Forehand Clear Technique

Discussion in 'Techniques / Training' started by sysoh, Feb 7, 2011.

  1. sysoh

    sysoh Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 13, 2007
    Messages:
    118
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Senior Software Engineer
    Location:
    JOHOR->SPORE
    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
     
  2. visor

    visor Regular Member

    Joined:
    Dec 7, 2009
    Messages:
    16,401
    Likes Received:
    2,001
    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    haha! that is amazing for a 6 yr old! :D

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

    sysoh Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 13, 2007
    Messages:
    118
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Senior Software Engineer
    Location:
    JOHOR->SPORE
    He is using the adult racquet. Just nice for him for the follow through.
     
  4. malaysianfreak

    malaysianfreak Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 2010
    Messages:
    501
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    student
    Location:
    malaysia
    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 ) ..
     
  5. coachgary

    coachgary Regular Member

    Joined:
    Nov 6, 2006
    Messages:
    472
    Likes Received:
    2
    Location:
    uk
    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!!
     
  6. MSeeley

    MSeeley Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 20, 2009
    Messages:
    2,049
    Likes Received:
    735
    Occupation:
    Professional
    Location:
    England
    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
     
  7. Gollum

    Gollum Regular Member

    Joined:
    May 23, 2003
    Messages:
    4,642
    Likes Received:
    298
    Location:
    Surrey, UK
    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).
     
    #7 Gollum, Feb 8, 2011
    Last edited: Feb 8, 2011
  8. raymond

    raymond Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2002
    Messages:
    1,251
    Likes Received:
    74
    Occupation:
    Top Secret
    Location:
    USA
    How young is "young"?
     
  9. MSeeley

    MSeeley Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 20, 2009
    Messages:
    2,049
    Likes Received:
    735
    Occupation:
    Professional
    Location:
    England
    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
     
  10. sysoh

    sysoh Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 13, 2007
    Messages:
    118
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Senior Software Engineer
    Location:
    JOHOR->SPORE
    OK, I will ask him to squeeze the grip just before hitting the shuttle.
     
  11. sysoh

    sysoh Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 13, 2007
    Messages:
    118
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Senior Software Engineer
    Location:
    JOHOR->SPORE
    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.
     
  12. sysoh

    sysoh Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 13, 2007
    Messages:
    118
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Senior Software Engineer
    Location:
    JOHOR->SPORE
    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.
     
  13. sysoh

    sysoh Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 13, 2007
    Messages:
    118
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Senior Software Engineer
    Location:
    JOHOR->SPORE
    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.
     
  14. sysoh

    sysoh Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 13, 2007
    Messages:
    118
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Senior Software Engineer
    Location:
    JOHOR->SPORE
    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.
     
  15. sysoh

    sysoh Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 13, 2007
    Messages:
    118
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Senior Software Engineer
    Location:
    JOHOR->SPORE
    Do you think giving him 70 grams racket or nanospeed racket will help him to reduce muscle imbalances?
     
  16. sysoh

    sysoh Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 13, 2007
    Messages:
    118
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Senior Software Engineer
    Location:
    JOHOR->SPORE
    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. :)
     
  17. sysoh

    sysoh Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 13, 2007
    Messages:
    118
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Senior Software Engineer
    Location:
    JOHOR->SPORE
    I will keep reminding myself not to push him and let him enjoy the games!
     
  18. viver

    viver Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2002
    Messages:
    1,935
    Likes Received:
    158
    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    In China, from what I know, kids do not start specific badminton training before 12 years old. May be different in other countries.

    Talents are identified and recruited at young age to sports schools. There they engage in different sports activities to learn the body coordination and development of muscles. They could be engaged in track and field, football (soccer), basketball, swimming, etc... Different sport requires different sets of skills, body coordination and muscle groups.
     
  19. sysoh

    sysoh Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 13, 2007
    Messages:
    118
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Senior Software Engineer
    Location:
    JOHOR->SPORE
    I agree with all your statements excepts "do not start specific badminton training before 12 years old". I know an 11 years old girl who is playing excellently in Under 15 tournament. Zhao Jianhua said the best age to learn badminton is around 9/10 years old. So, I will let my son progress naturally so that he enjoys badminton. Player first, winner later. :D
     
  20. Gollum

    Gollum Regular Member

    Joined:
    May 23, 2003
    Messages:
    4,642
    Likes Received:
    298
    Location:
    Surrey, UK
    One more thought:

    As Matt pointed out, LTAD is a general guideline. It can and should be applied fairly flexibly, depending on the individual athlete.

    In particular, if your son is self-motivated by technical badminton stuff -- e.g. he asks you how to play a certain shot -- then it doesn't make sense to withhold that information from him. The athlete's own motivation is very important when deciding what to do.
     

Share This Page