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Badminton players are an interesting bunch. We have weird habits, personalities, and play styles. Here are 10 more types of badminton players that I found while playing badminton over the years. If you’ve been playing for a while, you’ve probably met some of these types yourselves too!
And in case you don’t know, this is the 2nd post about the annoying types of badminton players that you will encounter. You can find part 1 over here.
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11. The Ambidextrous One
When you start your game, you see that your opponent is right-handed, which means that their backhand is on their left side. Ok, got it, I’ll just hit a clear over there to see how they deal with it. Oh dang, their backhand is pretty strong! Wait a second…that’s not their backhand…it’s their forehand now! What’s going on here?!?
This player can use both their hands to play badminton and will sneakily let everyone find out about it the hard way. In other words, switching hands in the middle of a game to trick you into hitting to their forehand instead of their backhand!
Left…or right…which hand does this player play with again?! One rally it’s with the left hand and then the next couple it’s with the right hand. Great, now there’s another thing you gotta pay attention to.
This player loves to switch hands between rallies – or maybe even within a rally – to catch you off guard. After all, what’s the point of being ambidextrous if not to use it to your advantage by annoying your opponents? Nothing like seeing the face of someone who realizes halfway into the rally that you’re actually using your left hand instead of your right hand. It’s a face of shock, bewilderment, and confusion. Exactly what this player lives for.
Not all ambidextrous badminton players are actually ambidextrous in real life. Most likely, they first learned how to play badminton with their dominant hand for a couple of years but then decided that they liked to lose more so they started over again and learned how to play with their other hand. I guess it makes it more interesting if they play with a beginner group – they’ll never suspect a thing.
But imagine the day the group accidentally walks in on this player playing with their actual dominant hand – they’ll feel like their whole friendship was a lie! And oh wait, they actually lost to this player when they were using their weaker hand – oh the humiliation!
To be honest, it’s kind of amusing to play with an ambidextrous player. If they’re using their weaker hand, it’s kind of like playing on hard mode (for them), but they always know that they can turn it up a gear just by switching hands. Let’s just hope that the opponent’s aren’t paying attention…
12. The Decked Out One
This player has all the fancy and expensive badminton gear. They have the latest rackets, shoes, clothes, and shuttles (like the AS-50, Victor Master Ace, and Li-Ning G900). When they walk into the badminton gym, you’d think that they’re a professional badminton player. They must have someone sponsoring them – I mean, their gear is at least one month’s worth of rent right? But then…you watch them play a game and realize that they can barely win against an empty badminton court!
This player has lots of money (or pretends to) and that’s all they bring to the game. It’s like they just want to show off to everyone how rich they are but don’t know how to execute any of the basic shots of badminton.
This player will copy all the gear they see the pros have but won’t have any of the skills to use them. This is particularly true for the rackets they have. They’ll have the latest XYZ Force 9000 Power Pro Limited Edition with it strung at 42 pounds and then wonder why they’re not playing like the pros. If you’re lucky, you’ll get a rally that’s 5 hits long!
The good thing about playing with this player though is that if you clash rackets with them, they’ll have plenty more rackets to replace the ones that broke. Maybe you’ll even be able to borrow some to try them out instead of having to buy them yourself.
13. The Tall One
This player somehow won the genetic lottery when it comes to sports. This player towers over everyone else on the court and hits shots at angles everyone else can only dream of. And their court coverage looks so easy and effortless. For every two steps that you take, this player only requires one. You’re frantically running around the court and this player is just making it seem like child’s play. It’s like this player is everywhere at once and you have to hit the perfect shot to even have a chance.
In doubles, when this player is in the front court, it’s like they can reach everything with ease. Any drive you do, their racket will magically appear in the perfect place and smash it right back down. And if they’re in the back court. Well do you dare lift to them? Their smashes are practically as sharp as their drops and most tall players tend to hit hard too just from their sheer mass (even if they’re lanky, they get their mass from their height!).
Of course, it’s not all luck – these players still had to work hard to learn the skills and footwork required. But you still can’t help but dream of having the power of height for yourself. You can only revel in the thought of how uncomfortable they feel in regular, average-sized accommodations, like an economy seat on an airplane or having to squat down when using regular showers.
#tallpeopleproblems
14. The Elitist
This player is actually a moderately good player. Above average compared to the players in their area and can sometimes even win local tournaments. However, this player despises playing with beginners. These lower leveled players are peasants to them and playing with them ruins their fun. They won’t say it to your face, but they’ll silently judge you and everyone one else in the gym and then they’ll only play with good players that they deem worthy of their time and energy.
