Hello Everybody! Today, we will be receiving the wisdom of World No. 1 Badminton Player Viktor Axelsen on how to prepare yourself for a competitive badminton match!
That is how the champion prepares himself, now let’s help you prepare yourself! Let’s break it down into more bite-friendly and elaborate further the ways you can implement these tips.
#1 Watch Matches
Viktor Axelsen mentioned that a great way to prepare for an upcoming match is to watch the videos of your opponent. This is great to prepare yourself mentally for competitive badminton because you are more familiar with your opponent, you are also able to analyze and devise a winning strategy against him/her. What better way to prepare yourself for a competitive badminton match by first spying on your adversary?
Nowadays, competitive badminton videos renowned badminton players are becoming more and more common. Good for you Viktor! But for most mere mortals, we have to find our own ways to watch our opponents videos. Most of the time, they would be competing at the same venue, so you are able to stay and watch. I have even seen the more competitive badminton players video record the badminton matches of their adversaries. The length we players would go to prepare ourselves!
#2 Relax
Relax and find or do things that don’t make you think of badminton when you’re in tournament season. You can very easily use a lot of mental energy when you’re only thinking about badminton at a tournament.
Viktor’s preparation strategy includes watching his favourite TV series, listening to music and socializing with his friends. To deal with the anxiety of the upcoming matches, VIktor does his strategy and competition planning much earlier beforehand so that he is able to take the time to mentally rejuvenate and be fresh for the competition.
After you are done planning your strategy, it is important to prepare yourself emotionally and mentally by taking some time off to pace yourself. For those who don’t have friends, can’t afford a TV and have audiophobia, I recommend reading a book. What better way to prepare yourself mentally and take your mind away from competitive badminton via a short vacation to the literature world!
#3 Have a competition Routine
Prepare for a competitive badminton match by having a competition routine is proven by sports scientists and psychologist to improve your performance. This is because a routine, when repeated often enough before a competition, will prime and condition your body to get into the zone.
The world no.1 badminton player will eat some oatmeal to prepare himself for competition and listen to rap or rock music. He also arrives at his venue 1 to 1 and a half hours beforehand as a contingency to any sudden events such as a broken racket which may get him flustered.
Ensuring that you have enough time to prepare yourself, your equipment and complete a thorough warm-up, will go a long way to ensure that you are at your best.
#4 Evaluate Every Game
Prepare yourself on how you’re going to react if things go wrong.
Sometimes you might be feeling really energized and ready to, play good feelings and vibes, and… bam! Easy mistakes and unforced errors. Though it may stifle your excitement a little, acceptance of how things may go wrong is important.
One strategy Viktor Axelsen uses is focusing on regaining a good rhythm. Focusing on negative emotions or poor performance does you no good at all, in fact, it makes it worse!. Viktor focuses on his strategy to regain a good feeling and getting comfortable. He waits and not forces out attacks too quickly in a rally.
One such way is to focus and calibrate on the small aspects of your techniques, such as getting a good depth and length on your lifts or lobs. Succeeding in doing so will give you a much-needed confidence boost and help you gain momentum. Thereafter, all the other things will fall into place. Don’t take my word for it, it is a world-championship competitive badminton strategy!
#5 Prepare for any situation
This tip is not really relevant to preparing for the first match, but rather, to prepare yourself for the subsequent ones.
Viktor Axelsen evaluates after every match. Talk to your coach or reflect on your own in your own head. Think what you did well, and what you can do better in the next match or next time. Writing them down would help you prepare yourself mentally for the strategic changes or performance kinks you would face.
Not only will it help you relax, you will be thanking yourself after the whole tournament, as you now have empirical evidence of shortcomings that you can work to improve on to boost your competitive badminton game.
Conclusion
Preparing for competitive badminton tournaments/competitions can be nerve-wrecking! Hope this guide has been useful for you. Should you need any other training or strategy tips, feel free to visit our online training page here!
Until next time!