Good! You only need to experience a few good ones; you can build on that. I think it's always going to feel like that to some extent. When the lift is flat, you often don't have enough time to fully "unwind" into the shot. It's still a good habit to make your preparation quick. But in practice, you will often end up hitting more of a punch clear, rather than a full swing. It is necessary to allow yourself to adapt to the rally situation. And in a real rally, you would often play a downwards shot instead.
Low lifts can be difficult, but you should still be able to avoid the "cramped" feeling you seem to be describing. The key problem will be in your "preparation" phase - the higher it gets, the shorter the swing, the easier to make quick contact with low lifts. The lower the preparation, the longer the swing will take, and the harder it is to respond to a shuttle arriving quickly. The other option is if it is round the head - use a very abbreviated almost forearm only swing. I can't describe this very well, but it requires you to reach out to where you will take the shuttle round the head, strings facing forwards, then just perform supination and pronation to powerfully strike the shuttle in a compact swing, that features no elbow extension. This can be used to take any shuttle at an awkward height, that cannot be easily taken with a "regular" throwing action, including shuttles that are passing directly over your head at an awkward height. This is very much a "round the head" hitting technique, and feels distinctly different from a normal overhead stroke. Good luck!
Use fingers. But definitely the compact swing is needed. You can play clears but you need that finger technique and timing to do so.
To clarify, I only 'collapse' backwards if I purposely try and return a low lift with a straight arm/high contact point. However, if I try and take the shuttle at the highest point, it's still quite low (just because the lift itself is low), therefore i feel the need to move backwards such that my arm is straighter in front of me which leads to the 'cramped' feeling. If I bend my arm and limit my swing to forearm/fingers more like a drive, i'm able to get a decent distance, but it doesn't feel like the full overhead action I'm trying to practise. It's the decision between taking a step back and playing this sort of shot, or leaping back to get a straight arm action, where i'm almost crouching under the shuttle to try and maintain a straighter arm whilst contacting it in front of me.
If it's below the highest point you can reach, then play drops or a placement downward shot. As your finger technique improves, you get a wider variety of shots in your arsenal. Still use the compact swing but the preparation will be different with less arm backwards and less body rotation backwards.
I would suggest that it is unlikely you will ever need to hit with a bent arm, unless bending the arm is the only way to reach the shot as far as possible (e.g. extreme round the head). What you will often end up doing is bending at the wrist, so the racket and arm are at 90 degrees. Do not confuse "maximum reach" with "maximum height". I would say you would always strive to hit the shuttle with a nearly straight arm.
I think this is my dilemma - I have noticed in my game that on flat lifts/drives I have a strong tendency to pull my opponent into the net as I strongly bias towards downwards shots. It gets to the point where my opponent will possibly even play a flat lift short, expecting a drop or smash, and so bias their stance accordingly. Looking back, I believe that I found games where opponents give me higher lifts easier not only because of less movement pressure, but also because I play more clears, putting my opponent under more movement pressure. When opponents use flat lifts/clears, I stop clearing as often, and the shots that my opponents have to go back for are largely lifts rather than clears. On a more positive note, by coincidence, I played the person again on the first video I'd posted from October 2016 (where he was winning at a score line around 10-21), and I managed to win 21-7, 15-21, 21-16. The clearest difference was the forehand rear corner where I was still managing to maintain control of the rally rather than remain reactive. That's encouraging, and I'm sure with smoother racquet techniques, I can do much better!
That's OK because they are having to move. For a decent quality downward shot, they have not yet won the point. Yup. A lot of players do this. Remember, at your level, most people will prefer to hit to two or three corners of the court. So just concentrate on the shuttle going to those areas. I don't see that this is a problem.
A typical sequence is I lift, they smash, i block to the net, and they run in and play a flat lift. From my position, I've played the block (which is normally flat enough not to be killed, but travels further from the net so my opponents generally maintain options to play flatter shots), and now if they play the flat lift, the downwards shots we're discussing feel less attractive as I can't apply movement pressure if they know I'm not going to clear it. In this situation i could try a clip smash/drop shot downwards, but the risk is repeated lifts where I'm constantly being pushed around the back as they dictate the rally by threatening the net shot and not having to move much. When the net shot comes, i can play the lift, but then the cycle continues where I'm reacting to the play they dictate. Either something is wrong with my logic, or perhaps my shots? Maybe my blocks are too flat, and should loop over the net more, even if it risks a tighter net shot?
