Would you like to improve your badminton skill level? At RWBC we can show you how to do it. Please call Jean Folinsbee or Janet Johnson at 780-460-2441 for more information.

Private Lessons
The Red Willow offers private lessons by appointment, and the fee is $45 per hour plus GST for members. For non-members the cost is $50 for juniors and $55 per hour plus GST for seniors. Students must provide shuttles.

Junior Group Instruction.

Please click here for the December lesson program.

Please click here for the January lesson program.

Please click here for the November lesson program.

Summer Camps

Click here for the summer camp 2024 program.

Here are some  helpful tips written by RWBC co-founder, David Folinsbee, as well a video explaining how to repair feather shuttles. 

Grip

Nothing is more important than the way you hold the racket. VOS – it means that you must form a V with your thumb and index finger and make certain the V points to your Opposite Shoulder when the racket is in the ready position (pointing at the net.) Beginners find the VOS grip very uncomfortable and believe they can hit better shots if they hold the racket like it was a hammer. However, it is virtually impossible to improve at the game until you learn to play with the VOS grip! Use it on all shots.

Footwork

All strokes should be hit with your weight on the racket leg (right leg for right-handed players; left leg for left-handers) at the point of contact. Learn to transfer your weight from racket to non-racket leg after contact. Try to do this on all shots and you will find that you have better balance and can move on the court with much less effort.

Basic stroking

Forget about hitting hard shots when you are learning. Hold the racket loosely and hit only soft shots – no smashes until after you have learned how to stroke drops & clears. For underhand shots played near the net there is almost no backswing or follow-through. For overhead shots position the racket behind your head and stroke with a relaxed arm so the head of the racket will twist at the point of contact. It’s called pronation on the forehand and supination on the backhand, and it’s done with the forearm–keeping the backswing and follow-through short. Use the same technique for sidearm strokes. For better balance always try to keep your free arm at shoulder height.

Serving

Use only the short backhand serve. Stand sideways to the net with racket leg forward and grip the racket loosely. Hold the shuttle below the waist and by the tip of a feather. Then take a slow,soft stroke with the racket shaft pointing down, and weight on the racket leg. Your elbow should be as high as your shoulder throughout the stroke. Forehand serves or high serves to the backcourt are not recommended for novice players. When returning a serve be sure that your ready position is with the weight forward on the non-racket leg and the racket held at shoulder height pointing at the server, so that when you move forward or backward to return the serve your weight is on the racket leg at point of contact.

Basic singles strategy

The way to improve is by doing drills–repeating the same strokes over and over. Drills can become monotonous, so if you decide to play the occasional game of singles, the strategy is to try and make your opponent run by placing your shots in any of the four corners. Avoid smashing altogether until you have learned the other strokes. And remember: the way to learn how to place your shots accurately is by not playing games, but by doing drills.

Basic doubles strategy

Doubles games may be more fun than singles, but the strategy can be quite complicated. The basic idea is that when one player moves forward to play a shot near the net, the partner should be ready to cover the backcourt. The smash is the most important shot in doubles, and to return smashes you and your partner must be side by side, mid-court. Try to keep your shots as flat as possible so that your opponents won’t be able to smash so much.

Sportsmanship

Badminton is great exercise and fun. Good sportsmanship is of paramount importance. In a club game (when there is no umpire or linesmen) calling your opponent’s shots in or out is not always easy, especially if you do not clearly see the shuttle land. If you aren’t certain their shot was out you should always concede the point to your opponents. Don’t ask for their opinion, or for a replay! Sportsmanship applies to possible rule violations (illegal serve, touching the net, etc) A good sport never accuses opponents of breaking a rule! It just isn’t done in a “friendly” badminton game, which includes Red Willow ladder matches. At sanctioned open tournaments there are normally volunteer officials available to enforce the rules of the game.

Legal Serves

The international rules of badminton for serving contain specific details about the position of the shuttle and the racket head in relation to the waist. Many players think that if they contact the shuttle below the waist their serve is legal. Not so! The head of the racket must be below your hand even if you contact the shuttle at knee level. The most difficult thing to remember, particularly on backhand serves, is to make sure the shaft of the racket is pointing down when the shuttle is actually contacted.

Shuttle Repairs

You can substantially increase the life of a shuttle if you replace the first broken feather. A shuttle may appear to fly normally with one (or even two) broken feathers, but the adjacent feathers will soon break due to lost support in that area, and the shuttle is then beyond repair. Even when a shuttle can’t be repaired, several of the 16 feathers can usually be salvaged to repair other shuttles. All that is needed is long-nosed pliers and an awl, and we will show you how to replace the broken feathers. It’s quite simple to do. If you can’t be bothered repairing your shuttles, or if they are beyond repair, please leave them on the counter in the main lounge so that other members can use the feathers to repair their shuttles.

For many years, David offered to repair any shuttle (but never a birdie!) purchased at the RWBC, as long as only one feather was broken. Many members kindly donated their used shuttles so that David could repair them for the kids in the RWBC junior ladders and camp. David explains how to repair a shuttle as well as wrap a badminton racket grip in these two videos. 

How to repair a badminton shuttle

How to wrap a badminton racket grip