Scotty

You’ve already received great advice about beating this opponent. There are a few things I’d like to add…

1) variance in your smash, no matter how weak does make a difference in the quality of return. If you’re smashing down the lines, then try cross court or body shots and see how your opponent responds to them. I’ll bet he can’t hit the shuttle to your backhand the same from a body smash.

2) vary both the speed and depth of your smash. Instead of trying to get the shuttle on the floor in front of your opponent, you could try smashing for the rear doubles service line so your opponent is having to think about defending in different areas rather than everything in front of him.

3) dominate the net. The more you play the shuttle to the net, the more you tempt your opponent in to take him on. If he doesn’t take the bait, then at least you still maintain the attack.

4) I agree with Matt about bringing your base forward by a step initially and see what happens. You’ll be faster onto anything in front of you but you may need to pick up speed to retreive shots to your rear court.

5) Using variance of the clear is also a good idea. Remember what we suggested to your previous opponent? Use pace to mess up the timing of your opponent. If they like a slow pace, then all shuttles you hit to the rear court should be fast and low. Consequently, if they like a fast pace, shuttles should be hit high so your opponent has to wait to play his next shot.

As always, please let us know what happens next.

Paul

Scotty
 
That’s muscic to my ears!
 
Congratulations on this win. At the end of the day you’ve done the job on court, not forum members. Thanks again to all of the “team” who have contributed to Scott’s success.
 
Paul