and keep in a stationary position, so you really need to control your shuttlecock as you cannot chase it around.
Doing laps around the court
1. Fitness and stamina are two very important things in badminton. Even if you are not aiming to be the next badminton world champion, if you are still passionate about improving as a badminton player, this can definitely bring results.
2. Being fast is very important, so laps around the badminton courts, indoor hall, or outside area where the badminton courts are located will help.
3. Training your arms to increase your strength will definitely help as it will all you to hit the shuttlecock much harder. A useful exercise that does not require you to pay for a gym membership is simply doing 20 pushups a day or every couple of days, giving you the necessary strength boost to help your badminton game.
What Is Shadow Practice in Badminton?
Shadow Practise in Badminton is where a badminton player goes on a badminton court and practices his footwork and positioning, which is an often overlooked but crucial part of the game.
Steps to shadow practice in badminton
1. First, take a look at your side of your court and all the six corners to get a good view and strategic sense.
2. Next, choose a starting serving position or serve returning position and imagine how you would usually respond in a normal game when the shuttlecock goes a certain way.
3. Then react and play out your movements and note how many steps you take and the other movements of your body during that time.
4. Now, analyze and review all the actions you took during that play. Ask yourself, were all those steps and movements necessary? And also, ask yourself if they were efficient.
5. You should also think about your ‘recovery’ after a shot which essentially means how quickly you were back concentrating on countering your opponent’s next move.
It would help if you aimed to balance hitting and returning well and always trying to be ready as soon as possible for whatever is coming for you next.
6. Also, make sure that your head is always up. This is very important as you need to be aware of your opponent’s positioning and movement to make an educated guess of the move they are planning and where you have the best chance of scoring a point if you hit the shuttlecock there.
You also need to be aware of your teammate’s position (if you are playing doubles) to be sure that you are each covering you’re half of your court.
7. Another important part is practicing your fitness and stamina. This is key as you need to go from the net to the backline and vice versa to be effective. You will also need to jump and crouch fast in those situations that ask for this kind of movement in badminton.
8. Finally, make sure to do this practice at least a couple of times a week. It is not required to do this every day or as frequently as the other fitness and skill practices that you will be doing.
To be the best as possible at badminton, you need to learn and master everything that may give you even the slightest edge and remember that it is just a sport at the end of the day, and you should continue playing as long as possible your a having fun.
Read also: The Evolution of a Badminton Player
