Can anyone advise how to overcome my problem. 1) I have difficulty in reaching clears which are sliced deep into corners at base.Is it the additional distance or is there a difference in pace of shuttle when sliced leading to mistiming and anticipation. 2) Same proble returning smashes. Easy to retrieve steep or flat smashes,but always mistime ( too early sometimes) when smashes are sliced or looped.Strangely enough the same problems apply when applied on opponents. Can anyone explain the reasons, I know how to apply different strokes but can't understand clearly why they happen and when and who to use against.Is it pace, anticipation, collapse of shuttle, racquet position, what?
I don`t understand fully what you mean by 1) "sliced deep into corners at base". The " at base" part is a little confusing. If you mean a sliced clear into one of the back corners then yes it`s a question of pace and also the trajectory of the shuttle. If you can hit a good slice clear you`ll see that it travels fast towards the back line and then falls in a vertical manner as opposed to a normal high clear which is more of a slow arc. Also if you`re playing someone who can do this consistently then they probably have good disguise on their overhead shots and it`s difficult to see when a smash/slice/cut/clear is coming. What you don`t want to do is push your base further back into the court because then you open up the front court to attack from slice drops and smashes. Stay with an aggressive central base position but try to cut out the clears by jumping up and intercepting them. Sounds difficult ( and it can be ), but what you want to do is not allow the other player to feel he can hit those fast, low clears at ease. If you can at least partially cut this out then the clears your opponent does play should be high enough to give you the chance to get back and play a normal return. As for slice/cut drops they are hard to read because the opponent plays the stroke very strongly but the result is a shot which dies away as it crosses the net reaching the ground quickly. The power and speed of the stroke movement is deceptive and you have to really watch the shuttle after it leaves the opponents racquet.
1) Unclear about your terminology. Slicing should reduce shuttle speed and is rarely used for clears to rear court area. Do you mean cross court clears? 2) a favoured shot of mine mainly from the left side of the court to an opponent's forehand (both of us right handed and playing singles). Do you pull the shuttle wide many times? I haven't played a lefthander for a while but I can imagine it would not be so successful against a lefthanders backhand.
Thanks, I think Steve partly explained.I'll expirement again. I think it all boils down to anticipation and reacting to opponents shots.I think very few players nowadays have such a variety of strokes. I think Cheung all these diappeared with Liem Swie King and modern racquets.
Even moving base a little further back can reduce the opportunities for the opponent. Quoting Viver from some time ago, it's impossible to cover all corners of the court so one has to cut down the probabilities of movement> By standing a little further back, you could reduce the number of times that clear is played against you and therefore you would accordingly adjust your preparation to reach forecourt shots. Or vice versa. I wonder if you played the very high clears (Susanti style), can that type of clear return be nullified.
Incidently I mentioned this issue because of advanced training in Table tennis.In tt the same stroke directed at you can come in different spins, pace and trajectories and bounce of table at different angles, if you don't keep your eyes on bat and ball, a block at wrong angle of bat or wrong force is inviting disaster. I am wondering if players with deception apply it to hiding where the shuttle is heading or also at what pace and spin or trajectiory it is heading to confuse opponent.I think in olden days, peple like Rudy,Swie King or Zhao not only disguised direction but also pace. Nowadays with so much emphasis on speed power and endurance I seldom see any deception in terms of direction and pace as players open up the racquet face and hit shuttle perpendicular and rarely chop/slice but sometimes tv commentators talk of Chen Hong or Gade doing it, ie the stroke makerseg doing a reverse slice. I think it is quite common in miixed doubles or men's doubles as played in Europe.The Europeans may emphasise more on technique and mix their shots more, just maybe.Then again I don't think deception in direction and pace works on pros as they catch on fast but are probably thrown in to surprise new opponents at amateur level.
