Move them: the backhand and the back
Ready when: Overhead clear (i2), Drop and get back (i3) and Corners and back to the middle (i6) done.
What you are learning
To win points by sending the shuttle where the other player is not. Most players find the back corner on their backhand side the hardest to reach: for a right-handed player, that is the back corner on their left. Moving them to the front and the back, side to side, makes their returns weaker.
Words on this card Shuttle, Rally, Serve, Backhand, Back to the middle, Feed, Fault
- Shuttle
- The "ball" in badminton: a cork with feathers or a plastic skirt. It flies fast, slows down quickly and falls almost straight down. A foam shuttle is softer and good for learning.
- Rally
- The shuttle going back and forth over the net until someone misses. One rally wins one point.
- Serve
- The hit that starts every rally. In badminton it is hit underarm, low, across to the other side.
- Backhand
- A shot on the other side of the body, with the back of the hand facing where the shuttle goes.
- Back to the middle
- The spot in the centre of your side. After every shot you go back there, so you can reach the next one.
- Feed
- To throw or hit the shuttle to the player so they can practise one shot. The feeder is the person doing it.
- Fault
- A broken rule in a rally: into the net, out, a double hit or a net touch. The other side wins the point.
Set up
A court; tape the two back corners and the two corners at the net.
Weather: no wind
Show it first for the one teaching
- Stand on the far side and point to your own backhand back corner.
- Explain that a shuttle sent there makes you turn and reach with your backhand.
- Play a few slow shots to the four corners, and let your child watch you go back to the middle each time.
Your part while they practise
Feed anywhere. Before each feed, call a corner; the player must send the return there. Count.
Step by step
- The player waits in the middle.
- You call a corner: "front left", "front right", "back left" or "back right", then feed.
- The player hits the return into the called corner.
- Back to the middle before your next call.
- 8 returns make a set.
How much: sets of 8 returns, 3 sets 15 min a session 1 day a week
Say one thing Pick one line from "What you will see" for today and say only that.
The game: Corner rally
A normal rally, but a point is won double if the winning shot lands in the opponent's backhand back corner.
Who plays: the player against you, in a game to 11.
How to play, turn by turn
- Turns
- Serve and play a normal rally, with the usual faults
- When a rally ends, the winner scores
- If the winning shot landed in the other player's backhand back corner, it scores double
- The first to 11 points wins
- Fair play
- The grown-up starts at 0 and the child at 4.
- Points
- 1 point for each rally won; 2 points when the winning shot lands in the other player's backhand back corner.
- Fouls
- The other player wins the rally
- The shuttle goes into the net or out
- A player touches the net
- The same player hits the shuttle twice
- Winning
- The first to 11 points.
- 1 double points in a game for 1 star
- 3 double points in a game for 2 stars
- 5 double points in a game for 3 stars
Easier or harder
Two corners only, slow feeds.
Call the corner as the shuttle crosses the net.
What you will see, and what to say
- stays where the shot was
Back to the middle
Go back after every shot. - misses the corner
Aim, then hit
Look at the corner first, then hit.
Self-check
6 of 8 returns in the called corner in 2 of the 3 sets.
Stop and get a coach when
The player rallies well but cannot place after three weeks.
Fitness for this
Warm up first: how to warm up, at workonfitness.com. For strength and stretching, its exercise library shows each exercise step by step, with an easier version.
This card trains placing, court cover.
Intermediate is done when they can rally 10 shots in a row at a gentle pace and the self-checks on i1 and i3 are met.
awiseathlete.com/sports/badminton/badminton-i8