Badminton for Schools Jake Downey

This book is dedicated to all those enthusiastic and dedicated teachers who work so hard to organize and develop badminton in the schools

Published by Jake Downey 2003

First published in Great Britain by PELHAM BOOKS LTD 52 Bedford Square London we 1 B 3EF 1978 Copyright (c) Jake Downey 1978 All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Copyright owner Figures 11-15, 17, 18, 91, 92 and 93-96 are reproduced from Teach Your Child Badminton by Jake Downey, published by Lepus Books. ISBN 0 7207 1094 4 Filmset in Great Britain by Northumberland Press Ltd, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear Printed by Hollen Street Press and bound by Dorstel Press, Harlow

Contents

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Acknowledgements My thanks are due to the following: Gillian Clark and Steve Wassell, the 1976 All England Under-15 champions, who worked so hard during the photographic session; the management of the Alton Sports Centre, who willingly provided the facilities for the photography; Joanna Smith for assistance with the typing.

My grateful thanks also to photo-grapher Louis Ross, whose care and concern reflects much insight into and enthusiasm for the game and results in such excellent photographs.

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Foreword

The executive of the English Schools' Badminton Association approve and recommend Badminton for Schools. Such approval and recommendation is not given without a great deal of examination of the contents of and ideas expressed in the book.

Jake Downey is a `thinking' coach who has a lot of experience at coaching at all levels. He was coach to the Uber Cup Team in 1970-72, 1974-75 and coached the England Youth squad in 1976. He has coached international players on a personal basis. In particular Gillian Gilks, Margaret Lockwood, Paul Whetnall and Ray Stevens are players who have benefited from his help. It is obvious to anyone reading this and other books he has written, that the author has an analytical mind. The results of his analysis of the game of badminton are presented fully in this book. `Practice makes perfect' is in common usage, but might not the saying be improved by prefacing it by the word `intelligent'? This book contains a feast of intelligent practices which, if followed assiduously by the reader, will help in the production of better badminton players. One of the aims of the English Schools' Badminton Association is to raise the standard of junior badminton in the country. This book will do much to help to achieve that aim.

Allon Horrocks Coaching Director, English Schools' Badminton Association

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Preface I welcome the opportunity to write this book on behalf of the English Schools' Badminton Association. I can introduce you to, and help you to learn, a great game. I began to play whilst at school in Manchester and gained much enjoyment from the practice evenings and matches against other schools. In those days there was no association to look after the promotion and organization of the game in the schools: play was restricted to the senior members of the school and then only if there was a teacher enthusiastic enough to manage the club. Only a few schools in Manchester played the game and against these we would play in keen but friendly competition. Outside school I, like many others, had to pursue my interest in the game without help. This meant that I had to practise to reach a standard in order to be accepted as a member of a league club. Consequently all my spare time was spent watching good players whenever possible. I practised with anyone who would spend time with me and spent many hours at home in practice. I used to hit the shuttle up and down, against the wall or serve into the fruit bowl across the room. The game had caught my interest and enthusiasm. YYears later, as a physical education teacher in London, I persuaded a number of schools to meet and form the London Schools' Badminton Association in 1962. We developed and became affiliated to the Badminton Association of England in 1964. During that period, in various parts of the country, schools' badminton was beginning to develop into more formal organizations. Eventually, mainly due to the initiative of the Cumberland Schools' Association, the English Schools' Badminton Association came into existence. By this time I had moved into other areas of education and had begun to coach at a youth centre in London. With my experience there, and the ideas which I developed, I gained the chance to coach the England Uber Cup team of 1972 and from that time continued to coach Eng-land players. Many of the present England players - Ray Stevens, Kevin Jolly, Margaret Lockwood, Nora Perry, Barbara Sutton and Paula Kilvington - learned the game at school and a number of these actually came up through the ESBA. They started at school and ended up playing for England; I started at school and ended up coaching England players and teams. During that journey we all learned a great deal about the game and how to play it; above all, we learned to value the game for the enjoyment we derived from it.

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The ESBA provides you with the opportunity to make a similar journey. You can travel to the final destination, which may be to play for England or become world champion; or you can get off at any stop along the way. But whatever your particular destination, you can be certain that you will enjoy every moment of your journey. TThe purpose of this book is to provide you with the knowledge necessary to travel successfully.

Jake Downey

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How to Use this Book The obvious intention of this book is that you should learn about the game of badminton. Like most games, the more you play and become involved, the more you learn. This is partly the fascination of playing an interesting game. There is much to write about badminton. This book does not include all that it is possible to say about the game, but what it does say should be sufficient to give you a good insight into the game. This book is basically for reference. You will not want to read it all at once: rather it is for `dipping into'. If you want to know about the smash, tactics in singles, fitness, tournaments, etc., then refer to the section that deals with your interest. I think that you will find most of your questions can be answered. This book tries to cater for all ages and standards of play in schools' badminton. A learner will not require as much information, or understand as much, as a schools' tournament player. You should try to learn as much as your understanding and ability allows. In time you will be able to master all the aspects of the game. The different sections of the book are described very briefly below, and advice is given about their use. 1 Introduction Learners must read this section. It provides a general account of the game, advises on equipment, explains how to begin, and states the laws of the game. All players will need to refer to the laws.

2 Learning to play This section is important both for learners and advanced players. It provides many new and interesting ideas about modern badminton, particularly with reference to the grips and different stances. It also explains the basic structure of the game and offers instruction and advice based on new developments. It is important to understand this section in order to appreciate fully the discussion of the singles game. 3 The singles game This presents a detailed account of singles as an attacking game, and ex-plains how to become a very proficient singles player. All players will find it easy to understand, but it is not easy for all players to perform some of the skills discussed. However, read through this section and pick out what you require for your game at the time.

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4 The doubles game This gives an account of basic doubles play, but with more emphasis than usual on attack in doubles. There are numerous practices to help you to develop your attacking play. All players should read this to grasp the general idea of the strokes to use and the positional play to adopt.The section on mixed doubles gives a brief idea of the game and sets out the role of the boy and the girl player in mixed doubles. 5 Fitness This is of practical interest to the serious player who wants to play competitive badminton, and should be of general interest to all players simply to clarify what is involved in fitness and provide you with some guidelines. 6 Behaviour All players should read this section. Behaviour is an important part of your game if you want to enjoy it fully. Some discussion of behaviour and some guidelines are offered for your consideration. 7 Tournament play Some general guidelines and advice for the serious player. 8 Opportunities within the ESBA This section informs you of the opportunities available to you within the Schools' Badminton Association. All players should read this and then ask their school badminton teacher for further details. 9 The teacher This is written for the teacher and is of practical value only for him or her. However, it can be read by any enthusiast for general interest. The value of this book will be determined on the court, where the ideas, suggestions, advice and instructions provided should work successfully. It is difficult to cater for any particular individual in book form, for we all differ. succeed. Do not be too inflexible in following the book: be prepared to However, in general the ideas presented are well tested and have been found to modify the ideas to suit your particular style of play. In doing so you will be acting in accordance with the spirit of the book, which has been written for independent thinkers. Note: Throughout the book it is assumed that the reader is a right-handed player. Left-handed players should adapt the techniques accordingly.

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