1. Is the contact point of the drop the same as the smash? or is it the same as the clear and ur supposed to flick ur wrist to get the angle. I'm thinking its the first but someone told me its the second and then i started thinking. if the contact point was the same as a smash u probably wouldn't have too many opportunities to do it but its done all the time in singles. so that is why i posted this question 2. Is it possible to do a slice drop shot and make it go straight? I was reading badmintonbible and it said slicing has two effects and one was change of direction. On the other hand I saw the video of coach Zhao and Xiao Jie and they were talking about slicing it horizontally to make it go straight. I tried it and it didn't really work out...
Hi Footwork For me the drop is the shot that has the greatest variation in its execution. To answer you first question, to me the shuttle can be hit just above your head (the clear's position) or just in front (the smash). You have to adapt your movement to each (different angle in the slice). The trajectory will be different, the drop made hitting the shuttle in front of you can be very fast, half-smash-like, while the drop made with the shuttle above your head can fall very close to the net. When you say that the smash-point of contact is a bit rare, I do not agree. I depends of your footwork, Footwork. To the second question, the answer is yes. The direction of the drop does not depend on the angle the racquet do when it contact the shuttle, but the direction of the push you give then (of course one should not exaggerate this angle). If you push straight, then the shuttle will go straight, even if the angle of your racquet brushes the shuttle. But if you finish your movement by a rotation of your hand so to 'curl' around the shuttle, increasing the angle of your racquet at the point of contact, then the direction change. If moreover you move the racquet towards one of the corner with your arm's movement, then you add to the direction change. (Not true for reverse-slice). I hope it is clear and it could work for you. But I must repeat, for me the drop is perhaps the shot with most variation amongst players regarding to technique, as there is a continuum between the slow drop very close to the net and the cross-court smashes.
hehe thx renbo i like your answer. Now that I think about it your completely right about the drop having many variations and there is no set technique. ehhh well in the backhand rear corner getting behind the birdy happens frequently with my footwork but for the forehand rear corner im usually using the footwork patterns where u jump at the end or lunge. very rarely does the opponent do a very high lift or clear where i can just back up and do a scissor jump. Although like i said in the backhand rear corner i can always do a scissor jump and contact the bird in front of me. ahhh thanks alot man on the info about the straight slice i'll try it out
btw i was wondering, if there is no change of direction from a straight slice then why do it? There isn't any of the deception benefit that comes from slicing because the direction of the shuttle matches your swing direction and no one is going to look at the angle your racket is making and even if they do I still feel as though the straight slice wouldn't really deceive someone. Now the slice cross-drop shot i find very useful. would you say pros mainly use slice for cross drop shots? u can't really tell by watching youtube vids...
Because what the slicing does is reducing the speed. So if you drop without slicing, you have to have a slow movement, so the shuttle won't go far. But then the opponent see everything in slow motion - your movement, the shuttle...- and can run to pounce the shuttle. But if you slice, you can keep the speed of movement you normally have for a smash or a clear, and the shuttle will start fast but will reduce its speed. So that way you hide your move. If you watch the pros, most of the time it is impossible to tell the difference in their movement with those three shots. Thats what my coach use to say to me : one movement, three shots. So that explains why the straight slice drop is used as well as cross-court slice.
hehe thx again renbo . sooo now that u told me the benefits of slicing what is the benefit of not slicing??? it seems to me you should always slice unless you are in the back part of rearcourt and slicing it will make it a slow drop and not a fast drop. As a general rule of thumb can i say for all drops you should swing fast (or normally) and if swinging normally will make it go too far then you should slice it instead in the direction you want?
Yes, you are correct - as far as my knowledge goes. The only benefit of not slicing is that it is easier to put the shuttle very close to the net that way, with a slow shuttle. We see it more often in doubles, as the players in defense are ready for fast shuttles (so the fast drops are in fact less effective then the smashes), and what is important is to put the shuttle very close to the net. Another thing to consider is the trajectory of the shuttle coming to you. If it is a drive or an attacking clear (the shuttle travels horizontally), you can drop without slicing (almost a block). But if it is a flick, the shuttle comes vertically towards you and it is better to put pace on it - so you hit hard but slice. I am not so sure about this last point, I was not taught so, it is more an intuitive answer.
