[Feedback Request] 4 Corners Footwork Technique (with video)

[rogers89]

Hi all, would love to get your feedback on the biggest gaps in my current 4 corners footwork. I have a rough idea of where I can improve but want to see where experts think I can improve the most. Tips on how I can practice or resources to review would be appreciated.

The video below is me doing a simple 4 corners retrieving drill.


Thanks in advance!

 

[Cheung]

A lot more core and leg strength will help a lot. You get tired easily with a lot of lurching.

Your arm and racquet preparation is quite inconsistent especially with the rear court shots - many times your elbows are very close to the body and not high enough. Normally a rule of thumb for rear court overheads preparation is to have the left arm raised to slightly above shoulder level and the right arm slightly lower than shoulder level.


Your footwork to the round the head position can be a lot smoother - you need a lot more sets of reps to that area to groove the footwork pattern. Gaining more leg strength would help this.

Quite a few times, when in the middle of the court, your arms are very straight downwards with elbows close to the body. Any particular reason for that?


I suggest going back to two corner routines with slightly slower pace but really concentrating on correct form. Then add three corner and then four corner routines. You’re not quite there for random four corner routines for regular training. However, as a diagnostic exercise with the video, it’s excellent for showing up the main areas to work on.

 

[rogers89]

Thanks for the feedback @Cheung! Will focus on shoring up my rear court technique and work on improving general strength.

Quite a few times, when in the middle of the court, your arms are very straight downwards with elbows close to the body. Any particular reason for that?

I'm not sure I follow what you're referring to - is it my preparation stance between movement to corners? If so, I think it may be from copying videos I've watched of some pro players (please let me know if I should be doing otherwise).

Also, apart from improving leg/core strength, was wondering if anything stood out that I could improve for my front court footwork?

 

[Cheung]

I'm not sure I follow what you're referring to - is it my preparation stance between movement to corners? If so, I think it may be from copying videos I've watched of some pro players (please let me know if I should be doing otherwise).

look carefully at LCW after he’s hit the shuttle and look at the position of his elbows and forearms. Then compare with the yours in the screenshot which was capture just after you hit an overhead. Your elbows are quite tight to the body compared to LCW. Holding the elbows out wider prepares your arms better for the next stroke. Also, it makes the spaces around you look a bit smaller to the opponent.

 

[baddiechan]

A lot more core and leg strength will help a lot. You get tired easily with a lot of lurching.

Your arm and racquet preparation is quite inconsistent especially with the rear court shots - many times your elbows are very close to the body and not high enough. Normally a rule of thumb for rear court overheads preparation is to have the left arm raised to slightly above shoulder level and the right arm slightly lower than shoulder level.


Your footwork to the round the head position can be a lot smoother - you need a lot more sets of reps to that area to groove the footwork pattern. Gaining more leg strength would help this.

Quite a few times, when in the middle of the court, your arms are very straight downwards with elbows close to the body. Any particular reason for that?


I suggest going back to two corner routines with slightly slower pace but really concentrating on correct form. Then add three corner and then four corner routines. You’re not quite there for random four corner routines for regular training. However, as a diagnostic exercise with the video, it’s excellent for showing up the main areas to work on.

The low racquet contact point results in a loopy drop shot, which is fine if you really are forced into a passive position. From the video the lifts are not flat or fast so resorting to a passive footwork style will develop bad habits. Though your footwork for that shot is fine on the forehand, you need to focus more on the backhand side (for around the head) - rotating your right leg back first if it is in front.

@1:47 you jump forward rather than splitting on the spot in balance and you take a large step back with your right foot
@1:50 same as above regarding large steps, keep initial steps smaller - you don't want to cross over your feet except for passive footwork/running steps

Core and leg strength training for sure, it'll make pushing off of the split step and staying in balance easier.

 

[rogers89]

Thanks a lot for taking a look and for your feedback @baddiechan, the sequences you linked were hard to re-watch haha. I think I was guessing where the shuttle was going to go a bit (which didn't work).

@1:50 same as above regarding large steps, keep initial steps smaller - you don't want to cross over your feet except for passive footwork/running steps

Want to make sure I understand - so @1:50, do you mean instead of crossing my feet to step back I should've done chasse steps? Could you elaborate on "keep initial steps smaller"? I'm assuming you're referring to split-stepping but not sure.

 

[baddiechan]

Thanks a lot for taking a look and for your feedback @baddiechan, the sequences you linked were hard to re-watch haha. I think I was guessing where the shuttle was going to go a bit (which didn't work).

Want to make sure I understand - so @1:50, do you mean instead of crossing my feet to step back I should've done chasse steps? Could you elaborate on "keep initial steps smaller"? I'm assuming you're referring to split-stepping but not sure.

Yes if you can then do a chasse given you have the leg strength, my coach has been beating it into me lately - ideal scenario is you are quicker than the shuttle to take initiative & be aggressive. Other option is jumping sideways if its close enough.

Regarding smaller steps this applies to your steps immediately following the split step, it includes the chasse but also forward and running steps backwards. It just results in quicker and smoother movement - your initial steps should be smaller and later steps larger (for example on lunging).