Understood. It's your recovery footwork and control of centre of gravity that is required. And because you haven't got control of these and have suboptimal preparation (including flying step, body rotation etc), you are not comfortable. Your options will improve when your footwork, centre of gravity, speed etc start to come under your control. Correct one or two things at a time and this means basic footwork and getting the height of striking the shuttle.
Keep yourself positioned further away from the net after you block, you know they'll try a flat lift. If your block is a little deeper it should be harder for them to play it extremely close to the net. Also don't be afraid of blocking cross court.
So when you said before that making these downward shots are not a problem, i take it they are only not a problem if your opponent is equally prepared for them as a clear from such a position? You're quite right about this point. I'm paranoid about the net shot, but my blocks are generally such that a tight net shot is quite hard for my opponents. The feeling I get is like the situation Tai T.Y is in at 32:50 of . It feels like i want to cover the net, but I'm being pushed back hard in both rear corners. She gets out of the situation, but it looks difficult! Yet most points against better opponents feel like this for me, so i must be doing something strange.
You're worried about covering the net because your lunges are awkward and difficult to recover from as has been previously noted. Keep yourself further back and avoid any of these clumsy lunges. It's always said, take the shuttle as early as possible. I don't think this is the best advice for you. Take the shuttle at the net when it's comfortable for you. Go watch some of the singles professionals, there are often times where they play the shot below the net to avoid displacing themselves. When they do this you should note they are always applying movement pressure in the returning shot. They will often only play a straight net reply from this low position if it's really advantageous but a lift or cross are much more common. Now if you can get the advantage without displacing yourself heavily, by taking a net shot high and straight, that's great. Use it. Giving your opponent the opportunity to play a tight net shot is often devastating in rallies. If you do it at the wrong time you will be under movement pressure. If you do it at the right time they will struggle to play a good reply. So yeah don't aim to do these all the time yourself, but rather make sure your opponent can't do them, and only use them when very opportune. Keep yourself further back Avoid giving your opponent the time or opportunity to play a tight net shot (like a straight slow drop when they're on balance) Don't rush to take everything as high as possible at the net, it's not always beneficial Make better use of angles with your blocks to avoid your opponent being opportunistic
What you describe here is simply singles at its purest. One player works hard to keep the other at the back... the one at the back works hard to stay in the rally. Notice: TZY plays lots of varied pace dropshots (including very slow ones) to keep herself in the rally. After the slower shot, she is usually in a position to take the next one more easily. It is hard work, for both players - one has to take it early at the net, and hope for a mistake, the other has to work hard to move around the back, and remain patient. You will run into problems if you keep rushing forwards trying to get back to the middle, but if you play a slower shot and hang back, you will likely have plenty of options on the next shot and can then play your lift/clear. This then puts the pressure on your opponent - they wanted to cause a weak response by bullying you, and you played a deep clear simply resetting the rally. If you hang in there, you will beat them! Whilst the sequence you outlined is nothing to be afraid of - you now need variety... when they smash, try a driven defence, try a lifted defence straight back at them, try a cross defence. After the block, when they play the flat lift, they are either hitting it within your hitting zone and you can intercept in the midcourt - try to drive or lift these just for variety so you can learn the shots: it just takes practice! If the shuttle is higher you have time to move backwards and take them with a full swing and play the clear. I think its easy, when under pressure, to think that something is wrong. We often forget that our opponent is also under pressure - they are wondering how they are going to beat you when you keep getting everything back and they can't beat you, even though they know you are just playing drop shots. It's all part of the game! And I wouldn't be too concerned about people catching on that if they play flat, you always play a drop shot. As long as you sometimes play different shots from different corners, most players at your level will not be expecting a drop shot based on a few rallies. If you start playing someone who can read you like a book, they are probably also very skillful, and would have beaten you anyway. Thats the nature of badminton - those fast enough and accurate enough to pressure you, are probably very skillful. When you can resist this type of play, you are also very skillful. Good luck!