I think that badminton has reached a new level to those names you mentioned. That has somewhat negated the appreciation that disguise may bring about. Many of the top players have same stroke production for different shots but their speed of movement is of such high quality, that many times the shuttle can be reached. I slow motioned a match of Zhou Mi vs Gong ZC in 2001 AE. ZM hit a clear and Gong's feet only started moving after the shuttle had crossed the net. Similarly, a drop shot played by ZM had, in reply, Gong's feet moving only when the shuttle had nearly reached the net. BTW, Gong reached the shuttle easily. For spectaular examples of deception working, one has to watch Peter Gade being on the receiving end. He can dish it out as well (notably against Chen Hong in WC 2001 s/f) but when Peter is deceived at the net, his feet move back before the shuttle is struck by the opponent destroying his balance. Very interesting. I wonder how fast a pro badminton player would match up to a squash or tennis player in a short sprint.
i've been playing badminton since i was 10 years old. Now i'm 30 years old. I was coach by one of zhou jin hua team mate for nearly a year and i never heard or saw anyone used the slice baseline clear and i thing it suicidel to play that shot. Maybe what you mean is the cross court clear. One of the Important thing to be a good player are your body positioning and balance.You should easily go and change your position to all four corners.you should balance your body gravity and good leg works are very important here. Your stamina, speed and power are the most important. How deceiving your opponent shot, you'll can recover and change position easily and systematically.
Thanks for your advice. I think many of these strokes are stiil used , watch eg. the 2001 All England Finals and semis between Gopi /Gade/Chen Hong.In fact Gopi forced many errors from Gade,not merely from outright winners. Liem Swie King was confused by Prakash when they first met in 1980 AE,Han Jian lost 15-0, 18-16 to Prakash when they met first time in 1982 World Cup.Of course all became wiser after that. I think varying strokes in terms of pace still has place in 15 points system. Maybe I didn't put it very well, I was refering to a lob to base which is cut. The bird travels to base and seems to be heading out at side at back but suddenly falls in, it make sone hesitant to hit the shuttle. Racquets in 70's like Carlton had a tapered, flat shaft to encourage one to whip shots at an angle, Liem Swie King was the greatest exponent of this stroke. Some older players still play this way, of course quick youngsters can just leap up and cut it off.
I have to disagree with the view that the slice clear is a " suicidal" shot, because it`s becoming more common, and certainly the Japanese junior high kids that I train with all practice being able to do this shot - it`s difficult but if you pull it off it flys past the opponent and then dies vertically at the back of the court. The key to it is slicing over the shuttle ( imagine a top spin serve kind of thing in tennis ) and hitting it hard. If you watch a match like the 2001 WChamps with Gade and Hendrawan many of the overhead strokes they hit incorporate some kind of slice or cutting action. I also think that in todays game deception is one of the most important aspects. On overhead strokes, for example the cut or drop shot, you can introduce deception every time you play this by how you position your body and what direction the shot goes in. If you imagine playing a cut/drop shot from the back left side ( round the head ) there`s 4 variations you can make - you can play a straight drop with your body facing directly forward, play a cross drop with body facing forward, play a straight drop with body facing towards the players front forehand corner, or a cross drop with body facing towards the front forehand corner. Sounds complicated but that`s 4 variations with just one stroke so if you add in hitting a smash, clear, punch clear, harder sliced drop etc you see that you have a lot of options. At the net you have even more options because you can play not only basic net shots and lifts but also add showing your opponent the racquet position for playing a net shot and then at the last moment flicking the shuttle for a lift, and other deceptive shots and body positions/movements. I would say that if both players are in balance, when playing shots from the front area the top players all use some kind of deception - watch the Olympic semi with Hendrawan and Xia and you`ll see that when playing a lift/lob Hendrawan usually "holds" the shot until the last moment before playing the stroke. Xia too. If Xia was off balance then you`ll see Hendrawan abandoning any deception and going for speed of lift to get the shuttle behind Xia - this would be an invite for a jump smash if Xia was in position though. I have to say that if you play an opponent like that who disguises every shot it becomes really hard to read any of the shots coming at you, and you use up more energy especially in the legs.