The elitist is the one that creates their own elite group of players, creating yet another infamous so-called badminton “clique”. This group of players is content only playing amongst themselves and they pat each other on the back telling each other that they’re the best players at their local gym.
If you want to play a match against these players, you’ll need to already know one of the players AND be good enough to pique their interest. The other way is to be a significant other of one of the players, or simply be really attractive (sad, but let’s face it, it’s probably true).
These players tend to be the players who have trained since a young-ish age and they should be the biggest pioneers and advocates of badminton and yet more often than not they become the biggest snobs of the sport. It’s ok though, since you probably don’t want to play with them anyways. The worst part however is that they take up a bunch of courts consistently and may even reserve them out weeks in advance. Or maybe you’re in one of these cliques and you just don’t know it.
15. The Tennis Player
This player came from tennis and figured “badminton can’t be much different so why the hell not try it out.” I mean, after all, tennis is so much more difficult and is a “real sport”, so how difficult could badminton be?
This player, admittedly, is usually quite fit and has tons of stamina. The first time playing against a tennis player is both impressive, amusing, and maybe even frustrating. They usually run around the court like a maniac with, well, tennis footwork. They’re able to get to most of the places on the court in time but it definitely looks odd – almost like a watching an energetic chicken run around the court.
Perhaps the most amusing thing when playing against this player is watching them hit the shuttle. They’ll use the same form as they learned in tennis – and the thing is, it’ll actually kinda work! They’ll mostly use their arm to generate power and somehow, with all their arm muscles, they’re actually able to get it past the net. Same thing when they’re clearing – it’s all arm yet sometimes they can actually hit pretty far! So, to be honest, they’ll probably beat most other beginners just from their sheer power. Further, for their backhands, some of them will even use both hands to try to get more power (admittedly, I did this the very first time I tried badminton)!
In the middle of the game though, you’ll see the tennis player drenched in sweat and wondering why it’s so easy for you to hit the shuttle with just a flick of your wrist. Hopefully they realize now that badminton is a much different beast than tennis and should be respected in its own right. Even better is to convert them to play badminton even more! Just tell them to read up on the differences between badminton and tennis first.
16. The Lazy One
This player makes it a point to show you that they’re not putting in any effort at all into the game. They think they’re hot stuff and want to show that they can beat you without even breaking a sweat. For this reason, this player almost exclusively plays doubles, and a very defensive game too. By doing so, they barely need to move and can cover a good portion of the court.
You might think that beating a lazy player should be quite easy, since…well…they’re lazy. The problem here is that this player tends to have lots of experience and also has pretty good racket skills. Simply trying to use power and speed to beat this player is playing right into their hands and is exactly what they’re used to. To beat them, you have to be patient and wait for opportune times to inject pace instead of trying to end the rally every shot.
The worst part though is the smug face they put up if you lose a long rally by an unforced error where you had the advantage. This is exactly the emotional damage that this player is counting on to make you lose your morale.
Well…don’t rage. That’s the worst thing to do here. If you can’t get through this person’s defense, just make them move as much as possible. Don’t even try to end the rally, make it so it’s impossible for them to be lazy and extend the rally as long as possible. At a point, they’ll be put into a situation where they either have to lose the point or not actually be lazy – and there’s a good chance the lazy player won’t want to put in effort!
17. The Coach
This player was a top 200 player in the world back in the day and can still whoop your ass without even trying despite being twice your age. Every tactic and strategy you try, they’ve already seen it before and they’ve seen it executed by someone way better than you. They’re just playing for fun and recreation and just want to move their body around a bit without much stress, which is why they’re playing against you.
This player also coaches players 5 times a week and has more control with their racket than you will have at any point in your life. They don’t need power to beat you, but just moves you around everywhere and frustrates you into making a mistake. The only hope you have of winning a point is to get a net tumble, or maybe to hit to their partner in doubles. The best case scenario is to be this player’s partner so that you can sit back and relax. But if you do lose in that case…it’s definitely because of you.
Despite being The Coach, this player does not give people advice unless asked for it. Everyone knows this player is good and they have nothing that they need to prove. So make sure to ask for tips and tricks from The Coach after you’re done with your games. They’ll gladly give you some advice and who doesn’t like world class advice – especially when it’s free?
18. The “Coach”
This player, unlike The Coach, gives out advice for free, willingly, and all the time. Sounds like a good deal right? When you’re in the middle of a game, after the match, or right after you make a mistake, this player will gladly be by your side ready to impart their wisdom to you.
