Footwork...

I finally realised what a difficult game badminton can actually be. While many people can actually hit the shuttle pretty well, but to keep hitting it well at a consistent level takes serious practice. I should know.

I would say the two most important shots are the high baseline-deep serve and a strong consistent baseline clear. Almost every coach or "how to play" book will tell you this and how important the baseline is, and they're right. The two baseline corners of the court are very, very good points of attack people don't realise.

But to master these two shots, you also need some nice footwork to get to one back corner, then back to the centre, then to the other corner. So in short, while it's only two types of shots, it's not easy. There is really no fixed footwork, but it's best to observe how badminton players move and copy them. I got mine from a coach, which I suppose is good enough for amateur play.

And so far it's only two shots we're talking about here. No smashes or drop shots or backhands or lunges to the front yet...