Oh god, how many times does that happen to me ?!?! Playing a good game and then, letting my opponents gaining points, sometimes it is deadly and then, I feel really guilty.

The reason ? My last partners weren't that motivated (I haven't praticed a lot with them) and I was too nervous when missing a shuttle so I lose my concentration very easily.

This year, I'm playing with my new partner. It seems that we have a good understanding of each other and we respect each other enough to speak freely about what may be good or not good for our team. I guess, this is the first step to have a “real” team : Finding a partner you feel very comfortable to play with and who agree to hear you giving advices or whatever you have to say to him.

This saturday will be our first tournament together and I'm expecting a lot from both of us (I've talked about my goals earlier already). So there's no place for such a way of thinking. If we play together in tournament, I want our team to be really set up on a “battle mind”. Every point counts and victory is never granted. We have to fight for each point even if we can be defeated at any moment especially in Badminton. Until the shuttle touches the ground, it is still possible to recover it so we can't give up and the match is over only when we have two games of 21 points in our pockets, before that, the match still goes on so we're still on “fighting mode”. That's the way it should be, isn't it ?

When playing at our club, he tends to lose his concentration easily as well. He can't play seriously when playing against weaker players or when he sees that we have a 10 points cushion. So do I haha. But I know that if we let the match carry on like this, nothing good will happen. So I have to take “the lead” of the team. Always make my partner know that he has to focus or we'll lose. Technic is not enough especially for us, unseeded player. Sometimes a word or two for cheering each other up is good as well.

For me, the key is communication. During, after, between, etc all games. Always reminding to him that we have to win and I think that works. Ok, we are all under pressure when playing in tournament but we still can talk and if your partner is someone who can easily get irritated, just tell one or two jokes to let pressure down and then talk more seriously.

Ok, that's it for my partner. I admit I'm not as different as him so he'll calm me down just the way I do for him. For the moments when I'm feeling really upset or anything and that I want to calm down, I use my racket and do a big swing in the air, putting all my pressure in that false hit in order to get my concentration back.

Losing a point is not critical but starting to lose 10 points is a serious matter when you have at least 21 to play. That will most probably be the point of non-return. 

I've seen a lot of players yelling after each point lost. I sometimes do that but I do think it is not very respectful for your opponents so I'm trying to correct that part of me.

Something else I can do is before serving or receiving a service, is taking a long breath. Ok, that doesn't mean I have to take 50 minutes to do so as game must go on but it's long enough to calm me down and play.

I want you to keep in mind too that I'm the weakest of our team but that doesn't mean I have to keep my mouth quiet. If I want to say something he better listens to me haha and I'll do the same when he wants to tell me something.

That's one of the reason I prefer double. To have someone you can depend on when you get in troubles. 🙂

OK. I guess I haven't given you a lot of solutions here but just wanted to share my experience as a player :).

I think Paul will have more to say than me.

Seriously, Badminton must be THE MOST frustrating sport there is! Its also a sport where once you've lost your head, its very likely that you'll lose the game. I'll be honest and tell you that I have a pretty major problem with keeping my cool on court. I think these issues stem from:

1. Competitiveness: I am an inherently competitive person in every aspect of my life, but especially in sport. I absolutely hate losing at pretty much anything. The difference is however that if I was to fall short at something in my everyday life I would be able to contain it and eventually move past it. During sport however when I'm pumped full of adrenaline, and not achieving what I think I should, I find this very, very difficult.

2. My Game: I'm at a stage with my badminton now where I am rapidly improving and beginning to be able to compete with top club/league players. I am however also at a stage where I still have a hell of a lot to learn, and still have a lot of bad habits. This means that one point I'll play an absolute blinder and the next, I'll duff the shuttle into the net under no pressure or get caught in completely the wrong position! I also have a tendency to set up a point perfectly and then blow it. I'd describe myself as a very unsteady player and this is ludicrously frustrating!

3. Playing with family members: I have grown up playing with my dad (who unfortunately can no longer play due to injuries), mum and brother. As any of you who have played with or against your family will know, its incredibly hard to keep your mouth shut and your head in the right place when things start to go WRONG! I also feel when I am playing with my parents as if i have to try and prove something and often try too hard and my game becomes error strewn.

This brings me on to my attitude. Despite the issues I have listed above, until I have lost my head, I do think i generally maintain a good positive attitude on court. No matter the opposition I always step on to the court with the belief that I can win, and only once have i ever become so frustrated that I 'gave up' in a competitive match.

My attitude however can be very much dependent on my partner:

– If I'm playing with a weak partner particularly in mixed, I will attempt to make a conserted effort to keep their confidence high, praising what they do well and in general also try to highlight what they did well, even if we've lost the point through their error.

– If I'm playing with a stronger partner I will generally just try and maintain their focus, (my favourite when we've just lost our serve is 'straight back'). I will also try and make it known to my stronger partner that I realise when I have made a mistake. I find this effective If say your partner behind had an easy kill but I have made the error by 'fishing' for the shuttle when I shouldn't have been – here i will just issue a swift 'sorry partner' – its forgotten and get focused on winning the next point.

-If your partner for any reason isn't looking motivated or possibly complacent, i think it's important to put in that extra 10% to try and impart a positive attitude upon them.

Luckily my mens doubles partner is very good at maintaining a good attitude and I play my best badminton with him as he is very good at keeping me calm and collected.

On the other hand however, last season due to the way the team would be most effective in terms of winning points and therefore matches, i was paired with my mum. This was incredibly detrimental to both our games. Instead of maintaining the above attitudes towards your partner we would often do the complete opposite. Its as if when things went badly we would feed of each others negativity and i remember numerous occasions whereby we lost from a ten point or more lead. So i'd lose my mixed, lose my rag and then before you know it ive lost my mens too because i went back on to court in the completely wrong frame of mind.

So if anyone has got any ideas as to keeping your cool on court id love to hear them. I currently try and shout (not to loudly) 'FIDDLESTICKS' when ive made a blaring error as it usually makes me laugh and puts my head in a less irate place (Ive also tried jumping up and down, but this makes me look slightly mental). This only works up to a certain point though i'm afraid and another word that begins with F might in fact slip out!

Oh dear! FIDDLESTICKS!

Rich

Indeed Jonathan, “how on EARTH could I missed that” is passing my mind all the time in singles. If my opponent wins because of the mistakes I made, man that's really top level frustration. Then I'm thinking: “Would Bridge be a sport ?”. Althoug I still can control myself to a certain level. One of my MD partners once threw his racket through the hall. And I mean CLEARING his racket through the hall. Fortunately for me, he wasn't playing with me then.

Only, in MX or MD I'm able to move on to the next point, whether it was my mistake or my partners that gave away the point. But in signles, I just cannot do the same. So if Paul says there're a few easy tricks, I want to read them NOWNOWNOWNOW ! (). Cheers, ED