How time flies - apparently it is now almost 1 year on since I first sought advice here, and 3 months since my last video of me in tournament play. I have been working quite heavily on the feedback all of you have given. Particular emphasis on what Cheung has summarised in the quoted: get the recovery footwork, control of centre of gravity, and shot preparation under control. So without further ado - here is my latest competition footage (I am wearing blue): Some of my own notes on this match: - Personally, I think I played the best I have ever played in the first game. My footwork appears to be much stronger, and I seem to be actively building points, rather than waiting for my opponents to make a mistake. - I played significantly better in the first game (17-21) than the second game (9-21). Much of this is to do with me being faster and more explosive in the first game from just viewing the footage - i seem faster with more shot options available. It was also one of the most tiring games that I have played. I need to think about training harder such that I can get through a complete match at a higher level of intensity and/or playing shots that allow me to maintain pressure on my opponent, but allow me to 'recover' a bit. An example is at 3:10 - this is the longest rally in the match at 29 shots and I am really struggling to maintain pressure without exhausting myself. The crosscourt drop from forehand is a shot I lose points on a couple of times which needs more work. - I get into a LOT of trouble when I take a shot on my backhand footwork (rather than a round the head), typically when my opponent plays flatter pushes. I need to explore my options other than a block to the net, and also train myself to use round the head footwork on lower shots. - My net shots/serves are putting me into trouble when they are loose and my opponent takes them early and pushes the shuttle to a tramline (this is particularly evident in the second game). Related, my net shots are probably slightly too high - i can almost certainly get a decent hairpin without letting it loop so high. - one of the conscious decisions going into the second game was to play higher lifts/clears, and tighter drops/nets. This strategy completely backfired as my opponent had a very strong set of strokes from the rearcourt (strong jump smash), and perhaps keeping to a flat game would have been the tactic to go for. I'm keen to hear others' analysis of my game. All thoughts are welcome, no matter how minor - For ease of comparison, my performance 3 months ago is below:
Just watched your game. Well done. Comments: Clearly you footwork to the back corners, and your overhead hitting, have improved dramatically. Great job! What are your weaknesses now? All your drop shots are quite slow - they are working for you, but they are still very slow. Defence. Footwork to the front. Recovery footwork from rearcourt. Netshots and other forecourt shots. Imagine the effort you currently make to take the shuttle at the back of the court is 8/10 - you move fast, get behind it, and hit effective downwards shots, often winning points. The comparative effort for you to take the shuttle at the front of the court appears to be about 5/10. You move for it, but do not reach out to take the shuttle early because you move with the racket close to the floor - stretch that arm out! You also do not have a tight spinning net shot - this is something that would greatly improve your singles. Your shots do not look the same e.g. its obvious if you are going to lift, or play cross court, or attempt a net shot. However, if all shots looked the same, you would be very formidable. The main problem I saw was your movement to and from the front court. View the rally at 1:44: Serve - fine. Round the head movement for the fast flick - fine. Then comes the big high lift - you move backwards, clearly leaning backwards (why? plenty of time. Get that bodyweight and balance under control!). You then hit a nice cross court slow drop shot. Your opponent is actually playing his return, and you are not even in the screen yet?! Where are you? This highlights my point about your recovery footwork from the rear court. You come charging forwards, lunging with your foot pointing the wrong way and sliding. You didn't slide your back leg close enough to the lunging leg, so your first step in recovery is actually a very small step with your right foot (wasted - it took you nowhere). You then rush backwards, but your body is not very low, so you struggle to retrieve the smash (it would have been tough anyway - but you were ready as you moved either!). I believe in the second game your gameplay became predictable, as well as you making a lot of mistakes. I believe if you could get forwards and play the net earlier, you would have had a lot of success. For example: you play a clear at 6:39. Opponent plays a slow cross court dropshot. Your base was on the wrong side of the court, and because you move with your racket close to the floor, you do not push yourself to get there early. You make a mistake, but the shot you would have played would not have put your opponent under any pressure. What I would like to see, is you charging forwards and taking the shuttle just below tape height to play a tight net shot, or hold and flick to his forehand deep corner (which you won a lot of points with when you flicked it there quickly). Thats just an example - but I spotted a few of them. There is lots of good stuff going on in your games. I have been quite harsh in my review, and you are clearly making excellent progress. The other general comment I would make is that you are obviously an extremely aggressive singles player. You said yourself you are actively building points and not just waiting for mistakes - remember that in singles you exactly want to make your opponent make mistakes!!! Whilst I too like this style, it has a terrible burden to it - where you feel you have to be hitting good shots all the time to put your opponent under pressure. However, learning a more patient style, and being able to mix them, would probably do you a lot of good. Your defence against smashes seems quite weak here - if you were to improve the footwork to the front of the court such that you were able to take shots really early, and you were to retrieve all your opponents smashes, you would probably feel quite comfortable knowing he cannot hit the shuttle through you. I think this would allow you to play a more fun game where you can mix deadly attack with very solid defence. Good luck!
