Be predictable to be unpredictable

Be predictable to be unpredictable

More than anything else our sport is a think sport on the same level as chess. The only difference is that we are not sitting down on a chair behind a table. From close up we have seen many times what the impact is on doing training where players have to think all the time, and we start very young even at the age of 6. We never give training by telling people what to do but by asking things. This is from very simple to extremely difficult. A young kid I could ask where they want the shuttle to play, they always point to one of the corners, I will then play a shot under the net to this corner and ask so over there right? A smile and a no no no followed “ it has to be over the net”. OK run to the other side and point out where you want the shuttle to fall, they always run to the line in one of the corners and very slowly and extreme precise they point ON THE LINE. then I would give them 10 shuttles and from 1 meter distance I would ask them to hit the spot by Throwing the shuttles at they have pointed out. They will miss almost every time and many of the shuttles go out then I ask them what happens when you miss the spot and the shuttle is out? Well then we lose a point they say, so should you really aim for the line? Well maybe it is better to aim a little inside coach.

Sometimes it is good to leave the thinking by making things very simple from the start, most players will play without a tactical plan and play the shuttle back in a random way without thinking about the consequences of what they did. When I say random it is not 100% true because most shots will be with the hand and that will make it predictable random. The most extreme tactics I have ever done on an elite level and to prove my point that opponents are not thinking was to let my player one play in one corner and always score in one of the other corners. So this means that he played 5 or 6 x in the ARH corner and when there was space made sure he scored in one of the other corners, it worked fine and the opponent did not fined out for a very long time, you may not believe it but just try it and you will see that it works. Normally players play in a random way and are very impulsive, when they do so they make very simple choices  who are 95% with the hand. This is done even on the National level in Europe, a couple of days ago we analyze a ½ final game from the Belgium National Championships Men single because a Belgium player asked me to do it. I never watch Belgium badminton and both players were new for me to look at. It was shocking to see how predictable the game was, both players did not look at the most simple things the opponent was doing and they played more than 95% with the hand. This is the result of random impulsive play, you can easily change this by letting you players play after a pattern of corners, let's say that the FH front corner is 1 and the FH back is 2, ARH/BH 3 and BH front 4. Then you give a tactic 2,3,1 to your player and that is the rank order in which he has to play his shots no matter where he gets the shuttle. This way you will always get to play against the hand sometime without having to think about it. The nice effect of this practice is that you don’t even finish your 3 shots many times because you make a point or because your opponent made a mistake. 

We know that opponents find it hard to find out what you are doing so you can easily use this system 3 or 4 rallys in a row  before you break your pattern for 1 or 2 times. The good thing is that you don’t have to make a last second decision on what to do and you only have to focus on playing the pre-set strokes perfectly. It sounds like a contradiction to be predictable to be unpredictable, but it is the playing against the hand in unexpected situations that makes it possible. You can make endless combinations in your tactics all depending on the strong or weak sides of your opponent, you can also mix the ranking order of the corners when your opponent finds out what it means when your player gets the numbers. There were many other things that were tacitly wrong in the game like playing shots that open up your court, this type of mistake will fall into the category of time, space and energy. For the more experienced readers of my articles will notice that I write not only Time & Space anymore but that there is a new dimension in it, from now on there is a third law in Badminton and that is Energy. But more about this new dimension later :-)