Having a good backhand is really important, and so many of you have asked us how you can improve yours. It is one of the hardest areas in badminton at all levels, but once perfected, you can use it to play a variety of shots and also get yourself out of a lot of trouble!  How to play a backhand: Perform a split step Chassee towards the corner Pivot so that you are facing backwards Change to a bevel grip Keep your elbow low in preparation Lunge just before you hit the shuttle Allow enough room between you and the shuttle to rotate Remain relaxed in your shoulders Bring your arm through ..read more

One of the most common mistakes we see that impact a player’s success on the court is their grip choice. It is important to learn the correct grips as the wrong grip can reduce your power, minimise the control of your shots and increase the risk of injury. The 4 grips used in badminton are: Forehand grip Backhand grip Bevel grip Panhandle grip These 4 grips are all used for different shots, and it’s important to learn and practice each of them so that they become engrained into your game are easy to perform in a match!  Forehand Grip The easiest way to learn the forehand grip ..read more

The Book In 3 Sentences Aim to be a 2%er with a positive attitude and mindset. Conversely, you should not be a mood hoover (i.e. always complaining and being miserable, counting down until the weekend) and also not surround yourself with these people. Set Huge Unbelievably Great Goals that excite you, but will push and challenge you to achieve them. How We Discovered It It was recommended in one of our lectures at Loughborough University, and then the authors came to do a talk at the university so we of course went! Who Should Read It? Anyone and everyone! We’ve recommended this bo ..read more

We know how important it is to stand as close to the service line as possible when returning a doubles serve, as it can give you an effective and aggressive start to the rally, however this can make returning the flick serve very difficult.  To perform a good return from a flick serve, it is important to consider 4 areas:  Starting position Racket preparation Movement  Shot choice If these 4 areas are executed well, you will be able to have an effective return of the flick, as well as still being able to be aggressive on the low serve. 1. Starting Position There are a lot ..read more

We have seen so many different badminton injuries over the years – some that could have been prevented, and others that were just one-off horrible-to-watch injuries.  The 5 most common badminton injuries are: Knees Shoulders Elbows Feet Ankles There are several preventive measures that all badminton players should take to minimise the risk of each of these injuries. 5. Ankle Injuries In Badminton Starting at number 5 on our list is ankle injuries. Playing badminton involves lots of jumping, twisting and turning. These continuously explosive movements mean that we’ve seen a lot of ro ..read more

We often see players doing the same return every time or just lifting from the serve putting no pressure onto the opponents. This is due to poor preparation, inefficient movement or just not thinking about what shot they are playing.  An effective return of serve is made up of 4 components: the stance, grip, racket positioning, and movement. Performing these 4 components correctly will enable you to have an effective return of serve.  Return of Serve Preparation Stance The first thing you need to consider is your stance. You want to stand with your non-racket leg in front and this ..read more

What a crazy year! Looking back to March 2020 when we were sat at the All England, never did we think that Coronavirus would have impacted our lives as much as it has over the last 9 months.  With 2020 nearing an end, we wanted to do our first Yearly Review – looking back at the highs, lows, and lessons of 2020. We have reflected on every month, and chosen our top highlight. We encourage you to do the same, it was a great way to find the positives in what has been a difficult year! We hope you enjoy it! Our Monthly Highlights January – Greg won the National Championships 2020 in Mens ..read more

We were sat brainstorming video ideas, and more specifically the “Ts” exercise (which we both love) and it got us thinking… How many shots could we hit in a minute? We then decided to look up what the Guinness World Record was for the most amount of shots in 1 minute. Turns out it was 123 and we definitely thought we could beat that! In short, the Guinness World Record for the “most badminton counter hits in 1 minute” is now held by Badminton Insight! How We Became Guinness World Record Holders Shortly after creating Badminton Insight we decided to apply to attempt the Guinness World Recor ..read more

Recently, we were invited to be guests on the fantastic podcast “A Year On Tour With Vittinghus”. This podcast is hosted by Hans-Kristian Vittinghus, a professional men’s singles badminton player from Denmark with a career high world ranking of 8.  His podcast covers a variety of badminton topics – speaking about his own ‘life on tour’ or with guests who are all heavily involved in the badminton world. We had a great discussion with Vittinghus talking about our background and our time studying at Loughborough University alongside training full-time. This is a very interesting topic h ..read more

We asked our audience on YouTube and Reddit: Which leg should you lead with when returning the serve in badminton?  When returning the serve in doubles, you can lead with your racket leg, your non-racket leg, or both of these. It will depend on the shot you are playing, where your opponent serves to, and what event you are playing. It was a very close poll on both platforms and provides an interesting debate which we want to discuss further! YouTube Poll Reddit Poll When waiting to receive the serve in doubles you should have your non-racket leg in front of you and when retu ..read more