Another piece of advice is staying too upright, looks like you might default to this after some of your rear court shots. At the front/mid court you have a good lean in the upper body, it should be maintained whenever you're not hitting.

 

[ralphz]

It's not systematic.. Some of it not really serious..

Looking at 1:33 your feet are very close together

That's textbook of not a ready position, when you're meant to be in a ready position.

Why is somebody feeding to you when you are in that position?

If I were practising footwork, there'd be a coach opposite, and if I was standing like that, they'd either say my feet should be wider, or (since they know that my feet should be wider), they'd ask me why i'm standing like that.

Maybe you were tired in which case the sensible thing to do is to stop the exercise. 'cos otherwise you're practising with bad form. And also, practising when tired increases injury risk..because of over-training.. which is sometimes followed by under recovery..

When I did do any kind of footwork drill, or just had to move much , I always made sure to know things like Where is my base. (which is a complex question 'cos it varies depending on the shot). And what is the recovery footwork to use to get to my base. And of course getting into a proper ready stance once landing at my base. And once at my base, ready, then moving once I know where it's going.

If I were to do a footwork drill without having figured that out , or prior to figuring that out, then it'd look messy and confused.. Whereas if I have that figured out it looks good.

One would normally start the drill quite simple eg. to learn for shuttles going e.g. into one corner. Then (when you have that good), practise shuttles hit to another corner. Then mix the two together and practise that. Then add another etc. OR for one corner I might hit to one place, then hit to another place, and where I recover to would differ. Different scenarios.

And if you are advised to do this/that, you can test it. Is it really more efficient. Then A)You will be testing and verifying what they are saying B)You will understand what they are saying.

And you're right that if somebody tells you to do something, then you are right to refer to video footage of a pro and see if they do that.. or what pro does it..

 

[rogers89]

Thanks for taking a look @ralphz.

One would normally start the drill quite simple eg. to learn for shuttles going e.g. into one corner. Then (when you have that good), practise shuttles hit to another corner. Then mix the two together and practise that. Then add another etc. OR for one corner I might hit to one place, then hit to another place, and where I recover to would differ. Different scenarios.

I think it definitely makes sense to simplify the footwork drills I'm doing. In my mind it seems a lot less awkward then it looks in recording so I mistakingly think I'm keeping up well haha. I don't have a coach -- just drilling with some friends.

 

[ralphz]

Thanks for taking a look @ralphz.

I think it definitely makes sense to simplify the footwork drills I'm doing. In my mind it seems a lot less awkward then it looks in recording so I mistakingly think I'm keeping up well haha. I don't have a coach -- just drilling with some friends.

You are doing well.. It takes a pretty high level to not look awkward. Looking awkward is kind of good 'cos it means you can see some things going wrong and have somethings to work on (if you choose to work on it)!

If you watch yourself play and are horrified and have to cover your eyes as you see the flaws, that is kind of good for improvement! Some other sports are learning more the benefit of video. Badminton is WAY ahead of the game on that compared to many other sports.

 

[j4ckie]

A lot more core and leg strength will help a lot. You get tired easily with a lot of lurching.

Your arm and racquet preparation is quite inconsistent especially with the rear court shots - many times your elbows are very close to the body and not high enough. Normally a rule of thumb for rear court overheads preparation is to have the left arm raised to slightly above shoulder level and the right arm slightly lower than shoulder level.


Your footwork to the round the head position can be a lot smoother - you need a lot more sets of reps to that area to groove the footwork pattern. Gaining more leg strength would help this.

Quite a few times, when in the middle of the court, your arms are very straight downwards with elbows close to the body. Any particular reason for that?


I suggest going back to two corner routines with slightly slower pace but really concentrating on correct form. Then add three corner and then four corner routines. You’re not quite there for random four corner routines for regular training. However, as a diagnostic exercise with the video, it’s excellent for showing up the main areas to work on.

I second all of this, but in particular the RTH footwork jumped out to me. You had a few occurences where you didnt move in a straight line, but rather in a curve - first backwards, then suddenly sideways. This is ineffective - not only do you move a longer distance, but more importantly you had exactly the wrong pacing (first slow, then fast) and additional changes in direction, which take more energy than moving in a straight line.

At a short glance like this, it seems to me like 2 factors could be involved here:
1. footwork to the RTH corner is not instinctual - this you should really drill in shadow footwork, then add simple 2 corner exercise with the shuttle like Cheung already mentioned.
2. you appear to have some trouble either anticipating where the shuttle will land, or judging your position relative to it. Unless you're playing in an incredibly drifty hall, this is something more experience can fix - basically you need to see more shuttle flights so your brain gets better at anticipating them.

A general tip I touch on: in lower-paced drills like this, we like to focus on the correct pacing. It is usually more effective to push off hard, and then slow down slightly when moving towards the corner, because you won't have to spend as much energy reversing your movement that way. This holds true for all movements, including going back to your base: start quick, get slower as the shot allows.

By the way, good for you - sharing sth like this is not easy, especially if you feel like it isn't your best effort or you look a bit silly. Doing it anyway (ignoring ego and instead applying a growth mindset), and getting advice from the outside, are great steps towards improvement.