The Learning Styles And Techniques Of Perfect Badminton Performance

Intro

In badminton I aim to be able to optimise my personal performance. In this folio, I will do this by devising a tactical strategy to enhance my gameplay. I will also implement two movement strategies into my gameplay; ‘force the opponent to the baseline or net at the start of a rally’ and ‘hit the shuttle from the attackers front court into the rear court of the opponent’, to provide further gameplay strategy. In this folio, I will also implement two principles of play, ‘setting up attack’ and ‘creating, defending and exploiting space’. These principles will both be used to optimise my personal performance in badminton and force errors from my opponent. Data will be collected via video footage to analyse each strategy and the success of them.

Tactical awareness is a key part of being a successful athlete and I will be applying this concept into this folio.

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Non-Linear Learning

The dynamic systems theory model states that it ‘views the learner as a complex movement system that self-organises in response to constraints placed upon it’(Oxford University Press, 2019). Put more simpler, the system proposes that the athlete’s entire body and their environment is responsible for the action their body chooses to take and how their body moves. The dynamic systems approach is a newer approach to motor learning compared to the traditional cognitive approach. In comparison to the cognitive systems approach which is hierarchical and states that the brain is the ‘command centre’, the dynamic systems approach is complex and states that the whole body is self-organising. The new dynamic systems approach is non-linear and states that motor learning is complex, unpredictable and constantly changing, whereas the old cognitive theory states that the brain creates an ‘action plan’ and completes the skill being learnt in a predetermined order.

There are many constraints which will limit my badminton performance. Task constraints are defined as ‘characteristics of the task that need to be overcome or adapted to’ (Oxford University Press, 2019). A task constraint that prevents me from performing at a higher level is my ability and experience of the game. As I have previously never played badminton, my skill level is beginner. Another constraint that prevents my performance from rapid improvement is my understanding of the game, as I have a very basic understanding of the rules and strategies required to successfully score points against my opponent. These task constraints both prohibit me from progressing to a higher-level skilled badminton player.

Individual learner constraints are defined as the ‘characteristics of the individual that need to be overcome or adapted to’ (Oxford University Press, 2019). Learner constraints can be categorised into two groups; structural learner constraints which contain the physical aspects, and functional learner constraints which contain the psychological aspects. Height is a big structural learner constraint that plays a role in limiting my ability on the badminton court, as it is tougher to reach high clear shots (Why how tall are you and) when I am in the wrong position, resulting in a point for my opposition. Confidence, attention, concentration and motivation are all functional learner constraints which limit my badminton ability from improving, as I often find it difficult to play confidently, focus my full attention on the court and be motivated to play with one hundred percentfocus (or play to my full potential). These are all constraints that me as the athlete will need to overcome and adapt to in order to improve.

In order to improve my gameplay, a tactical strategy will be devised that takes into consideration all of these constraints…

• Dynamic systems approach
• Non-linear learning and why its important
• Constraints (learner, environmental, etc)

Tactical Strategy

Tactical awareness is an important skill for all athletes to be successful. Tactical awareness is best described as ‘the ability for an athlete to identify and interpret what is happening within a game situation to help them select, adapt and apply the best physical responses and increase their chances of success’ (Oxford University Press, 2019). This means, that without tactical awareness, an athlete will struggle to read game play, identify potential attacking opportunities and choose the right tactic to respond to their opponent. In order to optimise performance, athletes must learn to read the game situation around them and use this information to implement the most appropriate physical response.

In this folio, I will devise a tactical strategy and implement this into my performance. The purpose of a tactical strategy is to assist the athlete by applying specialised movement sequences and movement strategies. The tactical strategy I have devised to improve my performance will be based around creating an affordance in my opponent’s front court. The tactical strategy I have developed will involve hitting a long clear shot into my opponents back court to force them to move to the back court. Once my opponent returns the clear shot, I will then hit a drop shot. This will force my opponent to think quickly and adapt to the hit. It will force them to move quickly back to the front court to return the shot. The purpose of firstly hitting a clear shot is to create an affordance in the front court, as my opponent will be forced to rush back from their back court in order to defend the drop shot, which will be strategically hit in the front court. This strategy will improve my performance and success rate by catching my opponent off guard and forcing further errors, creating more attacking opportunities.

Two body and movement concepts will also be implemented into my gameplay to further increase my success rate. These include, ‘forcing my opponent to the baseline or net at the start of a rally’ and ‘hitting the shuttlecock from the attackers front court into the rear court of my opponent’. These will both provide opportunities for attack. Two principles of play will be implemented including ‘setting up attack’ and ‘defending against attack’.

I will analyse the effectiveness of the tactical strategy, and two movement strategies by videoing my performances and after sessions, analysing my personal strengths and weaknesses shown in the footage. By analysing the footage, I will be able to assess my gameplay and therefore determine how effective the strategy implemented was and if it was overall beneficial to my gameplay.

