First thing that springs to my mind is footwork – I want to say this before anything else for various reasons, whether right or wrong you can decide.

Getting there quickly

– If you have good footwork it means you can get to the shuttle quicker and this is ideal in every situation and every shot. Gaining a fraction of a second can gain you the advantage in each rally/point and turn defence into attack.

– It's usually desirable to hit the shuttle at it's highest point and not let it drop, so you need to get there early again to take it at the ideal height. The slower you are to get there, the more it will drop by the time you hit the shot. Being able to hit the shuttle downwards is generally what players want, not always, but most of the time certainly. At the back of the court you want to be able to get behind the shuttle and get your racket and arm up high to do your ideal clear. You don't really want to hit a rushed clear, or a clear from lower than the ideal height.

– If you take the shuttle early at the net, then you also gain a significant advantage in that you can play net kills, drives, early drops etc. Good footwork allows you to get there quickly and gives you the choice of any of these shots and more rather than being restricted to a lift or tight net shot.

– If you want to smash well then you need to hit the shuttle at the highest ideal height you can and you need to get there early to do this. You also need more time for your jump smash to really spring yourself up and reach the shuttle high to hit it downwards with more of the court to aim at.

Recovery

– You want to get to your shots quickly, but there's no point if you cannot prepare for your next one. Good footwork allows you to recover quickly for the possible return of your last shot and get into position early for the next shot you will play. If you are slow to recover or your footwork is incorrect, you will be poorly positioned to hit your next shot and/or you will not hit the best shot you could, thus giving advantage to the opponent. All of this can stack on top of itself and each fraction of a second and each shot you will get further and further behind. All of this makes it harder to win the point and makes you more fatigued, especially against smart players.

Balance

Proper footwork will give you better balance when you cover the court and play your shot. This gives you better control and can also allow you to create more power in your shots. There is less reason to adjust for your shots and less compensation usually needed for your motion/movement. Good balance and footwork means you can concentrate on your actual shot more and feel more calm/focused.

Conclusion

In a fast racket sport like badminton, it is easy to forget about footwork (I do myself most of the time!). Bad footwork can lead to increased fatigue and chance of injury. Good footwork means quick, but balanced footwork also i.e safe. As well as the actual holding of the racket, your feet are your other points of contact on court and something that we should all practice/pay attention to in order to become better players. Anyway that's my thoughts please add/delete where necessary! Thank you

Jin

Totaly agree. If you see beginners playing, on court movement is the key thing IMHO where you have to start. All the rest will come with training, paying attention and finetuning. But footwork is the absolute start.

I started working on my footwork at home and on a training session arround the time this forum started. I improoved lots, if I hear my colleagues speaking (so it doesn't just come from me ). But right now I'm in a bit of a dip, and don't know why. My leg muscles seem really tense when I'm on court. So from this year on, I started every evening a bit of rope skipping, 10-15'. I'll see where it brings me.

My short serve in MD and XD has always been good (ahum). If I have to count all the points I've ever made by just serving on the front service line, the T, the back-backhand corner (not a flick serve but low over the net deep into the court on the backhand side) and from time to time a good flick. Serving as variable as possible, maximum deception. Actually my serve is the only stroke that I trully master (you can tell if higher ranked players fail to power your serve down), all the other shots I need to work on constantly.

But maybe the simplest way to boost your game: read this forum (and start working) !

Cheers, ED

The biggest problem I've personally seen is the willingness to improve, most people just seem happy at their standard.

I tend to go to different clubs every now and then and try to copy some of the better players shots and technique when I can.

There's a stigma around “training” that it runs the risk of becoming a chore rather than fun.

I don't know what it's like in other parts of the country but around North London there seems to be a real lack of clubs that have coaches.

I found this thread fasinating, so many things that I can relate to my own club and people I play with. I definitely think it's important to play with people who want to improve and push you, it's so easy to play for two hours and not push yourself.

One post I found very interesting was Ed and his serve. “Serving as variable as possible”. I totally agree that a good serve is a brilliant way of putting pressure on your opponent, stopping them attacking, however I go about this in totally the opposite way. I aim to have a 'stock serve' and use it 80%+ of the time. Just over the net, just over the service line. I don't care if my opposition knows what is coming, as my aim is that they won't be able to do anything with it anyway. I contrast this with a deceptive flick to make sure if my opposition get too ready to lunge forward I can remind them it may go over them as well.

I don't for a second say my way is correct or not, simply that it's intersting that two people can have broadly the same view on a game and go about it in totally different ways. I also find that it helps me when under pressure to 'go back to basics', as I've always had a tendancy to try too much to win rather than keeping it simple and setting the points up properly.