Badminton Tips and Tricks #6 – Instantly Move Faster

This is going to be another post about footwork, but I will not talk about drills and exercises or badminton footwork technique. Instead, I will be giving you a few badminton tips and tricks on how to instantly move faster.

If you want to see things like drills or techniques definitely check out these posts:

• Badminton Drills and Exercises For Improving Footwork
• Badminton Tips and Tricks #1 – Some Footwork Tips And… Bonus!

While some things I mention in this post may not actually increase your raw speed, but it will make you move more efficiently and make it so that you’re getting to the shuttle more often and that’s our final outcome. We want to run fast and effectively so we can return the shuttle and win rallies.

Going Back To The Middle

Going back to the center of the court is something that should have been emphasized when you were first learning footwork technique.

I’ve seen way too many people stop after they hit a shot and wait for the opponent to hit another shot. If you start moving when the opponent makes another shot, you’re undoubtedly going to have a tough time returning the shuttle.

Moving back to the middle dramatically increases your ability to return your opponent’s shots. When you’re in the middle, you will move an equal distance to every place your opponent can hit the shuttle.

You should also move rather quickly to the middle. The quicker you get to the center, the more time you have to prepare for the next shot. Moving to the shuttle first is always of great benefit because it allows you to play any type of shot you feel like and even add in deceptions to put pressure on your opponent.

Also, something to note about moving back to the middle is that you should move slightly closer to the side where you hit the shuttle. This is because straight shots are faster and more difficult to return, thus staying on the side where they can hit it back straight will make your life easier.

Where Is The Momentum

This is something most beginners and intermediate players never take advantage of or even worse, mistakingly using it. Momentum is something that can significantly increase your speed and fluidity of movement.

When you play overhead swings, you should push your upper body forward as you’re finishing your swing so that you’re moving forward. This will increase the speed at which you get back to the middle, but it will also increase the power of your shot as well.

You can also use momentum at the front of the court as well. In general, your body should angled slightly forward so that you keep a low center of gravity. But when you’re moving backward, you can push your upper body mass back to help you move faster. Think of opening up to your overhead swing stance.

Be careful with this though as many beginners or intermediate players might move back with this momentum and not switch their energy forward after making the overhead swing. They would probably stop to let the momentum reset and then start running again at a slower speed.

Light Feet

Another tip for moving faster as well as more efficiently is to stay light on your feet. This was a big problem for me as I would be basically stomping into the court and locking myself from being able to move.

You should try and stay on the balls of your feet and think of yourself skipping across the court. Try to take notice of how much sound you make as you move across the court and when you jump. The less noise, the better.

Light feet is something that takes the most practice. I recommend doing a lot of skipping and jogging without hitting your feet into the ground hard. Pretend that you’re doing footwork over a fragile layer of ice in which if you land too hard, you’ll fall into freezing water. Just staying over-conscious of how light your movements are will definitely help you play better overall.

You’ll also find that moving gracefully around the court will help you prevent injuries. There just isn’t as much pressure put on your calves and knees if you hit the ground with less impact. So that’s another good reason why you should try to play with light feet.

Longer Strides

Have you ever heard of people praising a badminton player’s height and slimness? It’s usually for a girls singles player and about her long reach and strides.

Having long legs and long arms give you quite the advantage in the form that you don’t have to move far to get the shuttle. You don’t have to waste as much energy taking more steps, and you could probably get most shots just by stretching out.

Being tall definitely has excellent advantages in badminton. In fact, the Chinese National Badminton team actually has a minimum requirement for height in their players.

But of course, not everyone is tall. I’m certainly considered short.

However, if you build longer strides into your footwork, you will definitely find it easier to get to places.

At first, it might seem a little difficult and perhaps even unrewarding because it will mess up your original pattern and strides. Sometimes you might stretch too far or not enough, and you’ll have to take a few awkward steps. That’s why you should practice it a lot in footwork drills first until it merely becomes muscle memory.

Once you have longer strides, you’ll feel like you’re covering a lot more distance in a lot shorter time. You’ll also feel like you have lighter feet as well. Just trust me on that one.

Conclusion

Now we’re coming into the conclusion of what you can do to improve your speed in badminton. Once again, if you’re looking for drills and exercises to help improve footwork, here’s a collection of footwork skills and drills.

What do you think of these tips? I would love to hear your opinion in the comment section down below. As always, good luck in your games and have a great day!