Windy conditions are an unspoken challenge in badminton. We always find that sometimes, the hits all seem to work, and other times nothing seems to work. This is largely due to an invisible foe of badminton: the drafty badminton hall or stadium. How do players deal with this? Let’s discuss.

In the Denmark Open, the draft in the stadium was very apparent. Players who were playing on the near side to the camera tend to send the shots out at the back and to the right hand side. It was so bad that Antonsen even decided not to hit the Koki Watanabe’s over the head / backhand corner in the rear. That effectively meant he was playing just 3 corners of the court. That is one way to deal with the draft in the court, but how else would players cope?

Elite badminton players are trained to the point where they can hit the shuttle without it going out in ideal conditions. Meaning that if they were not under pressure and there is no wind, they will likely send the shuttle exactly where they want it to go without it going out. And when conditions change, such as the badminton hall or stadium has a draft which blows from one side to another side, then the player needs to adjust his hits.

When the wind is coming from behind the player, it means his shots are going to travel further, and is more likely to go out. The player has to adjust by hitting the shot lighter. When the opponent hits the shot to him, the shuttle’s flight is also less predictable as it would be going against the wind. And usually, the shuttle will wobble in mid flight as it fights the wind. This makes it difficult to control the shuttle as the player will be struggling to hit the shuttle at the sweet spot in the centre of the racquet.

When the player is on the opposite side, he would be hitting the shuttle against the wind. This will mean his shots will not go the full distance to the end of the court and he would have to adjust by hitting the shots harder. As the shuttle comes from the opponent, the shuttle flies with the wind and will travel further. The flight of the shuttle is more predictable as it does not wobble in the air and it is easier for the player to hit the shots. Despite the shuttle not flying as far as it should, many players consider playing against the wind to be the better side. They would always want to finish the second half of the third game on this side.

When the wind direction is coming from one side, there is no distinct good side of the court. Players will need to adjust their shots based on which direction the wind is coming from. In the case above, the player will see his shots going out more often on the right side. So, the player will have to hit his shots a few inches to the left when attacking the right side so that it does not go out. When attacking the left side, the player can afford to hit the shot a little bit further out in order for the wind to blow the shuttle back in. This creates a curve in the flight of the shuttle and will confuse the opponent. It is risky as the wind may not be constant, but when it comes off, it is unstoppable. No player trains to take advantage of the wind like this…

When the player switches side, he would have to make adjustments and hit the shots slightly to the right to let the wind blow it back in.

When the wind direction is diagonal, it is more challenging to control. The two factors mentioned above are combined. The player now needs to consider both the flight of the shuttle towards the end of the court as well as the sideways movement. This is the most challenging type of venue to play in. The Denmark Open in 2024 was held in a venue with such a wind direction. And it explains in great deal why Antonsen chose the shots which he did. In these types of venues, the game becomes a real test of skill and tactics. Not only does the player need to account for the power in his hit due to the wind direction, he also has to take into consideration the sideways movement of the shuttle, and this would require changes in tactics.

It is possible to adjust for one parameter in the players swings, but to have both factors combined, the players will have to make tactical changes such as those employed by Antonsen. Choosing not to attack a corner is easier than remembering to reduce the strength of the hit as well as hitting the shot 6 inches closer or further from the sides to cater for the sideways drift.

Han Jian has a very novel way of managing the wind. Instead of hitting his shots at the usual height, he chooses to hit the shots LOWER. That’s right. He hits all the shots lower than the attacking lobs. That give the shuttle less time to be impacted by the wind. It lands before it gets blown way off course. However, this is possibly even harder to do than making strength and tactical adjustments. A slight miscalculation of the strength and the shuttle goes out as it is flying so low. There is no looping trajectory to slow it down, and it goes out very easily. And if the shuttle goes a bit too high, then the opponent can execute a stick smash to kill the shot easily.

There is no easy solution to dealing with the problem of wind in the badminton venue. All players have to deal with it. The change of sides in the game ensures both players have to deal with the same situation in the match. And, in the end, it becomes a fair match. The player who best controls the wind will win.

That’s all for this entry.

Until the next update, eat well, get plenty of rest, and keep the badminton going!