Do you ever play with someone that's not very good? Or does your partner ever have a
bad game? Unfortunately you can't just click your fingers and get rid of your partner
or get a better partner or make them start playing well but there are quite a few things you can
do to still win matches and in this video we're going to share six of our best tips! So if you're
playing against a pair where one player is a lot weaker you're going to try and hit the majority
of your shots to that player and this means that in the same situation there's a good chance your
opponents will do this to you especially trying to move your partner around the back of the court, so
one way to combat this is to get your partner to the net and you want to do this because firstly
it's generally easier at the net as these shots require a shorter swing and less power and it's
also harder for your opponents to keep hitting to the net because they can either play a loose shot
which makes it easier for your partner or they have to play it tight which means they have more
chance of making a mistake so we have two ways for you to get into this formation. Our first example
is when you're side by side here you can play a block into space and your partner moves forward
to the net straight away most players will lift this so the shuttle will then go to you but if
they do try and play this to your partner at the net there's a good chance it will be a loose shot
and hopefully your partner can kill it and win the rally - that would be a nice confidence booster for them!
This is of course assuming you've played a good block and your opponents are taking it late
obviously if they're hitting the shuttle above the height of the net then this could be very scary
for your partner! So our second way to get your partner to the net is to play early return of
serves hard down your side of the court and then you move backwards straight away with your partner
moving forwards if you play a good return of serve it will be really difficult for your opponents to
lift it cross-court over your partner's head and if your partner is returning they can play net shots
and stay in to instantly get you into this front and back formation. Now as with all of these tips
we're going to give this will of course depend on your partner's strengths and weaknesses for
example if they have a big smash then you might move forwards to the net more and let them play
more rear court shots! Okay let's move on to our second tip which is to cover more of the court
covering more of the court means you play more shots and hopefully have a better chance
of winning the rally as we've just said one way to do this is when you're in an attacking formation
your partner is at the net and you pretty much cover the whole of the court. If you're in a
defensive formation then we'd recommend having an understanding with your partner that you'll
take everything down the middle and they'll just need to get anything around their body
or tramline this isn't something we'd advise doing if you're playing with someone a similar standard
to you as you can get much better coverage defending the right way and if you're not sure
what this right way is we'll link to our video discussing this below :-) Now we've even seen lots
of people actually go in front of their partner and take a drop shot almost in their tramlines
but this probably isn't something we'd recommend as it often leads to you both getting in a worse position
How extreme you take this court coverage will probably depend on a. how much you want to win
B. How bad your partner actually is and C. How tolerant your partner will be to you taking all
of their shots, but this probably leads back to point a if you want to win so bad that you don't
care then that's your choice to make! A bonus point for this section is that people can often
play worse if they're trying to overcompensate for their partner and take too many shots or
maybe even try and play too many winning shots this might have already happened to you!
So what should you do instead? Well you need to play more intelligent shots and this is our third
tip and it's a little more advanced than the two we've just covered. Playing more intelligent shots
will help you set yourself and your partner up to win more rallies it can also help you control the
game and minimise your partner's weaknesses so we have three examples of what we mean by intelligent
shots starting with the easiest and then getting more advanced! Level one - when you need to lift
don't lift it cross court! With some partners you might lift cross to move your opponents but with
a weaker partner rather than being able to take advantage of this their defence might not be as
good and they might play a weak reply or may not even be able to get the attack back at all so we'd
advise you to place straight lifts to keep the majority of the attacking shots on you and if
they do smash it cross your partner has more time to react as the shuttle has further to travel and
it's important to mention that you should also hit straight shots in your attack too like in your
drives and smashes! So level two is to not play hard in the mid court if you do it could expose
a lot of gaps in the court because your partner might not be good enough to move out and cover
you instead you can play more controlled shots especially to the middle to create indecision
between your opponents and also reduce the angles they can play, this then means it's harder for them
to move your weaker partner at the net! Level 3 is our most advanced example and this is to drive or
smash into an awkward position where it's really hard to hit it cross-court to your weaker partner
A great shot that Greg loves to do is a reverse drive which adds some deception and often puts
the opponent into a difficult position. Being consistent when playing with a weaker partner
is so important no matter what level you play at there's a good chance they'll be making lots of
mistakes or just not winning any points so again you can't try and win the point when you only have
a 10% chance of doing so! You should obviously try and be consistent and play these intelligent shots
when you're not playing with a weaker partner too!! Next you need to be intelligent in what you do
in the serve and return situation which is our fourth tip. Generally if you're a better player
you're likely to have a better serve and return of serve, that is if you actually are a better player!
