Badminton- will it help or hurt my Tennis

Badminton- will it help or hurt my Tennis

I started the 2007-2008 Badminton Season this Wednesday (Oct 23). I was looking forward for this event as it is always fun and very rewarding. First you get to play a variety of players with varying skills from 7 pm - 10 pm. Second it is real cheap. I get a full season (Every wednesday from Oct - May) for what I pay for two tennis sessions. Above all I really like Badminton.

For some reason, I don’t use a lot of wrist action on any of my games. Badminton is all about wrist and wrist snap. Most of the players in my club can hit punishing smashes and delicate drops and clears with a flick of the wrist. I am probably the only player who generates the power from Shoulder. Since the court is a lot smaller than Tennis, I cover it pretty easily. Most of our games are doubles so it adds another interesting fact.

One thing I often struggle is, I am a very good doubles player in Badminton and a weak singles player. I am completely opposite in Tennis. I am a better singles Tennis player and worst doubles player. I compliment my partner(s) well in badminton and seldom in tennis. May be Practice?

The good part of my badminton game is Smashes. I hit with lot of shoulder power (unlike others who use wrist snaps) and they are penetrating. The weak part is (no prizes for guessing) Backhand. I can correlate some of it to my tennis game that I have a good serve action and weak backhand. Where I need to work is to translate my badminton Smashes into tennis overheads. In badminton, my smashes are smooth and my foot work is flowing. In tennis I don’t quite hit the overheads in same way. I have a good serve in Tennis and my badminton serve is considered to be weak.

All in all, I feel Badminton will help Tennis game. The aspects of improved hand-eye coordination, foot work are common and obvious. Badminton needs more reflexes and that always helps in tennis. Badminton Smashes should translate to tennis Overheads and on court game tactics are similar. Badminton forces you to play at net and that should help Tennis. Badminton net is higher. By hitting higher you can improve the margin on the shots in tennis.

Here is something I tried. I tried to hit Badminton forehands with Tennis like western grip. it works!. The Badminton Bird goes high up in the air and then starts spinning down and it confuses the hell out of opponents and messes up their shots.

I am working on my fitness all along and I am making steady progress. I can feel a big improvement already and I am hopeful it will translate into results.

I decided to not play Tennis next week due to some other commitments. My next Tennis session will be on Nov 05. I will try my level best to put up a good show.