This is the Coach wannabe. This player thinks they’re hot stuff but doesn’t actually have the credentials and skills to prove it. They want all of the prestige and attention of the actual Coach, but no one actually takes this person seriously. This player loves playing with beginners and new badminton players so that they can give them advice since beginners don’t know any better. This player craves the attention and fantasizes about being looked up to by others.
In a game, they’ll be the ones to stall the game so that they can give unsolicited advice to their partner – especially right after their partner makes a mistake. This is to show their opponents that their partner is the reason why they’re losing and certainly not because of them! If only their partner was actually listening to what they were saying then they would be winning!
While the advice that they give is…questionable at best… they do have good intentions – at least you’d like to think so. You kind of wonder what type of advice they’re giving out though since you don’t really see anything exceptional in their game play…
19. The Unconventional One
This player loves to use fringe strategies and gimmicks to trick their opponents. Playing against this player is almost like playing a whole new game. They’ll use techniques that you’ve never seen and form that they made up themselves.
During the serve, they’ll try to use weird angles that start from the alleyway and hit to your backhand. Or maybe they’ll try some weird and borderline illegal drive serve. Next, they’ll do a really high forehand serve despite it being doubles.
During the rally, this player will play the most bizarre looking shots, like looking to the left while hitting the shuttle to the right. Or maybe constantly make hard reads of where their opponent will hit to next and moving way ahead of time. By playing like this, they get themselves into trouble more often than not, but I’m starting to think that it’s kind of on purpose now – as if they want to be put in “desperate” situations to artificially make the game more fun and interesting.
During the times when you’re their partner, you’ll have to be the one conforming to their play style, not the other way around. When they do some weird tactic you’ve never seen, you’ll have to be the one to improvise the follow up. Or if it fails, you’ll be the one that has to save the rally. Good luck with all that and figuring out where to stand since it’s anybody’s guess!
Anything that this player can think of, they’ll try. To them, badminton is a form of art and the court and racket are their canvas and paintbrush. They’re having fun the way they want and nobody is going to stop them. However, playing with some standard strategies with solid execution will often be enough to beat this player. There’s a reason why there are tried-and-true methods that players use to play – but it’s definitely not for this player!
20. The One that Calls Everything Out
This player calls any shot that is near or on a boundary line as out. As long as the shot is close enough to the line such that they are able to have plausible deniability in case they get push back, they will call the shot out.
In professional games, line judges are used in the game as a neutral 3rd party (at least, supposedly), but in casual games, it’s an honor system – the side of where the shuttle lands gets to call whether it’s in or out. And, well…this player doesn’t know the meaning of honor! Screw that, they want to win!
But what about when their opponents challenge their decision? Well, they double down. They just say that it’s out confidently and that they are 100% sure about it. Or maybe even 110% sure. You know, to really convey that they’re sure it’s out. And if that doesn’t work, they’ll try to guilt trip them by saying “it’s just a casual game, no need to get angry about a point” and then proceed to continually call any shot near or on the lines out.
I mean, they probably read How to Cheat at Badminton – A Tier List of Dirty Plays and saw that calling shots out was actually quite effective! After all, they suddenly started winning more games once they implemented this new “technique”, so why would they stop?
This new “technique” has so many benefits – it’s almost like their court size is two to three inches smaller on every side! Wow, that’s quite an advantage. And for some reason, this player’s opponents always seem to be frustrated or on tilt. So many advantages and pretty much no drawback, who wouldn’t like that? I wonder why more coaches aren’t teaching this “technique” to their students…
Instead of this “technique”, maybe coaches should come up with a new course against this type of player. I’d call it the Defense Against the Dark Arts.
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“What a fun and relatable post! I couldn’t help but nod along as I read through these 10 annoying types of badminton players. It’s amazing how the badminton court seems to attract such a diverse range of personalities. From the ‘Never Gives Up’ warrior to the ‘Casual Chatterbox,’ we’ve all encountered these characters on the court at some point. Let’s remember that at the heart of it all, badminton is about enjoying the game and having a great time with fellow enthusiasts. So, let’s embrace these quirks, learn from them, and keep the shuttlecock flying in the spirit of friendly competition and sportsmanship!
Haha! Glad you enjoyed it. I’m thinking of writing more of these as they are quite fun. I’d appreciate any sort of sharing of the post with friends, family, and the badminton community! I’m sure many badminton players would get a chuckle or two 🙂
It’s good to get a chuckle of such variety of funny behavior. Maybe can also collect a list of enjoyable ones.