Is that venue the Railway Institute in York? If so, how come it hasn't been knocked down and redeveloped? LOL That is a big improvement so well done to you! As an overall assessment, the 2nd game you lost because you are still on the improvement phase and do not have the necessary weapons or clear idea of the game play in order to change a game around. Just some technical points. That footwork going to the forehand corner is very, very stressful on your lunging foot - I think you really need to prioritise correcting that first above all because it is only a matter or sooner (not later) that you are going to roll over and badly strain that ankle. Turn that foot outwards when you lunge! Also, in that corner, try to get yourself to hit the shuttle simultaneously when you land the foot. This will greatly increase your consistency and quality of netshots. It is a very common problem. For your step out to the forehand side and sideways jump to smash down the line, you have made it into a liability. Don't think of it as a winner. Use it as an opportunity to change the pace of the rally. You must hit it steeply (and use less power if need be). Your objective is to change the pace and make the opponent have to reach downwards - with mixing in some variety, you can also make him stretch down and forward. By doing this, he has to move his body weight up and down. Over the course of the match, this (plus other strategies) wear the opponent down mentally. You have not yet developed the rhythm part of your game. This is quite a tough thing to express over the internet and it is related to what Matt wrote about being patient. You have to train to curb your natural tendency to end the rally quickly. You need to be able to play those twenty shot training rallies described in my current training regime which Matt and I discussed. You need to improve your netplay to recognise when to take the shuttle high and sometimes when to deliberately take it low. That will dramatically increase your confidence in your own consistency and help you control the game (rather than feel like being controlled). We talked a bit about variation; some of that predictability of your game is that when a shuttle comes to you at a certain height and speed, you mostly choose one shot to one corner of the court. As your opponent, I would have marked out this behaviour and use it to prolong the rallies. You are using the flickserve far too much. Please learn the variations of the low serve. You can play the serve slightly longer and faster. You can combine this with altering the direction of the serve slightly. Use this to probe the weaker areas of the opponent's return of serve. You can deliberately give a shorter and slightly loopy serve to invite the opponent into playing a netshot. I will try to give some finer technical points later but you have already made a big improvement.
