Forehand Clear Technique

**sysoh** · 02-08-2011, 12:15 AM

Hi all,
I have a 6 years old son. He has been learning badminton for half a year. He has a good forehand clear at his age. I would like to look for suggestions to enhance or strengthen his forehand clear. Below is the youtube video for his forehand clear that I have uploaded. What is the key area for forehand clear I should focus on him now? What is the main weakness for his forehand clear? Thanks in advance for all the suggestions and opinions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATLs3-xWEPo

**visor** · 02-08-2011, 12:27 AM

haha! that is amazing for a 6 yr old!

i suppose he has to use a youth racket, otherwise he'll be scraping the ground already on his follow thru

**sysoh** · 02-08-2011, 12:32 AM

Originally Posted by visor

haha! that is amazing for a 6 yr old!

i suppose he has to use a youth racket, otherwise he'll be scraping the ground already on his follow thru

He is using the adult racquet. Just nice for him for the follow through.

**malaysianfreak** · 02-08-2011, 04:43 AM

let's just say he is better when i started badminton last year...i cant even touch the shuttle back then ...oh and your son's skill is good for is level!
just don't push him too hard till he don't have the love for badmitnon (like my bro's case ) ..

**coachgary** · 02-08-2011, 04:47 AM

Originally Posted by sysoh

Hi all,
I have a 6 years old son. He has been learning badminton for half a year. He has a good forehand clear at his age. I would like to look for suggestions to enhance or strengthen his forehand clear. Below is the youtube video for his forehand clear that I have uploaded. What is the key area for forehand clear I should focus on him now? What is the main weakness for his forehand clear? Thanks in advance for all the suggestions and opinions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATLs3-xWEPo

Leave it as natural as possible for now. For a 6yo his throwing technique is very good. He has a nice little pause before throwing into the contact, transfers his weight from right foot to left foot. Not much more to say really. Try to get him to squeeze the grip on contact wit hthe shuttle

Nice one!!

**MSeeley** · 02-08-2011, 07:26 AM

I have to agree with the others above: I think his skill at his age is exceptional! For him, it looks very natural! If you want him to improve, just let him continue to practice! He will enjoy playing - and it will be good for him! Learning to play powerful shots when the body does not have much of its own strength will lead to excellent technique, and is something many players miss out from when they start learning at a later age - they try to hit it too hard. Your son will not have this problem.

If I were to comment on anything that I "didn't like" it would be that afterwards he is falling to his left - this could be an error for older players, but at his age, I wouldn't be worried about it at all - its fantastic that he can use a full size racket already.

I hope he continues to enjoy his badminton! Like others have said: if he can keep the love for the game, he will be a very good player. When developing a young athlete, its important not to push "too hard" whilst they develop - this MAY lead to injury or a loss of enjoyment/interest, both of which can be very sad indeed

If he keeps on playing now, he will have an excellent head start when he is a little older - the key thing is to watch out for any bad habits/technique that might become difficult to remove - but a good coach will help stop that from happening!

Matt

**Gollum** · 02-08-2011, 08:59 AM

The boy's hitting technique is excellent.

However, I would not recommend much technical coaching at that age.

According to Badminton England's Long Term Athlete Development Model, young children should not be channelled into "specialised" badminton coaching. Instead, the focus should be developing general athletic skills and coordination (not badminton-specific skills) through fun games and activities.

This is thought to be better for several reasons:

They are less likely to develop muscle imbalances.
They are more likely to maintain enthusiasm for sport if the emphasis is on "fun" rather than "performance".
They are more likely to develop base skills (agility, balance, coordination...).

I'm not saying that you've done anything wrong so far -- on the contrary, he's clearly enjoying badminton and will likely grow up into a fantastic player.

I'm just suggesting that, if you want to give him the best opportunity as a badminton player in the future, it's probably wise to go light on the technical badminton-specific training (for now).

**raymond** · 02-08-2011, 10:39 AM

Originally Posted by Gollum

According to Badminton England's Long Term Athlete Development Model, young children should not be channelled into "specialised" badminton coaching.

How young is "young"?

**MSeeley** · 02-08-2011, 04:20 PM

The LTAD Model is determined mostly in terms of timings of growth spurts observed at certain ages - thus, the model should be catered for each individual. However, the second stage of the LTAD plan is for children of 6 to 9 years old, and the teaching should focus on general motor/movement and co-ordination skills, with a slight twist towards badminton. The idea of this phase is to ensure that the child has developed good all round hand-eye-foot coordination skills. Then after this phase, is meant to be the focus on building technique (there are 6 levels in total with 3-6 being more badminton specific).

Matt

**sysoh** · 02-09-2011, 02:04 AM

Originally Posted by coachgary

Leave it as natural as possible for now. For a 6yo his throwing technique is very good. He has a nice little pause before throwing into the contact, transfers his weight from right foot to left foot. Not much more to say really. Try to get him to squeeze the grip on contact wit hthe shuttle

Nice one!!

OK, I will ask him to squeeze the grip just before hitting the shuttle.

**sysoh** · 02-09-2011, 02:12 AM

Originally Posted by MSeeley

I have to agree with the others above: I think his skill at his age is exceptional! For him, it looks very natural! If you want him to improve, just let him continue to practice! He will enjoy playing - and it will be good for him! Learning to play powerful shots when the body does not have much of its own strength will lead to excellent technique, and is something many players miss out from when they start learning at a later age - they try to hit it too hard. Your son will not have this problem.

