Split step

Discussion in 'Techniques / Training' started by shibbish, Dec 6, 2006.

  1. shibbish

    shibbish Regular Member

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    hi there. my problem is in footwork- i get to the shuttle slowly and many people have told me to do a split step just when the opponent hits the shuttle. ive been reading many threads here but still cannot seem to get the split step. sometimes when i try to do it i get to the ball even slower. i think my problem is in the landing of the hop- i do the hop and land rather heavily and cannot push myself fast enough to the direction of the shuttle- my feet still seem 'stuck' to the ground after i land. any tips or pointers? would greatly appreciate it and thanks in advance.
     
  2. yy_ling

    yy_ling Regular Member

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    its not a split step, its a slight hop on your toes, in that small hop which is really small you hardly leave the ground, but if you are standind straight without stance the hop will do you no good, you might even trip
     
  3. Chire

    Chire Regular Member

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    It is split step. It's really small but necessary factor of badminton footwork.

    You should execute it right before your opponent's racket contacts the shuttle. Try to land on your ball of the foot, so that your heels don't touch the ground.
     
  4. hiroisuke

    hiroisuke Regular Member

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    Unfortunately, I believe the split step is a highly-advanced technique used by people with insane reflexes/instincts that know the general direction that the birdie is going towards. Or is that the one-legged split step?

    But anyways, you should, as Chire said, land on the balls of your feet and not your heels. Of course, don't let your heels stay too far off the ground, that makes it tiring. This bounce effect that you should be able to achieve will let you have momentum once you decide which way you're going.
     
  5. Neil Nicholls

    Neil Nicholls Regular Member

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    Have a look at the video of Peter Gade's trick netshot against Pulella Gopichand.
    Peter does 3 split steps in that short sequence.

    Now where is that video...?

    Peter Gade's trick shot against Gopi
     
    #5 Neil Nicholls, Dec 6, 2006
    Last edited: Dec 6, 2006
  6. Gollum

    Gollum Regular Member

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    No.

    The split step (also called split drop, pre-loading jump, split jump....) is a fundamental movement skill that players should learn from very early in their development.

    To make the best use of the split step requires good timing and footwork. Ideally, you will be landing just after you know where the shuttle is going. This way, you can control the position of your feet to let you push off in the right direction.

    A split step promotes faster acceleration because it makes use of the stretch-shortening behaviour of muscles. This only works if you move immediately after your split step.
     
  7. Kiwiplayer

    Kiwiplayer Regular Member

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    As mentioned by Gollum, the split jump is absolutely not an "advanced technique". It's a fundamental aspect of footwork in just about every sport that requires quick changes of direction.

    If you're having trouble incorporating it into your game, then I would suggest that you practice it without the distraction of trying to hit a shuttle. Practice shadow footwork routines (ie no shuttle) whereby all movements from base are initiated by a split jump, no matter how slow it may seem to be at the start. Keep doing this till the movement pattern becomes more ingrained. Once you get to this stage, then you can start worrying about timing it with shuttle contact.

    Wayne Young
     
    #7 Kiwiplayer, Dec 6, 2006
    Last edited: Dec 6, 2006
  8. hiroisuke

    hiroisuke Regular Member

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    Ok, then I am using the split-step, as my dad taught me. However, since my dad uses a lot of Chinese to teach me, I'm not sure if it was the same as the split-step. I read Prince of Tennis before, and wasn't sure if Ryoma (main character, if you've read it, you'll know) used the split step or if his footwork initiation was called a one-legged split-step, where he lands on one foot, already knowing where the ball is going once the racket was close to the ball. Unfortunately, it is far easier with badminton to change directions mid-shot, so I guess it wouldn't be as effective.
     
  9. westwood_13

    westwood_13 Regular Member

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    Pardon my ignorance, but what exactly IS the split step? From the description I've sort of made out so far, I think I use it, but just have never been aware there was terminology for it.
     
  10. hiroisuke

    hiroisuke Regular Member

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    Right before you decide which way to go, you slightly hop-bounce, so that you can use the recoil of the leg & feet muscles to travel towards the desired destination with more momentum.
     
  11. Hitsugaya

    Hitsugaya Regular Member

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    plz can we stay on track. Is the difference between split step and one legged split step that the one legged split only requires one leg while the other requires 2?
     
