How to Coach Badminton

Badminton's popularity around the world ranges from casual recreation in North America to popular professional sport in Asia. This sport requires a delicate touch on the part of your team and a knowledge of badminton's various rules. As a badminton coach, you need to develop practice methods that will take your team to the next level.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

1. Maintain a strict adherence to the rules of badminton during practice. Your team may not be familiar with the intricacies of service or doubles play. Pay particular attention to the rules for game delays and continuous play as outlined by the Badminton World Federation (see Resources below).
2. Drill each member of your badminton team on proper service placement. The court is narrower in badminton than in tennis, requiring a fine touch in placing the shuttlecock in play. A good way to practice service placement is to place trash cans on the court as a target.
3. Mix up your doubles pairings to keep your badminton team fresh. As a coach, you need to assess which players partner well with others in doubles play. Experiment with new pairings in practice and in the lower seeds of early-season tournaments.
4. Insist that your players respect the game officials during a badminton match. Referees, line judges and service judges all work to ensure that the match is played within the game's rules. Arguments with officials can lead to disqualification and harm your team's morale.
5. Simulate the speed of a badminton match with repeated drills on service returns and volleys. The speed of a served shuttlecock requires that your players develop the right return technique in pre-season practice. You should also coach strong volley skills by turning practice matches into a competition for days off or other privileges.
6. Work with your team manager to coach your players on racket maintenance. Racket strings loosen and grips wear down over hundreds of practice sessions. Restringing and replacing grips on a regular basis ensures top notch performance.

Tips & Warnings

• Invest in durable shuttlecocks to keep your team serving accurately in practice. The shuttlecocks that are readily available at retailers are constructed with plastic tips that break with a few forceful serves. You can use online badminton stores or a sporting goods store to find felt tipped shuttlecocks that hold up to repeated use.