how long does it take to get good at badminton

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"File:Kento Momota from Japan.jpg" by Nardisoero is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

Professional Badminton players are professionals for a reason. They build and maintain successful routines, habits, skills and mindsets to reach the level they're at. I've been studying top players for years and learned and then much from watching and following them.

Hither are 11 Badminton tips taken direct from the pros to become a better player.

Accept a consistent warmup and cooldown routine
Main the basics
Your serve is your best friend
Great footwork is the cardinal to getting the rest correct
Don't neglect flexibility and mobility training
Look after your equipment
Study the pros on and off the court
Focus on the process, embrace learning
Let muscle retention do its job
Maximise your strengths
Enjoy yourself!

So you want to become a amend Badminton player, right? Nifty! Make certain to read and utilize these tips to give you that actress boost.

Take a consistent warmup and cooldown routine

Having a consistent warmup gets you set physically and mentally. The uncomplicated human activity of doing a warmup consistently gets your encephalon into the mindset of "information technology'south game time!" Like people have their morning time rituals the ritual of doing your warmup will tell your encephalon that it's time to focus now.

Only sentry some of this video below. This video shows the backstage warmup court at the All England Badminton Championship 2020. Skip through and sentinel the pros doing their warmups.

They're getting in the zone, they're practising footwork, they're doing dynamic stretches. The infinitesimal they hit the court they're 100% awake and ready.

Similarly, after the game, they focus on their rest and recover. Most pros will get some physio and cold therapy treatment, you lot don't need all that to go the benefits. Doing a full gear up of uncomplicated stretches and slowing your body downward gradually will help in fugitive sore muscles the next solar day.

If y'all want some ideas of what to include in your warmup and cooldown then bank check out our article on Badminton warmup and cooldown or watch this bang-up video from Charabanc Kennie Asuncion.

Master the basics

Very cliche tip simply needs iterating all the same. There'south always room for improvement and the pros know this, you see them practising their basics again and again. They're ever honing and refining their core skills.

The basics skills y'all should always be practising are:

Footwork patterns
The basic shots; driblet shot, clear, net, lift, smash etc
The different grips
Your serve

You can't look to go much further in Badminton without getting all of these into reasonable shape. Hard to play a cantankerous-court jump smash if you tin't fifty-fifty get backside the shuttle.

The video below shows World Champion Kento Momota training. As the title says, he has 600 shuttles lined up, he limits himself to practising just two shots from the same side. The backhand straight and cross elevator. He'southward focusing on mastering only two shots.

Your serve is your best friend

Many years ago, I had the pleasure of attending a training session run by Olympic silvery medalists Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms. In the session, Gail Emms highlighted just how of import having a adept consistent serve is.

She used to exercise with 1000 each twenty-four hours just doing her low backhand serve. A great serve, peculiarly in doubles, will save you lot so many points. A bad serve will either result in a lost signal or getting put under pressure straight from the off.

Gail Emms features in the video below. This match is the All England Mixed Doubles Final from 2005. At the start of the match, Thomas Laybourn (the man on the far side) is able to win 7 points in a row simply considering he was serving so well.

Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms (the pair on the near side) make iv mistakes in that 7 point run. 2 return of serves in the net and ii mistakes during the rally after a adept serve.

The match carries on in this fashion with both sides serving well. This is a prime example of why y'all should chief this basic skill.

If you lookout whatsoever elevation-level Badminton you'll notice the professionals brand covering the court look easy. Lee Chong Wei is the best instance of this, he seems to glide effectually the court barely missing a crush.

You need to have proficient footwork before you tin can get much else correct. If you can't go to the shuttle in time and in a good position then all the technique in the world won't exist able to help you.

Y'all get your anxiety right, the rest becomes a lot easier. Just sentry this video featuring Lee Chong Wei beneath. He makes it look effortless but it's far from that. He's able to get to every shot and plenty of time to do what he likes.

Don't fail flexibility and mobility preparation

This is a big i and frequently overlooked. Just watch the video below.

In this video Beiwen Zhang (the actor on the near side) is able to do the splits and yet get to the next shot! This is an exaggerated case simply it goes to show that you demand to exist flexible to play Badminton well.

Top players are always working on their flexibility and mobility training. There's a lot of lunging, jumping and stretching in Badminton so yous need to be flexible in order to apply these motions in play.

Viktor Axelsen is some other great example. He'southward a tall human, i.94m, it'due south very hard for a person that tall to keep their centre of gravity low if they're not flexible. He shows off his favourite stretching exercises in this video beneath.

Look after your equipment

A practiced craftsman never blames his tools, specially if he takes skilful care of them. You should e'er take care of your Badminton equipment. This will make them last longer and serve you more consistently, peculiarly when it comes to Badminton shoes and racquets.

Hither are a agglomeration of tips for looking afterward your Badminton shoes:

Have a handbag to keep them in, this will protect them from dirt and grit
Employ scent eaters and sprays to keep them bacteria-costless
Only habiliment them on courtroom
Wipe them down regularly to go along them make clean

Here are a agglomeration of tips to keep your racquets in pristine condition:

Proceed them in your Badminton bag
- Even keep their original racquets covers to cease them from scraping against each other
Change your grip regularly to forbid overly sweaty grips seeping moisture into the wooden racquet handle
When restringing your racquet brand sure to check the grommets

For a total guide on looking after your Badminton racquet run across our Badminton racquet maintenance guide.

