Term,

Firstly let me say I am sorry that you had to experience this. You must remember though, that if it is NOT in your opponents nature to behave the way they did – i.e. they don't normally do it – then they were doing it because you were too strong for them in your badminton skillset, and they were desperately searching for an answer to your superior play! well done for coming through that test.

Unfortunately, there is little you can do to combat your opponents tactics without an umpire.

It is within their right to call where a shuttle lands exactly as they see it, and I have known plenty of players who GENUINELY saw the shuttle land a FOOT different to where it did – and I am talking about where a clear landed in several occasions – hardly a power shot. This may be down to one of a few reasons – they genuinely saw the shuttle as out. If their judgement is not the best/eyesight is not the best, then there is not a lot you can do about this. They may be unsure as to whether it was in or out. In this situation, most players go with their gut instinct on whether it was in or out. You can dispute calls that are extremely close, or where you got a clear sight of where the shuttle landed. As a player, there are SOME occasions where I genuinely did not see where it landed. I will announce this to the entire court, and usually let my opponent decide, after hearing the advice of my partner. Sometimes I will ask for a let. However, in general, if it is too close for me to call easily, it was in. Of course, some calls are much more obvious than others, despite their speed and trajectory. Another reason for your opponent calling the shuttle out, is that they desperately want to upset you. This IS cheating in my opinion. I remember one match, where my friend played an exceptional deceptive cross court net shot, totally beating his opponent outright. It landed 6 inches inside the line, and everyone saw it. He called it out, on the grounds that the player who hit the shot “wasn't skilled enough to play that shot” so it must have been out. Disgraceful. After a formal complaint, that cheating player is not allowed to play league matches anymore. Good riddance.

As regard to the serving, I am afraid this is purely a case of mental strength. The rules state that “the umpire shall be the sole judge of a delay in play”, and so you can do little about this – there is no acceptable time limit such as a certain number of seconds. I recommend taking your time, don't step up to serve until your opponent is nearly ready, use the time to talk tactics with your partner. You must play to the reasonable pace of the receiver, so resist the urge to be annoyed by this. I am sure that Paul would agree, that the serve is the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT SHOT in a game of doubles (and in general, actually!). There is more pressure in a game of level doubles – particularly mens doubles – than in any other form of the game. I recommend coming up with a routine that gets you serving well every time. I personally teach people who are struggling with their serve, to say in their mind “one, two, good serve”. On one, they prepare the racket, on two, they prepare the shuttle by placing it on the strings of the racket, and on “three” they serve. The reason I replace “three” with “good serve”, is that “good serve” is associated with the image of the flight of a good serve in your mind i.e. when you imagine a good serve, you imagine a good low serve, travelling very low over the net, and landing an inch or two beyond the far line. Because you are thinking about this low serve, your brain will try to reproduce what it looks like, so saying “good serve” to yourself, will enforce the good quality of the serve you ACTUALLY play. If your serve is inconsistent when not under pressure – there is only one solution – practice practice practice. It took me 2 months to build my low doubles serve. Under game pressure, it holds up extremely well. But I KNOW that it could be better, and I should practice more too 🙂 If you are struggling for consistency in the serve, make the whole thing smaller and more compact – then less can go wrong!

At the end of the day, your opponents may be trying to put you off because they want to win. The best thing you can do, is practise readying your mind to play good badminton against any opponent. Whatever they do, and although it is annoying, you are determined to come out and play excellent and simple but effective badminton. They may use gamesmanship, but you will train yourself to play a tactical sound game, that you execute with precision. Gamesmanship does not, in my opinion, have any place on a badminton court, because it acknowledges a fear of ones opponent and a lack of respect for all the players, including oneself, on court.

I hope some of my advice can be of benefit.

Cheers

Matt

Just to follow on from what Paul said… my partner and I sometimes feel the need for a little target practice. Target the cheater, and pick a target e.g. right hip/chest/foot etc… then you both keep going at him, aiming for the target, until you have both hit the target. Then, move on to the next area of the body… It can be a very rewarding game…