Basic Feather Academy

With Basic Feather Academy you will find training videos, interviews, reflections on becoming a top player today and lots of other exciting features.

The videos are delivered by the two founders of Basic Feather and former professional badminton players, Flemming Quach and Morten Frost.

Backhand Masterclass

About the video - Backhand Masterclass

A great advice is to always hit the shuttle at the shoulder height in your backhand, just as we also recommend it in the deep forehand.
By hitting the backhand like this, you get high safety and being able to play it over and over and over.

In the video you will find a simple exercise where you can train both the straight and cross your backhand with your training partner.

The video in text

The exercise is quite simple. The first stroke is a straight one, and the second is a cross. The feeder's job is to make it simple. It is not a physical exercise, but much more a technical exercise. So please keep that in mind!

It's about getting out of the deep corners, and of course we have to look at it from a technical point of view. Later on we'll look at it from a footwork point of view.

So technically, of course, as usual, we hit the backhand at shoulder height and then move towards the middle. And as you can see, we hit it at shoulder height and we move simultaneously so it's a fluid movement that takes you towards the middle of the court.

As you saw in the exercise, the first punch is a straight backhand and the second is a cross backhand. When you hit it crosswise, remember to hit it slightly in front of yourself. A little in front but still at shoulder height. So you play it from here and follow through.

When you look at the footwork, it should be like a fluid movement.

Which means you put your foot down and move away while hitting the shot back towards the centre of the court.

These two things are extremely important to get away from the backhand corner, so you don't hang down there and can't cover the rest of the court.

What Is A Badminton Talent?

About the video - What Is A Badminton Talent

Morten Frost, the four-time winner of All England and former world no. 1 talking about being a badminton talent. Is talent a a special gift you are born with? 

According to Morten, the absolute most important thing is to have the ability to add layers to your game. To improve every single day. Whether it being one thing or another, as long as there is constant progress.

Watch the video and hear out how Morten approached being "talented".

The video in text

Flemming: The word talent

Morten: Yes...

Flemming: That...Is a difficult one

Morten: It's a very difficult one

Flemming: Someone can be super talented but never amount to anything. And we also see the opposite.
What does the word mean to you? What does talent mean?

Morten: Well... I've been asked this question I don't know... a billion times. And of course often from parents with ambitious children... It can also be ambitious parents.
And of course I've thought about it a lot.
I think for me, I'd like to allow defining talent as... The ability to layers on top af each other.


That means every time you come home from training you have improved.
A tiny little bit of whatever it is, you've learned a little bit, you've got a little bit better in some department of what you're doing.
The ability to be able to add layers all the time means that you hit this "ceiling" very late.
But a lot of people hit the ceiling far too early, which means that when they hit this ceiling, it doesn't matter what they do, they can't develop any more.
That's when you have to say..
The talent has have a certain limitation and you can't really go any further.


But those who are able and keep adding on, that's probably what I would define as talent. What does it take to be able to keep adding,
you have to be ambitious,
you have to want to work for it,
you have to believe in it,
And you have to have a stubbornness, and work with the detail.

What I think is so great about badminton.
Is that there are three things that must be combined.
You have to have "crazy legs", that means they have to move really really fast,
You have to have a very very very calm, stable arm that can... Play under pressure,

And then you have to be cool in the head.

All these three things, they have to work together at the same time, and it's actually not easy.

 

The Deep Forehand

About the video - The Deep Forehand

Playing a good deep forehand requires timing. To make sure the timing always is on point, one of our tips is to play it at the shoulder height. If you are under severe pressure, it is the legs that need to go further deep, so you can continue to play the shot at shoulder height.

By dong this, you get a great safety in the shot, hence being able to be confident in your defensive play from the backline.

The video in text

In this exercise we will focus on the deep forehand corner.

When hitting the deep forehand it is very important that the shot is hit from shoulder height.
We move towards the deep forehand and hit the shot at shoulder height.