ahh yea i gotcha. well thx alot i played today and my drops have been doing alot better. umm i noticed when trying to do a straight slice the bird doesn't go completely straight, it still goes a tiny bit in the direction i have the racket face angled to...maybe im doing it wrong
I would say "open" your movement a little. Lets say you play with the right hand. If you want to drop to your left, you curl your hand around the shuttle. If you want to drop to your right, you do a reverse slice. Now if you want to drop straight in front (with slice), you hit the shuttle with an angle (not to big) and follow the hit not totally towards your front but a little towards your right. When I say "follow your hit", I don't mean the arm (the arm always go straight, to hide your shot), but the movement of your hand. If the angle of the racquet is 30 degree (a flat hit would be at 0 degree), your hand should go on its push at this degree. If your hand were throwing a dart, it would go on that direction. It is in adjusting this slight movement of the hand at the moment of impact that you can gives different effect to the drop (slower, faster, more to the right, etc.) A sketch would explain better!
hmmm lol i think a sketch or a video would help. i think i know what your saying and will try it out tomorrow, see how it goes. thx again i should be fine from here on out with drop shots. just needed some info on them since gollum's badmintonbible doesn't have anything about slicing or drops and that is the only site i trust to provide correct information. badmintonbible and watching pro badminton is where i get all my info , until i got an account here anyway
Well if you watched the video's they did mention that if you clear is at 90 degrees then your drop should be 10 degrees lower (and forward) and your smash 20 degrees lower and more forward. however i guess it was just a guide as not all shots will be straight and above you, if any You could do a slice in any direction you like. I've seen LCW do a reverse slice and it went straight too. i.e shuttle came in from 11 o clock, racket swing towards 10 o clock in a slicing motion to the left, racket face suddenly scoops and slices towards 2 o clock, and shuttle just sliced drop straight dont ask me how you train for that
I think the reverse-slice straight drop is actually easier then the normal straight slice, but it does not go as fast. Well, that is the way it work for me! Footwork, I don't know how you play with your friends, but one think that makes someone get the feeling of the different drops is to do special practice for it. I mean, if you play match it is not enough. If you put one of your friend in front and ask him to lift you shuttles that you drop to him in return, for at least 20 minutes, then you can experiment all the angles and motions. I think this exercise can be done (like once a week) until you consistently makes 30 drops in a row, without mistakes.
Lol i never subscribed to the videos. i like the articles better. Yea i saw LCW do a straight slice, or i think it was one, to end the game against kenichi tago in the all england final 2010. Yea i agree with what you said, reverse slice is slower but idk for me the forehand slice is easier. probably because i've practiced it for a longer time than the reverse slice. Lol thx for the advice renbo. with my friends i just play singles. the only drill i do is the one where i can only hit the birdy to one corner but my opponent can hit it wherever he wants. My drops are pretty good now, now that ik there is no specific technique to a drop. Straight slice i might come back to in the future. i need to become more consistent with my cross court slices. i would say they would work 7 or 8 times out of 10 and maybe 2 of those 7 or 8 would be a little too high. so i gotta work on them
That is a good exercise. Another one, more fun for your partner, is that you have the choice of left or right corner, and he has the four corners. That way there is a possibility that you actually can overplay you friend; this challenge add to the fun and it makes your partner run a bit. The reverse slice is not a backhand drop, it is a forehand drop but instead of slicing from right to left, with the angle at 30 degrees or so (0 degree is the clear angle, flat hit), you slice from left to right (clockwise) with an angle of 330 degrees. It is the motion we use to drop to the right corner, cross-court.
what the heck that is a reverse slice??? i thought a reverse slice was done in the backhand rear corner and u hit the birdy with the racket facing out to the right like 30 degrees. why would you use a reverse slice if they are both meant to hit the right front corner? is it more deceptive? in my head i feel like im not going to be able to generate enough speed on the birdy if i slice it with the racket at that angle...i'll try it out tomorrow
The regular cross-court slice drop goes from the rear right corner to the front left corner. The reverse slice drop goes from the rear left corner and goes to the front right corner. When you do the regular cross-court slice drop, your hand curls around the shuttle with anti-clockwise direction. With the reverse slice, your hand curls with clockwise direction. There are two main use for the reverse slice drop : 1. It allows you to put the shuttle cross court in the front right corner with disguise (if you try this without the reverse slice, everyone will see your body turning to face that cross court direction, the movement will be very obvious, while with the reverse slice, the disguise is great and the shuttle's trajectory very surprising). 2. To trick your opponent, pretending you will cross court drop or smash from the rear right corner, moving your arm and body towards the left corner, but your racquet's angle will gives a reverse slice and the shuttle will go straight. Your opponent will be wrong-footed. Many players do that, Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan of course, but the one that really like this shot is Peter Gade.
Ok your current explanation of the reverse slice is what i thought it was before. Normal slice goes from your rear forehand corner to your front left corner and reverse slice goes from your rear backhand corner to your front right corner, right? i interpreted your last post as both forms of slicing are done in the forehand rear corner and end up in your front left corner. btw this is all assuming that you are right handed
