Badminton Doubles – The Problem Being On Defence

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Badminton defence in its simplest form is preventing the opponent from winning the point through their attack. We have already discussed the roles of the frontcourt and rear court player in attack. Therefore we can assume how the attack will transpire.

At a deeper level, defence is not just about getting the shuttle back. It’s about getting it back with the intention of regaining the attack. Although you can win points through your defence, it’s very rare that this opportunity will arise. Remember there’s a reason why attacking play usually wins in the end. And that’s why it’s the overall strategy to win a match.

The Problem With Being On Defence

Being on defence is generally a disadvantage in badminton. Here are a few reasons why being in defence is not ideal:

• Weak Badminton Defence. If you have a weak defence, the last position you want to be in is being smashed at. Weak defence is a relative term. At lower levels, it might be someone who cannot return a smash at all. At higher levels, it might be somebody whose defence is not creative and continues to lift, therefore not being able to turn defence into attack effectively.
• Difficult to move out of defence. Assuming your opponents are very strong attackers, it can often be very hard to turn defence into attack. This is often seen at the professional level, when there is a barrage of attacks, the opponents are forced to lift the shuttle back to bide time.
• Lots more pressure. Relative to attack, being on the defence is a much more pressurised situation. This leads to more errors and at higher levels of play, it’s often errors in badminton defence that cost players the point. Not the opponent winning points outright.
• Can’t win a point. Very rarely a defensive shot wins the rally. Most of the time, you can’t win a point by being on defence. If you can’t win a point, you can’t win the match!

Advantages Of Good Defensive Play

However, having a good defence can certainly mitigate the disadvantages we see above. It’s always impressive to see 200mph smashes being fired off, but it’s even more impressive to see those smashes being returned! So what are the advantages of having a solid badminton defence?

1. Makes it very hard for your opponent to win the point. By making your opponent work hard for each and every point, it has two effects. The first being that it is physically exhausting to be on the attack. Therefore your opponent becomes tired and this may give a better opportunity for counter-attacks. The second is a mental effect. If your opponents can’t get through your defence, they’ll try riskier shots to win the points. For example, trying to hit the line or trying to hit harder. This will result in unforced errors.
2. Can regain the attack. Being able to turn defence into attack is a key component of defensive play. This means once you are forced to give away the initiative you are able to counter-attack fairly quickly to win back the attack.
3. Under much less pressure. Sometimes you do have to give away the attack. However, if you have a strong defence, you would be much more comfortable with this situation than if you had a weaker one. This gives you greater control of the game, even in defence.

Mentality

This is incredibly important in badminton defence. You are constantly under pressure from the opponent. If you don’t feel confident in your ability to return the shuttle, you have already lost half the battle. This is a major problem of being on defence.

The other party of being mentally strong is not to panic. When you panic muscles become tense. Tense muscles do not perform as well as relaxed muscles. This will obviously impact the quality of your shot.

Being mentally strong in these high-pressure situations will allow you to be more confident in returning the smash. This doesn’t mean you will always be able to. But if you don’t panic at the first sign of an attack coming your way, you’ll be in a much better position to handle the situation. Therefore it is important to be calm during defensive play to focus on regaining the attack.

Like everything, being able to defend comes with consistent training and experience. It will not happen overnight. If you put the practice in, the rewards will come.

Remember, your basic body and court positioning as discussed above needs to be fundamentally sound in order to give you a good defensive foundation. This will be the determining factor in the quality of your shot.

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