Thank you both for your well thought out responses. I thought I'd hop onto the computer to properly respond! I came out wondering what on earth I could be improving as I felt like I was hitting a plateau, but I seem to have missed the wood for the trees and I have obviously got plenty of things to add to my list now! I feel my rearcourt play has improved substantially, and as noted, my drop shots I feel are the weak link from the back. They are slow as as my coach pointed out, I seem to be "chickening out" just as I am about to play the stroke; by that he means that I slow down my whole stroke rather than slice it in order to get the drop effect. The other problem with the slow racquet movement is that I end up taking the shuttle low, leading to a looping pattern. One of my focuses will be to take these drop shots early, just as I would for a steep smash / clear. My defence is almost non-existent. It is more there in terms of retrieval, but in terms of variety, it is basically blocks to the net - crosscourts maybe if it's slow enough. The block quality also isn't great - I used to block such that the shuttle passed close to the net parallel to the floor, but now I aim to try and 'loop' them over; however they generally travel too far giving my opponents the chance to play a held net shot/flick which loses me so many points. I also need to practise my defence in terms of responding with pushes/drives/lifts as well as blocks. I'm not sure where to get started to be fair - in doubles I do lift in defence, but as soon as I have to consider the width of defence in singles, it's blocks only. Matt's biggest pointer was my forward footwork, and I 100% agree with it. The other match I played was with the number 1 seed of the tournament who basically did exactly what you said - on my slow drops, he basically charged the net and had the hold option with tight spinning net shot / flick to follow. Unfortunately, I forgot to turn my camera on I was so astounded by how fast he was getting to the net that I had to convince myself that he was definitely in a central base before I hit the drop shot, as he had enough time to play a tight net shot/flicked lift that I might as well have played the shot directly at him! Your comment about stretching my arm out rings true - I am transitioning from the 'army' lift to a more 'fingery' lift from the forecourt area, and my coach also pointed out that i don't need a bent arm unless i'm considering playing a last ditch high defensive lift. I believe this should feed into the 'make the shots look the same' idea too? I definitely need to be more proactive in moving forward, rather than waiting for the shuttle; just like striving for that high contact point on my overhead in the rearcourt, I should do the same in the forecourt! I've decided to address the recovery footwork from the backhand corner separately, because i think just getting to my base position from the backhand corner after playing a round the head is problematic. I am indeed leaning back, because I currently don't have the confidence in this corner. I think I still take too make shots with backhand footwork, so on the example at 1:44, my instinct is telling me that i'm going to struggle with RTH footwork, even though I have plenty time as you point out. The backwards leaning is because i'm almost certainly moving backward too square, rather than rotating and sidestepping/scissoring. I am going to work on this footwork by: 1) forcing the habit and trying to do it more often 2) getting my right shoulder back to give me more room to play a shot like my forehand corner (this should ideally also get me to move sideways rather than square). Is this approach sensible? I agree with the aggressive style - it certainly wasn't my intention, but I think as both replies pointed out, I am lacking the 'weapons' (defence, specific strokes) to play a patient game. I'll certainly be prioritising my defence and my forecourt retrieval from base. The rearcourt backhand retrieval and recovery needs improving, but would be less of a problem if I could play clears and be confident of returning a smash/drop from a solid base - the problem is exacerbated by me playing crosscourt drops... The venue is the Concord Leisure Centre in Sheffield - i've never played in the Railway Institute! That footwork to the forehand corner is a seriously hard habit to get rid of! I think I am starting to at least get the heel strike first now - previously I was landing midfoot/toes first (and i still sometimes do...). I'll have to double down and do outward lunges before i go sleep every night at this rate :s However, safety first, and i agree that it's always a good point to raise. I feel that I generally land, then play the net shot rather than the other way - is this correct? Could you refer to a specific example somewhere? The reason in my head is that it means I can start recovering before I hit my shot; Based on your response, I am pretty sure this is wrong, but what is the reason? Is the quality of shot so much higher than the time saved in recovery, or perhaps it's because I should theoretically be able to move further and play the shot earlier? A fair point about my predictability - I think with some shots, they just seem too tempting compared to my alternatives that I just play them. I need to improve my weaker shots to make them viable in competition. I have mentioned in another thread about power vs. angle on the forehand jumpout/step out smash - I agree here, and for me it's a new experience even being able to smash at all from this position that I get a bit giddy and just go all out on power Agree on flick serve. This was actually because it seemed to be working really well against this particular opponent in the first game. In the second game, he was much more prepared - I should stick to a reliable short serve to safely start a rally rather than try to gain an advantage from the start. My short serve got predictable enough that I was getting flicks into my deep forehand and I was getting frustrated, thinking i was just putting them over the net too high - I didn't even think to try more looping serves/wide serves! This was supposed to be a concise response, but the replies have been top quality and I can only respond in kind. Thanks again for the invaluable feedback. Just to others who have watched - i'm certainly not expecting feedback to be as comprehensive as @MSeeley and @Cheung, and all of your comments are helpful to me, so please don't hold back even if it's a small criticism!