So what can you do to dominate the serve and return situation? Well we've got two points for you
firstly if you want to win you need to set up to play to both of your strengths. For example
if your weaker partner has a good serve then you would let them serve first or you would return first
and secondly you need to think about trying to win the point in the first three shots as this
is a great opportunity to win the rally without your partner even hitting a shot! Yeah so you
can serve to a certain place to encourage your opponents to play certain shots which you can then
look for! I actually did this in a recent video where I served to different places and correctly
predicted the return each time. To do this it was not just important to have a good serve
to a specific area but also have a big presence of the net afterwards! A second example is what
we talked about earlier in the video returning the serve hard down your side and then looking
for the straight reply. A lot of these examples are most relevant for level doubles but we've actually
covered what you should do for mixed doubles serve and return in an entire video which will link in the
description below! We have one final point for this section and this is to not change your partner's
serving or returning during the match, let them do their favourite serves or returns and you as the
stronger player need to work around this. That is of course unless you're losing every point because
of these and this is where you need to improve your communication with your weaker partner
which is our fifth tip and we're not talking about in between the rallies or even before
the match although we will get on to that here we're talking about how you communicate during
the rallies, this tip will hopefully help you avoid confusion and that horrible moment of the shuttle
landing in between you and your partner! A lot of people are maybe embarrassed to shout on the court
but honestly this is so important yeah so try shouting either mine or yours, you or me! Here's
an example of our friend Chris Langridge who used to communicate with his partner Marcus very well!!
As the stronger player you'll likely have more confidence on court so don't be afraid to take
the lead on this, it's about being clear to help you always know who's taking which shot! Okay
that's what you should do during the rallies but what we found can make a huge difference between
winning and losing with a weaker partner is how you communicate both before the match and also
in between the rallies, this is tip number six so let's explain what you might be doing wrong and
what you can do to go right! Without getting too sciency as humans we crave belonging and
acceptance therefore if we're not supportive of our partner they probably won't respond well to
this as they'll get more stressed and nervous and will likely play worse! This won't just be for the
rest of the game but whenever they next play with you which is exactly the opposite of what you want!
So don't put pressure on them, don't wave your arms or roll your eyes when they miss a shot,
don't shout at them and tell them they're rubbish and definitely don't slap them! You might think
we're joking but we've seen it happen! Instead you need to encourage your partner as human
psychology studies suggest this will have a few key benefits - being positive to your partner can
enhance their creativity which might help them to not just play safe and predictable shots,
it can also help with their ability to process information which means that they can develop
and implement tactics a lot better! And these are just two examples as to why encouragement can
lead to a better performance yeah and I'm going to be honest with you here and admit that there
have been times where I've wanted to win so much I've lost the ability to control my emotions and
even been visibly annoyed when my partner has made a mistake, now you know how I've perfected
the eye roll! But in all seriousness I wanted to share this because I know that it's not just me
who expresses these emotions on court and is possible to change and hopefully Jenny and the
other partners that I've had that I'm still friends with by the way would agree to this!
But it's important to mention here that some people might actually want you to be angry at
them when they make a mistake, this might get them angry and actually play better but we found it's
best to ask your weaker partner what they respond well to on court. Do they like you to talk to them
in between every rally? Do they like constructive criticism? Or do they just like encouragement?
At the end of the day you have to remember that they're hopefully trying the best and that you
both want to enjoy playing badminton! :D We hope these six tips will help you win more matches
if you're playing with a weaker partner, if they are actually weaker than you that is! This has
been a big video for us to prepare and film so if you're still with us at this point we'd love you
to leave a racket Emoji in the comments below! And if you've found this video useful we'd love
you to share it with someone who gets annoyed with their partner or maybe subtly suggest to
your weaker partner to watch some of our other videos to hopefully help them improve! Here's our
intermediate playlist and obviously don't forget to give the video a like and SMASH the Subscribe
button if you haven't already, over 70% if you haven't! And we'll see you on another one very soon :-)