Hi, Just had a quick question about positioning. I have the problem like many newbies where I don’t move back quick/far enough to get behind the shuttle, causing my shots to lose power and angle. I just want to verify my positioning under the falling bird… If I were to get to the ideal position under the bird and NOT hit the bird, where would it land relative to my body? Some people have said on my left shoulder, some people said in front and right of my body etc… Does it differ much if I’m hitting a smash/clear? Thanks!
IMO, the best should be in front of you esp for smashing. for clearing, it doesn't have to be as far front as smashing. you can hit clear in many angles. but preferably in front of you (again not too front) and should not be behind of you (as it will resulted in desperate and weak shot) and you wanted it in the area where you can hit it most comfortably e.g if you are right handed , positioning yourselves so the shuttlecock falls on around your right shoulder area should be the most comfortable place to hit the shuttle. but really, try to practice clears and see which area is the most comfortable one for you. because you need to clear comfortably most of the time (And not to think where I should position myself when doing clear). clearing needs to be a habit as it will be the most often shot you will perform esp in singles
For an ideal shot, the shuttle will drop right on your face/head. However, it depends on the clear shot for example an aggressive push type clear should land behind you.
doesn't make sense. punch clear is in between smash and high clear (of course much closer to clear than smash). Therefore the positioning would also be between these two. In neither is the optimum case for the shuttle to land behind you.
A push type clear is also called a punch clear, it is a fast attacking clear that u cannot intercept (too high) when u are standing in mid-court position. It can only be retrieved or returned when u are fast and standing about 3/4 position, near the doubles' rear service line, ie that's when u will be able to reach the shuttles' height due to falling trajectory. Allowed to fall it should fall in between the doubles and singles rear service lines. A real pain-in-the-a** type of clears for older players like me:crying:
No it doesn't differ much at all, in fact to make all your shot look the same untill just before contact is the skill level you are ultimately trying to achieve. But if you are in position you are always trying to take the shuttle in front of you. Remember you are not just standing their hitting the shuttle body square to the net instead you would be chasse -bouncing of your back foot - rotating through and on your way back to base.
I think its important instead to think about your contact point, not where the shuttle will land. For example, if the shuttle is falling vertically, it will land in a different place compared to one travelling towards you, but you could take both shuttles in the same place, reaching up high and in front of you. So: assuming that the shuttle was dropped vertically, then a smash should land at least 1 foot closer to the net than your non racket foot (left foot if you are right handed). In this way you have to really reach forwards a long way to hit it - which means you got behind the shuttle and moved forwards into it, and hence used all your body weight. Of course, most of the time shuttles do not fall vertically, so in order to take the shuttle in the correct place, the shuttle could land on top of you, behind you, or in front of you. The important thing for smashes is to take the shuttle a good deal in front of you - you should not be making contact directly above your head. It is also advisable that the shuttle lands in line with your racket should, once you have turned to face the net i.e. once you have rotated from a side on position, the shuttle should be landing to the right of your head (if a right hander), in line with your right shoulder. Good luck! p.s. in professional singles, 90% of shots are played from out of position - it is even more important in practice to learn shots from out of position, as long as you sometimes get into position as well - learn to play shots from anywhere to anywhere, not just by getting in perfect position.
Thank you everyone for the advice, I look forward to trying it out. Just one more question. Now that i know where the bird should be on the front-back axis, where should the contact point be in terms of left-right? Should it be directly above me, or slightly to the right? (righthanded)
You will not get an any more accurate description in words. Maybe visual aids would be better for you http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QlW8_PdYbw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhe_rRJR9_Y