  12. FitnessFreak

    FitnessFreak Regular Member

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    nice advice guys this helped me too :D
     
  13. stumblingfeet

    stumblingfeet Regular Member

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    You seem to be having trouble absorbing power with your feet/ankles.

    Here's an exercise:

    1. hop into the air
    2. land in the position you would in a game. however, focus on stopping instantly
    3. keep working at the above until you get very comfortable with it
    4. repeat the same drill, but instead of stopping, push off towards where you want to go

    The reason for this method is that whenever you change directions, your body will slow down in the direction it is going in (in this case, down), stop momentarily and then accelerate in the direction you want to go in.

    The first drill teaches you to shorten the first part of the process -> it increase your power absorption. Once you get your body stopped momentarily, it becomes easy to change direction since you are dynamically balanced.

    The faster you can absorb power, the more potential power you'll have available for the second phase: acceleration towards your target. This is due to the elastic properties of human tissue. What happens is when you land, you store kinetic energy into your tissues in the form of deformation energy. The longer this whole process occurs, the more this energy will dissipate. But if you act quickly, you can recover much of this stored energy. That's what the second drill does.
     
  14. hybridragon

    hybridragon Regular Member

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    Yea, it's a basic skill, but to master it, you'll have to be somewhat advanced to even do it perfectly. To answer shibbish's problem of landing 'heavily', I think his problem is either 1) you're hopping a little too high, or 2) you're not staying on your toes and landing on your toes. (not in a literal sense). You could be doing both as well. Landing flat footed on the ground destroys the purpose of doing the split step and probably will make you go even slower.

    And Prince of Tennis exaggerates the split step a bit, but yes, it was fairly accurate (for once) in describing the move. (Split step and single foot split step). I find it to be more useful in tennis than badminton, but nonetheless, it still has its uses
     
  15. stumblingfeet

    stumblingfeet Regular Member

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    Simply saying "stay on your toes" to yourself doesn't help much if there's some kind of power absorption issue going on. It would be a strength deficit manifesting itself as faulty technique. In such a case, trying to adjust the technique won't help, you have to deal with the root of the problem.
     
  16. hiroisuke

    hiroisuke Regular Member

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    HEy, I'm back to this thread, finally got everything straightened out. So yeah, it's the split step, Ryoma uses the one foot one. Anyways, back on topic, it's a slight bounce based off of the balls of your feet, if someone could find a slow-motion finish of a rally of pros, they usually still do it just in case the bird is returned. Anyways, one reason it might not be working too well is that the timing is off, and that you are doing it waaaaaaaaay to early and that by the time you have finished, the bird is still on their side, thus wasting your efforts, or you finish it too late, by which time you would have reacted to the bird at the same rate, and this also ruins the effect. So practice your timing.
     
  17. SystemicAnomaly

    SystemicAnomaly Regular Member

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    The split step is more exagerated in tennis. I would say that it is very useful for badmintom but often rather subtle (not always an obvious hop). In badminton, it is often most obvious after executing a high serve or clear (or lift).
     
  18. SystemicAnomaly

    SystemicAnomaly Regular Member

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    It's primarily a difference in timing. They are both initiated in the same manner -- it's the landing that is different (one foot vs two). The classic split step is a 2-footed landing. If the spit step is initiated a split second late, then the player is apt to land on one foot rather than two becuz, by the time they land, they already know which direction they must move to intercept the returning shuttle.

    Becuz many players find the precise timing of the (split) hop difficult, they may sometimes land on 1 foot and other times on 2 feet. Some players purposely hop a bit on the late side and subsequently nearly always use a 1-footed landing. Many players may find the rhythm of the rally quite easily and will nearly always perform the same type of landing.

    Note that if you primarily use the 2-footed landing, be sure that you are not hopping too early -- if you hop & then wait to see which direction you must move then you have hopped too early and have pretty much lost the effectiveness of the split step. You should be moving to intercept the shuttle immedaitely after landing (either 1 foot or 2).
     
  19. BethuneGuy

    BethuneGuy Regular Member

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    If you just stay low enough, a split step is unneccessary, and it is even better just to stay low. A good player will disrupt the tempo of your footwork, and sometimes you might get caught on your hop (lose time). But if you stand really high (don't bend your knees much), then a split step is crucial.
     
  20. Hitsugaya

    Hitsugaya Regular Member

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    thx a lot, i learned something new today
     

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