As you saw, the first shit is hit straight and the second shot is on the cross.

You hit the straight shot roughly straight in front of your shoulder, while the cross shot is a little bit in front of you, so you can create the angle across the court.

Also focus on the footwork which should be smooth, it should be easy and while hitting the shot we move back towards the centre again.

We hit here and move.
We hit here and move.

It (the shot) is very very important because it enables you to move the centre of play further forward on the court.

Because controlling the net is incredibly important.
If you stand too far back on the court, it becomes too easy to expose the frontcourt.
Therefore you have to push yourself forward, and to do that you have to be able to play the deep shots from both the forehand and the backhand.

Power Smash Guide

About the video - Power Smash Guide

A power smash is achieved by using the entire body to generate a lot of power into the shot. A few things you should pay special attention to are:

1. Rotate so you have the side to the net when the shot begins (Not the belly to)
2. Use the power of your rotation in your upper body
3. Hit the shuttle as high as you can, the shuttle is hit in front of your head - Not above your head.

An incredibly important shot in badminton that certainly creates uncertainty for your opponent if you can a lot of power into the shot.

The video in text

When you want to hit a powerful smash, it's incredibly important that you can move the power and energy all the way from your toes up through your body, and up through your arm to the racket.
A really important thing is to really use the upper body so that you have the shoulder and the side towards the net at the beginning, and at the moment the shot is to be hit, then you generate the rotation through the upper body. So use the abdominal muscles and the muscles in the back.

At the same time, the hitting point of the shuttle should be as high as possible. The elbow should be completely stretched and the timing of the shot should be right in front of the body and not above yourself.

So if you can figure out how to move the power through your body, you're setting yourself up for a powerful smash.

The High Netdrop

About the video - The High Netdrop

Sometimes it can be difficult to get close enough to the net to play that tight net shot with lots of spin in it. Maybe your opponent is smart and pushes the shuttle furhter into the court?
The possibility to still playing the close net shot is to play a high net drop that falls steep and close to the net. 

The shot should be used as an alternative, as it is played with a bit more height and thus a little slower. If your opponent is too close to the net, there is a good chance that they can move up and play the kill. Therefore, the shot must be used with care!

The technique behind the blow is a relaxed backhand grip, where you gently push your shoulder upwards and through the touch pushes the shuttle over the net.

The shot requires lots of training, and remember that it should be used as a variation for your net game.

The video in text

A straight net drop in the backhand side is not an easy shot, especially when the shuttle is a bit further away from the net.

Here we see many players playing the high net shot. It's a slightly slower stroke and it's a bit higher...
 And it would drop just.. Very tight to the net and as soon as it is dropping below the tape then it is virtually impossible to retrieve

This is important when you are standing here with little distance to the net, and cannot play the net drop with spin, because the spin will disappear as the ball has to go further towards the opponent's half of the court.

So here we will play a shot where you have the backhand grip and most likely just push and guide the shot very gently. And the shuttle will then as I say have a curve slightly higher and loopy and then drop just below the tape.

Train your double defense

Video in brief - Train your defence

A good defence in doubles is about good movement. We often see that the more pressure you are under defensively, the more you move backwards off the court.

The purpose of this exercise is to be aware of where you are in your defence and to practise not backing up.
It is important for us to stress that movement is incredibly important, it just shouldn't be backwards.

Use some ketches, a few chairs, a box or something else as a limit for how much you can back.

The video in text

In the defensive work in doubles, the flat game, it is incredibly important not to move too much backwards.
This means that the centre of play is moved too far back on the court and closer to the first service line.
If you are too far back, it means that you have opened up the front leg for your opponent.

In order not to backtrack too much, we have put three ketches as a stop line. If you choose the ketches, it means that you have moved too far backwards.

Remember the short battle sequences so you can always keep an eye on your opponents.

If you're in a situation where you're being pushed more and more backwards, that's a situation where you'll typically end up in big trouble.