How To Get Better At Badminton Without A Court

Getting access to a court has always been difficult for many people and me. We all have hectic schedules, so finding time to get access to a badminton court and high-quality training is challenging. That sucks a lot if you want to get really good at badminton. But luckily, you can still get better at badminton without a court. In this post, I will show you how to get better at badminton without a court.

Watch And Analyze Pro Players

If you want to be the best at something, you have to learn from the best.

When you’re stuck somewhere with nothing to do, and you’re unable to play some badminton, spend your time watching professionals play badminton. Hopefully, you live in a country where you can get access to badminton videos for free.

The catch is, you’re not just watching for the fun of it. You have to think while you watch and analyze. Throughout the video, you should be slowing down and replaying individual clips and think about why a pro player did what he/she did.

Here’s a list of things you should think about:

• Strategy – Why did the pro play this shot? Where was his opponent standing or doing?
• Technique – How does the pro swing? How does the pro approach the shuttle?
• Footwork – How does the pro move? When does he split-step? Where are the players’ positioning?

Hopefully, by watching pro players play, you’ll learn new tactics and badminton shots. Next time you get on the court, you can practice those shots and strategies and become a deadly badminton player.

Shadow Training With Your Racket

What is shadow training?

Shadow training is where you “play” badminton without a shuttle or court. In this context, I want you to pick up your badminton racket and start swinging it. Pretend you’re smashing a shuttle in a badminton match.

Ideally, you want to copy a pro’s form. After analyzing some pro players, try to copy the exact way they swing their rackets. Most people practice overhead swings, but you can practice other shots like lifts, net shots, drives, backhand, etc. This is one of the best ways to refine your swing form.

I also recommend doing shadow training with a training racket.

This way, you can build strength at the same time by training with a heavier racket. Next time you get on the court, your shots will be super crisp and effortless. Practice swing a thousand times per day, and you’re going to see tremendous improvement.

If You Have Space… Footwork Practice!

For people who have space in their house or outside, you can do footwork practice. Measure an area of 22 by 20 feet and mark each corner.

Now that you have a guideline for where to move, you can practice footwork by moving to each corner and swinging your racket as you would do in a real game. Try to imagine you’re in a real game and responding to what your opponent plays.

There are many variations you can do.

The standard drill that our club often has us do is either 5 or 10 sets of 20. Every time you move to a corner, that counts as one rep, and you need to do that 20 times randomly or via a partner pointing.

But there are some other variations I would like you to try.

One variation is to focus on one or two corners that you really need to work on. For example, if you’re having a lot of trouble returning a push shot to your backhand after you play a net shot, focus on moving to the net and then to the backcourt.

Another variation is a drill focused on speed. Instead of doing numbered reps, time yourself instead. Try 10 sets of 30-second reps and just go all out. It’s tiring but perfect for building your speed and stamina.

Here are some more drills you can do to improve your footwork.

On The Spot Agility Training

You might not have enough space to do footwork practice, especially if you need to train in your house. Luckily, there are still things you can do to help out with your footwork, such as agility training.

The first thing you should try is to get on your tip-toes and start hopping. If you have a skipping rope and enough space, do some skipping instead. This will help you build leg strength, agility, and stamina.

Another on the spot agility workout is fast feet.

Get your knees slightly bent and in a ready position. Then make alternating steps on the spot as fast as you can.

There are many different variations you could try. For example, you could move your feet side to side, front and back, or a combination. The main focus is to be super quick on your feet.

Here are 5 more ways to improve your agility.

Bodyweight Strength Training

Another great way to train without a court is to do bodyweight strength training exercises. Having strong muscles is vital in badminton. Strong legs will allow you to reach the shuttle. Strong arms will allow you to hit harder without being tired out.

There are two exercises I like a lot. Push-ups and squats.

If you do 50 to 100 push-ups and squats every day, I promise you will see results. You will grow a lot stronger. Your racket swings will be faster, and your legs will push you further.

Additionally, you can add in other exercises like sit-ups, supermans, and calf raises to make it more of a complete workout. These compliment the two core workouts very well, and it’s good to do them if you decide to work out for more extended periods.

If things become too easy for you, you can also add variants to make things more difficult. For example, do clap push-ups and squat jumps instead of regular push-ups and squats.

Here are some more bodyweight exercises you can do as well.

Stay Safe And Train Hard

What you should also be doing before and after each workout is warming up and recovering respectively. This will allow for optimal growth and minimize the chances of injury.

Remember, to get better at badminton, the main focus isn’t necessarily what you do but how you do it. Consistency is the key to success.

If you can spend 30 minutes on shadow training every day, that will skyrocket your badminton progress. If you put more work into it and do everything else I mentioned in this blog post, you will improve even more. And this is all without a badminton court. You can do almost all of these activities anywhere.

I hope you found my post on how to get better at badminton without a court useful. If you have any questions or comments, don’t hesitate to leave them down below. I’ll make sure to respond!