Skills, Physical and Tactics, are 3 aspects of badminton. Which is more important? – Steve’s Badminton Blog and Website

In my coaching sessions with Fred, we often discuss topics which are very deep. I like to cover topics which require a deeper understanding of the sport, so that Fred can prepare himself as best he can for the challenges ahead. One of these topics have often been the balance between skills, physical and tactics. What exactly is this? Let’s discuss.

Han Jian has taught us his wonderful technique, which makes it possible for us to hit shots at angles which is not possible to me before. His technique is mesmerizing and intricate, and it expands the player’s range for coverage as well as opens up additional angles for attacks which are not otherwise possible. This is considered skill.

This is well documented on this blog, website and the YouTube channel. We are in essense documenting the skills which Han Jian are teaching us. The purpose is to help me remember all that I learnt from Han Jian, so that I can in turn teach my children his marvelous technique. This will help them in becoming a good player, should they choose to pursue badminton professionally.

Skills

Skills can be divided into racquet skills and footwork.

Racquet skills are of the utmost importance. It determines what are the type of shots a player is capable of doing in a game situation. The higher the racquet skill level the player, the more variations of shots he or she can execute. That opens a lot of possibilities from a tactical perspective. A skillful player can execute attacks at extreme angles which will catch the opponent off guard.

With good footwork, a player can have better court coverage with better speed and recovery. The better the player’s footwork, the better his coverage becomes. And, the player is also going to be able to recover from deceptions and dives quicker. Great footwork also allows a player to get into positions to attack quicker, allowing for more attacking plays.

Physical

However important skills are, skills alone cannot win the game. There is another aspect which is even more important, and that is physical. Physical here means the physical strength of the player. This is not strength in the usual sense, but a combination of endurance, power and agility. It means all aspects related to physical fitness, and in many sports, it is called being in-form.

In football, we all notice on some days a player plays spectacularly well when he is in-form. Everything he touches seems to turn to goals. Other days, the player can seem to score even with an open goal. In badminton too, there are days like this. In some tournaments, a player seems to be performing above his usual level. But the trick is to be able to perform consistently well throughout.

The physical level is very hard to maintain. I have been young before, and I could remember the time when i hit peak form at age 22. Despite my injuries and limited skills, I could keep up with national backup players. Of course I could not defeat them, but the fact that I could keep up was amazing. My fitness level allowed me to cover the court faster and better than I ever could. My strength meant that my smashes were potent. However, I could not keep it up. At age 24, the injuries recur, along my slip disc. And that was the end of my resurgence.

Another example of this is Lee Chong Wei. He has an inhuman level of physical fitness as he is a natural athlete. He plays with the Malaysian / Indonesian style of badminton, and whatever he does on court is very familiar to me. He does not do anything extraordinary in terms of racquet skills. His deception is limited to mostly false movement deceptions. Yet, he is the best in the world. Even the much more skillful Lin Dan struggles to keep up at times.

Lin Dan has immense racquet skills. His technique is what Han Jian has taught us, and watching Lin Dan’s racquet skills is a marvel to behold. He has all the tricks in the book, all the trick Han Jian has taught us, I have seen Lin Dan use them. But all this skill would not count for anything if he could not keep up with Lee Chong Wei. And so, he pushed himself physically to keep up, and he struggled and suffered. When he reached 30 years old, he was very selective in the tournaments he played in, simply because he knew his body could not sustain more than 1 tournament at a time. He needed long periods of rest to recover between tournaments. But Lee Chong Wei could still push on well into his early 30s. And when Lin Dan started to fade when he reached 30 years old, it cleared the way for Lee Chong Wei and Chen Long to dominate.

Tactics

The next aspect is tactics. Tactics is how a player chooses to use his skills and physical in order to win the match. Higher level of racquet skills allows a player to hit shots with sharper angles from all areas of the court. Better footwork allows the player to have better coverage of the court and retrieve shots quicker.

Physical ability is the engine which allows the player to execute those skills effectively. If the player does not have the stamina to sustain the pace on court, the player will not able to bring his skills into player, and that means there is no way for the player to win.

When the player has the physical ability to keep going, he can then use his skills to send the shuttle to where the opponent is not, making the opponent move. The higher the racquet skills, the more options he has to move the opponent. The better his footwork is, the more opportunities to attack he can get by being able to move quickly into attacking positions.

This is when tactics come into play. Combining both skills and physical ability, the player can now choose how he wants to play the game. He can attack his opponent’s weakness. And he can now hide his weaknesses by denying the opponent the opportunity to attack him.

Conclusion

I believe the basic skills are most important and every player to develop. When the player has developed good skills, he can then build up his physical ability next. When these two aspects are present, then the player needs to learn good tactics in order to win matches.

The more skillful the player is, the more tactics becomes available to him, but he would need to be mindful of the physical ability required to be able to execute those tactics.

But when a player has limited skills, he would need to compensate by being physically stronger than his opponent. To launch attacks from the limited angles he is able to attack, he needs to move faster in order to get into positions to attack. When the opponent can launch attacks from every corner of the court and attack every possible angle, the player needs to have the strength and speed to be able to defend those attacks.

The problem with physical ability is that it deteriorates with age. Skills do not. And a player will need to change the way they play based on their physical ability and their skill in order to compete. Their tactics will need to adapt based on that.

Does this explain why Lin Dan was able to dominate for so long? In a way, yes. A player needs to be in peak fitness to dominate play. But when his skills are very high, he can still dominate play by using good tactics along with his skills despite his physical abilities are not as great.

It also explains how Lee Chong Wei could keep up with Lin Dan, and that is by using his superhuman physical ability.

When Momota lost his physical ability after the car crash, he could no longer execute his tactics despite his great skills.

This highlights that physical ability is the most important aspect as it pulls both skills and tactics together. Without physical ability, there is no hope left.

That’s it for this entry.

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