4 Most Challenging Badminton Drills for Beginner Players

As a new badminton player, finding the right drills to level up your game can be confusing. 

You’ve probably already laid the groundwork with the basics — like high serves, low serves, and the ready position. But if you want to start learning more advanced techniques, which drills should you add to your training routine?

Whether you’re trying to get better at badminton quickly or just want to test your skills, here are four of the most challenging badminton drills to try the next time you hit the court.

4 Challenging Badminton Drills for Beginners

Try these badminton drills a few times per week to push yourself outside your comfort zone and make more progress as a beginner:

1. Random Offensive Multishuttle Drill

Once you have a handle on your basic badminton skills, multishuttle training is an excellent way to take your abilities to the next level. It involves one player hitting shuttle after shuttle over the net, with the other player (you) attempting to hit predetermined types of shots. 

This random offense multishuttle drill helps you hone a variety of offensive moves — including smashes, pushes, drop shots, and net kills.

Here’s how it works:

• Grab a partner and a few dozen shuttles. Stand across the net from them in your ready stance.
• Your partner will then begin feeding shuttles to you, one after the other, to random areas on your court.
• You should attempt to hit every shuttle with an offensive shot. This means no clears from the back — only back drops, smashes, or drives. In the frontcourt, you’ll want to stick to fast lifts, pushes, or net kills.
• Repeat for 3 to 5 sets of 50 shuttles.

2. Half-Court Singles

When it comes to challenging badminton drills for beginners, half-court singles is another great option.

It involves much less court space than classic singles, meaning you’ll need incredible accuracy and precision to do well in this exercise. The rules are the same as full-court singles — except that every shot hit outside of the centerline is considered out of bounds.

Full singles games aren’t the only way to train on a half-court. For more drills and games to try, this tutorial by Badminton Insight is another amazing resource to check out.

3. Transition-to-Offense Multishuttle Drill

In almost every badminton rally, you’ll have moments when you’re in a “transition” state — not attacking but not quite defending either. 

This phase usually occurs after one player shifts out of defense using a strong counterattacking shot — like a defensive drive or push. What follows is a transition phase involving long back drops, drives, and other neutral shots until one player gains the offense.

When this happens, knowing how to secure the advantage is crucial. The transition-to-offense multishuttle drill is designed to help you practice exactly that:

• As with other multishuttle drills, you’ll need a partner to feed you shuttles across the net.
• Your partner will hit shuttles to you in random areas on your court. At first, you should aim to hit neutral shots back to the feeder — as if you’re in a transition phase in a real rally.
• After several of these shots, start to look for any loose shots from your feeder. When you see an easy one to attack — such as a short lift — try to smash it with explosive power. 
• Repeat for five sets of 50 shuttles.

4. Six-Corner-Footwork

Six-corner footwork is a challenging badminton drill that can help you tie all of your basic footwork skills together. By practicing it a few times per week, you can build muscle memory and  learn how to move more quickly on the court.

Here are the steps:

• Start in the middle of the court. 
• Jump into a split step. Then, step and lunge toward your front right court. (As you do this, swing your racket like you’re actually hitting a shuttle!)
• Jump back into the center of the court, and repeat with the left side.
• Return to the center, and repeat with both sides of the midcourt.
• Repeat again with both sides of the backcourt, this time swinging your racket in a smashing motion.
• Once you’ve completed all six corners, start again from the middle.
• Repeat for three sets lasting 3 to 5 minutes each.

(View this video to see how this drill looks in action.)