So I'm a doubles player and I'm noticing myself being exposed far too much due to my incompetence with playing this shot. Normally, a backhand flick from anyway is something I can manage fine but it's when I'm under pressure. I'll try to paint the scene: So my partner is serving and I'm standing behind them. The return shot is a low, quick drive towards my the corner of the court. Normally, all I can manage is to drop the shuttle because I literally cannot generate any power as it's just within my reach and all my momentum is shifted into moving my body and little is channelled into the shuttle. Normally, my drops arent bad but against the more advanced players at the club, the person at the front is already waiting to pounce to smash or play a tight net shot. Though I have been experimenting with cross court drops, I feel like this is a shot I ought to have in my arsenal as it makes my play in these circumstances pretty predictable. Any advice?
2 problems I see. One, your partner's serves needs to be better. Two, you'll need to position yourself to cover your backhand corner better... maybe 1-2 steps to the left to start.
I also await the wisdom of awesomeness that is Badminton Central on this topic. But while we wait for answers, have you evaluated how you get in that situation in the first place? Is your partner serving well? Are you standing far enough forward to intercept those returns before they get too low? Have you tried a drive instead of a drop? (Switching to more of a thumb grip might give you a little more power for a drive in that extended position). [edit: ahh, the ubiquitous visor has preceeded me.]
In that situation, I also drop most of the time, and I can't lift it to the back consistently. But when I did, I loaded my arm before my foot got there, which helped generate power. And as others said, I always lean a step or two to my back hand side.
If you are unable to cut it off with a 'round the head forehand, then the only thing you can do is work on strengthening your forearm. Clearing to the back in that position is all forearm strength. Lots of high level players have the power and snap timing to do that. Very few recreational players do.
When I have more time, I can do it fine but often the drives are very quick and are literally going to the corner of the court and i just can't generate effective power transfer. tbh, I'm not blaming my partner for this. Regardless of how good or bad their serve is, I want to focus on myself and getting out of these situations. Normally by the time i'm able to hit the shuttle, I'm outstretched as far as possible and the shuttle is below waist height, so overhead forehand isn't possible although with poorer quality drives, I can do the overhead fine. I'm really not sure how to improve it. I feel like slightly superior movement in this situation would help a lot rather than throwing my body to simply be able to hit the shuttle.
Maybe you can try to pay more attention to the way your opponents approach the shuttle just before driving it. Most players begin their swing in a certain way that would allow you to visualize which direction they're going to hit, slightly before they make contact. If you're able to start reading that earlier, then you might be able to cut off the shuttle before it gets past your shoulder.
To test the speed of the shuttle, a person stands at the back of the court, and uses a strong under arm swing to hit the shuttle towards the back of the court. It should, from the baseline, land around the doubles line (the inner back tram line). If travels further, it's fast. You want to achieve this with a backhand? Out of position? That would take a feat of strength to produce a quality return. Your partner needs to serve better. They must be able to flick serve as well to prevent their serves being rushed and pushed. Honestly, you would have better luck generating that kind of power by swinging straight downwards and hitting the shuttle below your elbow. The best you can do is play a drop, but your partner is going to have to cover it.
I'm well aware how to test a shuttle, i'm no beginner and yes, it's not easy but it's not impossible. A good chunk of the club I play with can achieve this shot very well, sometimes even hitting it beyond the baseline and we don't use crap shuttles either (yehlex orange at 78). EDIT: that being said, I could probably do with making my drops more effective from this shot, I guess...
I don't know what to tell you, when it's that low and far away from the body, a lift/clear just isn't feasible. You could try moving forward more to take the shot early and avoid it dropping so low, preferably nearer the body where you can at least throw some weight into the shot.
tbh maybe the shot I observe my peers play lends itself to better weight transfer and movement than me. I mean, I see them stretched out and everything but perhaps they movement is good enough to allow them to be put under less pressure than when I attempt the shot, oh I don't know.
If your arm is fully outstretched then you have no real way to transfer power. If on the other hand, you've lunged and the shuttle is maybe a foot away from your knee, then you'd have much better power transfer even if it's low. But with a fully outstretched arm, you can't use anything from your elbow, your shoulder, even from the fingers is going to be hard. Your only choices are to move (and move fast), or get your partner to change up their serve and avoid being rushed at the net.
Even here, he's not got his arm fully extended, it's above the waist so he can make use of his full forearm. His weight is going into it too. This is also the man renowned for his backhand.
Ha I know. Also the guy cleared it to the corner to Taufik rather than drove it like op described. Just want to find an excuse to post this gif.
As others have mentioned, it's unrealistic to expect you can play an effective backhand clear from a desperate position where the shuttle is low and behind you in the corner. It is much more productive to think about how to prevent this situation occurring. The quality of your partner's serve makes a huge difference. I'm also curious where you stand. Quite often these shots can be cut off much earlier, providing you are not standing too far back. It is much better to intercept the shuttle while it's still in the midcourt, rather than following it into the rearcourt.