Evaluation and justification of the personal tactical strategy

My proposed tactical strategy of hitting a clear shot followed by a drop shot was particularly effect in optimising my performance of the movement strategy, ‘hitting the shuttlecock from the attackers front court into the rear court of my opponent’. When performing this tactical strategy, most of the time the outcome was positive. Most of the time, the strategy was effective in successfully forcing my opponent into their back court. This then prevented my opponent from being able to defend against the drop shot, resulting in me scoring a point. As you can see in the video below, the strategy successfully forces my opponent into the back of their court, allowing me to perform a drop shot while my opponent is still in the back court. This helped optimise attack for myself and improve in my offence.

Even though majority of the time the tactical strategy was successful, there were many limitations to the strategy that had to be overcome. Hitting a clear shot before the drop shot required me to be in a comfortable position. This means that my decision making and ability to perceive the actions of my opponent need to be effective and occur quickly. (learner constraint??)

Another learner constraint that needed to be overcome in order to execute the tactical strategy was my ability to organise my movements in response to the perceived movements of my opponent. If my opponent was in a position at the back of the court, ready to defend the first clear shot already, my movements would need to self-organise in time to respond to this perceived action, which in my case was not always possible.

Evaluation of my personal performance- ‘setting up attack’: Principle of play

To evaluate my personal performance when setting up for an attack, I have selected the body and movement concepts of space awareness and quality of movement as the criteria to judge the effectiveness and success rate of my performance. For quality of movement, my tactical strategy was effective in achieving the desired outcome when setting up for attack. The following video evidence shows me transitioning with speed to the correct position on the court with ample time to perform a clear shot with accuracy and flow of movement. Occasionally I perform a smash shot. This allows me to smash the shuttlecock over the net into space if the opponent leaves an open space, or to smash the shuttlecock close to the net before my opponent has time to defend it. As you can see, I am able to strategically hit the smash shot into the open space with accuracy and force, in a position where the defender cannot get to it. I also perform several other specialised movements sequences relevant to my position with accuracy and easy flow of movement. The video below, demonstrates my ability to consistently perform a forehand serve that reaches the correct position in my opponent’s court. From my serve, as you can see, when the shuttlecock is returned over the net by my opponent, I am able to then transition with speed to the correct position on the court to set up the next attack or perform my tactical strategy.

When applying the second body and movement concept of ‘space awareness’, to my performance you can see that I can quickly and effectively determine the position I need to be in to effectively attack my opponent’s response. When I am responding to my opponent, I demonstrate effective concepts such as using the available space on the court to set up attack. I can effectively use direction of movement to set up successful attacking strategies. Correct use of space is vital to ensuring successful attacking strategies and this forces me to make quick decisions on the court. I also am required to make attacking decisions in relation to my opponent’s position on the court, and by looking at their position, I am able to select the best specialised movement sequence to perform. The video below shows me performing a number of different attacking strategies, to different positions on the court. I was able to make these important decisions by taking into consideration my opponent’s position on the court and selecting the best course of action quickly and effectively.

To further improve my personal performance and my ability to set up an attack, I need to further consider the ability of my opponent’s defence and whether they have the ability to respond effectively to my attacking strategies. Currently I am able to consider the ability of my opponent, however I am not always effective in adjusting my performance to the opponent’s weaknesses, therefore disadvantaging my performance.

• Choose two body movement concepts
• Specialised movement sequence

Evaluation of my personal performance- ‘defending against attack’: Principle of play

“Hitting to the middle is a useful defensive tactic, because It limits your opponent’s attacking angles”- (The Badminton Bible, Unknown)

When defending against attack, you can see that I am able to perform a range of shots that limit my opponents attacking angles. When I am under offensive pressure from my opponent, I am able to hit a high shot to the middle of my opponent’s courtside, as you can see in the video below. As the Badminton Bible, (Unknown) explains, “this allows me to have time to recover and neutralises most of my opponents attacking options”. It is vitally important for me to be able to successfully perform this specialised movement sequence, as not having quality defensive skills creates a huge issue when striving for success in badminton. The video below shows a range of defensive shots I used to defend my opponents attacking strategies. These were all regularly performed with accuracy and speed. When defending I am easily able to modify my performance in response to the movements and tactics of my opponent. I do this by perceiving the body position of my opponent to determine their next movements and where they plan to hit the shuttlecock next. This is turn influences my actions as I react in response to the movements of my opponent. This often determines where I need to be on the court in order to defend against these next movements of my opponent.

Conclusion

By implementing a tactical strategy, various principles of play, movement strategies and body and movement concepts into my badminton performance, it is evident that it has and will continue to positively effect how successful my performance is. The tactical strategy that was devised evidently had a positive influence on my performance, not only attacking but defensive as well. After analysing video footage from my performances before and after implementing the strategy, I can confidently say that I have been able to maximise my success rate and potential in badminton.