By Justin Ma, 7x US Junior National Badminton Champion.
Last updated February 2, 2021
·
3 min read
In this post, we will be talking about the Smash & Follow Up Multi-shuttle Drill. This drill is great to train your speed and consistency for your finishing shots. You can adjust this drill to work only on speed, or increase the length to work on endurance as well. You only need one person (a feeder) to help you do this drill.
Drill: Smash & Follow Up Multishuttle Drill
Duration: 10-20 shots for speed, 30 – 50 shots for endurance
Feeders:
– Feed one lift and one high net shot
Driller:
– Smash the lift, then follow up and push the net drop
Take a look at a half-court version of the drill here, and then let’s get into the details!
The smash and follow up drill works on your finishing shots – your smashes and kills. This drill teaches you what to do when your opponent is able to retrieve your smash, but not return with the best shot. You should learn to take advantage of these weak shots in this drill and in games to use these opportunities to attack your opponent. The video above shows this drill done in half court, but generally this is done in full court (4 corners, random). This will simulate game situations more so that you can apply this in a real match.
In this drill, we can work on either speed or endurance. In the speed version, we aim to do only 10-20 birdies per set (this equates to 5-10 smashes total). You should aim to go as fast as possible, since this will be an extremely short drill. This trains your explosive bursts of speed in a game, particularly, your killing shots. Although you may not smash 10 times in a single rally during a match, this is a good way to learn how to keep your speed up even if you have to hit 10 shots and 10 kills.
In the endurance version, we aim to do 30 – 50 birdies per set (15 – 25 smashes total). This is looking at the bigger picture of a full match, and training you to still have a decent speed, power, and endurance even though you are tired. In this version, rather than going at full speed, you want to ensure that your smashes and speed remains consistent from the first smash up to the 25th smash. If you are able to do this successfully, you will gain more confidence that even though it is a 3rd game, your smash power will still be as strong as it was in the beginning.
Footwork is also an important part to pay attention to during this drill. After the smash, only use 2 steps to get to the front (as shown in the video). This is to ensure that you are taking large steps and you move quickly, rather than waiting around or moving slowly to your follow up shot. This is especially important in games, as the time you have to take advantage of these opportunity shots will not be large. Make sure you take large steps, move as fast as possible, and get to the shot in front early to be able to make the most of this drill!
Both versions of the drills are extremely important in improving your game power, speed, and endurance. Start off slow with your drilling partner, and work on increasing your speed as well as length of the drills to work on all aspects of your game. Though it may be tough in the beginning, you should get the hang of it sooner than later!
This drill is great to work on before tournaments to polish up your killing shots, and learn to use them in a game. Do this as often as you need this practice! If you’d like to see more drill highlights, training highlights, or more, please check out my YouTube channel and Instagram Highlight Feed, and feel free to reach out with any questions. See you guys in the next one!