If I were to comment on anything that I "didn't like" it would be that afterwards he is falling to his left - this could be an error for older players, but at his age, I wouldn't be worried about it at all - its fantastic that he can use a full size racket already.

I hope he continues to enjoy his badminton! Like others have said: if he can keep the love for the game, he will be a very good player. When developing a young athlete, its important not to push "too hard" whilst they develop - this MAY lead to injury or a loss of enjoyment/interest, both of which can be very sad indeed

If he keeps on playing now, he will have an excellent head start when he is a little older - the key thing is to watch out for any bad habits/technique that might become difficult to remove - but a good coach will help stop that from happening!

Matt

Matt, I will choose those trainings with fun games session to maintain his enthusiasm and love for badminton. I will also advise him not to fall to his left. I agree that at this age, the training has to go light so that it reduces the chances of having injury. Thanks Matt for your sincere advice.

**sysoh** · 02-09-2011, 02:19 AM

Originally Posted by Gollum

The boy's hitting technique is excellent.

However, I would not recommend much technical coaching at that age.

According to Badminton England's Long Term Athlete Development Model, young children should not be channelled into "specialised" badminton coaching. Instead, the focus should be developing general athletic skills and coordination (not badminton-specific skills) through fun games and activities.

This is thought to be better for several reasons:

They are less likely to develop muscle imbalances.
They are more likely to maintain enthusiasm for sport if the emphasis is on "fun" rather than "performance".
They are more likely to develop base skills (agility, balance, coordination...).

I'm not saying that you've done anything wrong so far -- on the contrary, he's clearly enjoying badminton and will likely grow up into a fantastic player.

I'm just suggesting that, if you want to give him the best opportunity as a badminton player in the future, it's probably wise to go light on the technical badminton-specific training (for now).

I really benefited from all your sincere comments (you and the rest). It is highly appreciated and it serves as a critical reminder to me.
From now on, I will try to go light on his badminton training.
To solve muscle imbalance development, I might need to arrange swimming lesson for him. Stronger muscles after swimming might help in preventing injuries.
To maintain his enthusiasm and love for badminton, I should let him attend those trainings with fun games session.
To develop base skills (agility, balance, co-ordination), any good suggestions that help developing such skills from you guys are welcome.

He has good natural drop shot too. I might want to ask him to hit one forehand clear followed by one drop shot repetitively. This is to let him develop some game strategies at young age, at the same time, having fun practising this.

When it reaches 8 years old, he can go deep for badminton specific training.

Thanks Gollum for your valuable advice.

**sysoh** · 02-09-2011, 02:27 AM

Originally Posted by MSeeley

I have to agree with the others above: I think his skill at his age is exceptional! For him, it looks very natural! If you want him to improve, just let him continue to practice! He will enjoy playing - and it will be good for him! Learning to play powerful shots when the body does not have much of its own strength will lead to excellent technique, and is something many players miss out from when they start learning at a later age - they try to hit it too hard. Your son will not have this problem.

If I were to comment on anything that I "didn't like" it would be that afterwards he is falling to his left - this could be an error for older players, but at his age, I wouldn't be worried about it at all - its fantastic that he can use a full size racket already.

I hope he continues to enjoy his badminton! Like others have said: if he can keep the love for the game, he will be a very good player. When developing a young athlete, its important not to push "too hard" whilst they develop - this MAY lead to injury or a loss of enjoyment/interest, both of which can be very sad indeed

If he keeps on playing now, he will have an excellent head start when he is a little older - the key thing is to watch out for any bad habits/technique that might become difficult to remove - but a good coach will help stop that from happening!

Matt

Hi Matt, I strongly agree on the bad habit part. At this age, they started to develop bad habit too. One of the Sichuan province coach recommends me to one good coach that can help young children develop good foundations and basics. I will try to arrange with this coach so that my son will have correct technique from beginning. It will be very difficult to remove bad habit once developed.

**sysoh** · 02-09-2011, 02:35 AM

Originally Posted by MSeeley

The LTAD Model is determined mostly in terms of timings of growth spurts observed at certain ages - thus, the model should be catered for each individual. However, the second stage of the LTAD plan is for children of 6 to 9 years old, and the teaching should focus on general motor/movement and co-ordination skills, with a slight twist towards badminton. The idea of this phase is to ensure that the child has developed good all round hand-eye-foot coordination skills. Then after this phase, is meant to be the focus on building technique (there are 6 levels in total with 3-6 being more badminton specific).

Matt

I will try to read as much as I can on LTAD from badmintonengland.co.uk. It is very good to know about this model.

**sysoh** · 02-09-2011, 02:42 AM

Originally Posted by Gollum

The boy's hitting technique is excellent.

However, I would not recommend much technical coaching at that age.

They are less likely to develop muscle imbalances.

Do you think giving him 70 grams racket or nanospeed racket will help him to reduce muscle imbalances?

**sysoh** · 02-09-2011, 02:47 AM

One of my objectives to let my son to play badminton is to relax his eyes. He played too much PSP/Wii/Flash/Android games and he also watched too much cartoon series. :-)

**sysoh** · 02-09-2011, 02:55 AM

Originally Posted by malaysianfreak

let's just say he is better when i started badminton last year...i cant even touch the shuttle back then ...oh and your son's skill is good for is level!
just don't push him too hard till he don't have the love for badmitnon (like my bro's case ) ..

I will keep reminding myself not to push him and let him enjoy the games!