Very interesting issue about 'slice' clears. Only did that before receiving coaching. Isn't 'slicing' the bird will make it slower? What is the difference then using attacking clear - or punch clear? I've seen what 'slicing' the bird on drops (I call drops shots when done on baseline and net play when at net) and smashes can do and like Bbn said, it's not easy to retrieve. Adding this to a player who is excellent in disguising his clears then you got yourself a good opponent. Steplantis and Cheung's suggestion to stay a little behind the base position helps. Going forward is much easier that backwards. As for Steplantis, doing a cross court drop shot on the left side (assuming that the player is right handed) with body facing forwards - parallel to net ?, doesn't that make the recovery more difficult in case you have to go forwards to return a net play on your forehand side? As for me, in singles, hitting this shot I always favor doing it with the body sideways.
I think The slice should be used one and only when u play agst a Intensity player to slow down the game to suit ur style of play! As to reading the Slice what i most times do is that i try to read teh wrist of teh oppponet! never teh racket! This way fakes are easier to pick and give u time to move faster! If i had such great movememt like the Pro's then it is a differnet case! the second thing That woudl be important to watch is ur Opp movement! If he is getting caught is a corner lot of The players tend to play a drop eitehr cross court or down teh line! I guess u will work this out as and whne the match progresses! even the pro's tend to do a Slice drop to the corners! Dont know why! I believe in my theroy as The wrist Cox can never be much as the wrist movement is always limited to a ceratin limit! If u watch the racket then u are going to be taken for a ride! Plp here wear wrist bands that are the same color of the net so that it is tougher to read the wrist! I guess plp become innovative.. As to the orginal porblem of reaching teh corners I guess u shoudl try to Practise the anticipatory jump clear! I hope u understand what i am saying! If i have not made myself clear then Just foret this Post! U never read it!
I don't think the question I asked has been answered, namely deception not in direction but pace, a shot hit to you can come in different trajectories,and speed, the same stroke may have it's pace taken off. Many times open can reach the position where shuttle is sent, but they may not anticipate well the pace of the shuttle and it's flight leading to mishits, eg Half smash etc. Tennis players who play badminton tend to understand. I don't have problems in singles where opponents can be moved around, but in men's doubles it is necessary to vary the pace of the shuttlecock to keep opponents guessing on not only direction but also pace and how the shuttle crosses the net. Of course one has to mix up the shots to confuse opponent. It is impossible to explain by watching, maybe some of you can try it out and see if it is of any use.
This makes more sense now. Variation in shuttle speed. It can be at all levels of play wether done purposely or accidently. A way to cope is to not think that the slower pace of shot is definately going to be a chance for a winning/forceful shot. One has to play the returns of such shots with the same margin of error as other shots. Play safe first. You must be playing a particularly tricky (and expert) player.
Not one, several. The worst part is in doubles when two opponents stand side by side crouched with racquets in front, how does one catch them, smash at them until I turn blue in the face or vary the angle or speed of shuttle ( maybe slice) to upset their rythm and catch them of guard?
Bbn, I think you answered your own question. One astute person pointed out a forehand defence can be weaker than the backhand. How about introducing rotation? Smash a short lift, move forward to cover net, let your partner move back and cover the rear.
What are the various options available when two opponents stand side by side and invite you to smash at them? Options in terms of speed of smash, the angle, to sidelines, to body , to hips, to forehand/backhand etc?Does it depend on where your opponent is placing his racquet at ready position? I am always caught when every consequent smash is varied.
Opponents who 'invite' the smash must be very confident. I personally do not expect my first smash to be a winner. It needs some manoevering of the opponents first. I may play some drops, clipped smashes to keep the shuttle going down. Many times, I will try to hit steeply down the backhand or full power on the backhand and if the return is a bit short, hit a full power (full power for me!) shot on the forehand side of that same person sometimes hitting the shot flatter aiming at the right shoulder. Hopefully from that position, a weak return can be elicited for a forecourt shot. This sequence is to try and get the opponent to change backhand to forehand grips. If a game is particularly fast, hitting a smash with 80% power can produce a winning point as the opponents had been 'prepared' to receive a 100% smash.