Professionals use all these tips and more. They treat their equipment like royalty, ever keeping them in the best shape.

Study the pros on and off the court

I've learned a lot over the years just by studying pro players. Players like Lin Dan, Lee Chong Wei, Taufik Hidayat, Peter Gade the list goes on and on. Watching their matches and try and understand how they do things, why they cull certain shots, what tactics do they apply?

There are so many dandy matches on Badminton Earth TV to picket. Pick any of them and there is so much you can learn.

Simply what is simply as of import as studying the pros on-court is studying what they do off-court as well. Top players have a dissimilar mindset and different ways of thinking compared to everyone else. Written report what they practise when they're not on-court. How ofttimes practice they railroad train? What'southward their diet like?

Viktor Axelsen is famously known for existence a fluent Mandarin speaker. This has won him many fans across Asia and only goes to show that he'southward learning new skills. It'south important to train your mind likewise equally your body.

Focus on the process, embrace learning

Top Badminton players embrace the growth mindset. They're life long learners, there is e'er something else they tin proceeds.

Yous don't learn to walk by following rules. Yous learn by doing, and past falling over.

— Richard Branson

When you focus on the process of learning and embracing new experiences you lot're going to experience difficulty and failures. The only true failure is not learning from our mistakes.

If you lot're always focused on the outcome you'll never see how much progress you've already made, that you're improving. The fact that you're not good now at a particular thing now doesn't mean that you won't eventually be good at it.

Best selling author James Articulate talks about focusing on goal systems. Create the habits and routines that allow yous to make progress.

Y'all hear Badminton players say all the time in post-friction match interviews that they're taking everything one match at a time. Focusing on their training and their results become a past-product of their efforts.

Allow muscle retention do its job

When you're training your practising new and existing skills. Your aim is to stretch yourself and experiment to go techniques right. Yous should be thinking well-nigh how you're executing a shot or using a piece of footwork.

When you play a match you need to forget all of this. Your mind needs to be focused on the game plan, on staying focused and being nowadays. Y'all don't take the mental capacity of thinking how you're going to execute it you just need to do it the style your muscles know-how.

Badminton Soul has a great video talking through the mindset of Kento Momota in the 2019 Globe Championship final.

You lot've done your practice you lot just demand to go out there and play. You can't be thinking nearly changing anything technical during the friction match merely focusing on the mental aspect.

A lot of professional athletes talk about getting in the zone. This is when you're solely focused on the task at hand. Headspace has a neat commodity about how to get in the zone and tips on staying in the zone.

Maximise your strengths

The best players in the world always have top-notch skills. Their level of mastery across these skills is always very high just even then meridian players have a few shots or a few attributes that really make them smooth.

Take Fu Hai Feng for example. A legend of the game well-known for his incredibly powerful smash. He held the record for the worlds fastest smash for years. Players feared to play against his unbelievable ability play.

If you watch him and his partner, Cai Yun, they ever play to each other's strengths. Fu is always looking to get to the back to get on the attack and Cai is always looking to come up forward and force the opponents to elevator to Fu.

Nosotros tin't chief everything there is in Badminton, non even the pinnacle players are perfect. Don't neglect your clear weaknesses but look to amplify your strengths. 80% of your points will come up from xx% of your game and so go along working on your strengths.

Enjoy yourself!

As much as we want to get improve and practice well, nosotros demand to enjoy our time on-courtroom. There's no point struggling and striving if you don't savor the procedure of learning and playing Badminton.

It's not all nigh winning. Information technology's not all about the big medals. It's about being healthy, meeting lots of great people, expressing yourself and challenging yourself.

The truth is most people play their best when they're enjoying themselves. Free from pressure, free from negative emotion and are just fully focused on the nowadays moment.

This is also Viktor Axelsen's number one piece of advice for players. Information technology'southward bang-up to challenge ourselves with big goals and to really push ourselves. Only reaching the goal is only a pocket-sized moment in time compared to the entire journey to get there. Then please, enjoy the journeying.

Badminton Tips for Beginners, Doubles and Singles

Nosotros've covered some great tips from professional person players in this commodity. At present if you're looking for more specific tips to help your game, whether y'all're a beginner or an advanced player, looking for doubles or singles tips, we take content coming soon to assistance yous.

Badminton Tips for Beginners
Badminton Tips for Doubles
Badminton Tips for Singles

How can I get better at badminton?

Watch summit players, breakdown the move and technique. Observe a reputable bus to teach you the basics. Nigh of all, practice, practice, practice. Practice with the purpose to improve a certain skill.

What makes a expert badminton histrion?

A adept Badminton actor needs fast footwork, proficient technical racquet skills, speed, agility and athleticism to name just a few. There are a lot of elements that make up a good Badminton histrion. Just watch whatever top Badminton thespian and they have a variety of skills at a globe-class level.

If you lot found this article helpful return the favour and share it with a friend. If you experience I've missed anything out or accept other advice, please go out feedback and share your help with others beneath. Thank you once again for reading.

Written by Liam Walsh who lives in Manchester, England. Working as a Software Engineer merely moonlighting every bit a dad, Badminton player/coach and creator of BadmintonsBest.