How to face "clearing players"?

1) clear wars are fun
2) clear wars are not boring but exciting and tense Tactics are part of the game and fun!
3) if you win such a long and exhausting battle how can you not be happy!!

4) I dont have any constructive ideas sorry Maybe get another perspective on it...accept the challenge and fight? (--> should lead to enjoyment in my eyes)
I love tough long rallies and clearwars
(I gotta admit tho that I never experienced an opponent as extreme as you describe it...and not at all several of them..the regular case here are ppl who want to play creative and fancy shots but are not capable of it and then whine about their many mistakes)

 

Good thread. In my opinion there are a few possibilities, why a particular player does that. Either he is toying with you and not showing what he is truly capable of, doesn't have a better strategy or he simply wants to tire you out and wants to play a rallying style of play.

You have to find out yourself what works against such players. It really depends. Some have very solid footwork and good defense. They use it to tire you out and want to have long rallies. Some want you to attack and you are playing into their hands and giving them a great chance to counter-attack. Either you also play this game or you try to force your style of play on them with a more aggressive approach. Both options are very energy-sapping, but there's no way around that, unless you possess the weapons (insane smash from the baseline, incredible deception) to hurt them.

Personally, I don't like to play players with that style of play. I prefer a fast paced and aggressive type of game. So when I encounter players like that, I basically have two options:

(1) My opponent is slower/older and not as fit and wants to play a slow game because he knows that he will lose a fast attacking game.
=> I can either choose to play the same style and win because I think I'm the fitter player or play an attacking game which is tough when you are the only one who is always on the attack, but it might work.

(2) My opponent is fitter and has better technique and still prefers this kind of game.
=> Knowing that I will not beat him playing a rallying game, I have to attack. It's very energy-sapping and I'm probably gonna lose anyway if I'm not gonna win in two straight games, but it's the only way to win.

Have a look at Lin Dan in the early rounds of the WC 2017. He only clears and lifts against players like Ouseph and Holst. They keep on playing clears too or attack. Either way they are out of power in the second or third set, because Lin Dan can play at that pace forever. The right way to play against such players is to power through and go on the offensive the whole time. Like Axelsen did at the Denmark Open or SYQ at this years WC.

I agree with you, it's not fun at all. In training I try to avoid players like that, but during tournaments you still have to play them. You say that your endurance is not one of your strengths, so I would opt for option (2).

 

Lin Dan only does that because he gets older. You should play the style you are comfortable with or at least win games with.

 

Clearing is the essence of singles. All singles players must eventually embrace it

 

Take a big notice on the suggestion of varying clear height from @Cheung .

If you are the typical intermediate club player, it's likely you are playing "standard" clears, or even defensive clears non-stop.

Try putting in some really defensive clears (high, landing on that back line)a andmix it up with punch clears and attacking clears (these might be lower than racquet height in your opponent's side, because you can aim it down the sideline).

The standard clear is generally useful to move your opponent around, but as always, if there is no variation, then there is no threat. Varying your strokes I've found is as effective as being even up to 50cm more accurate on the sidelines. By that I mean you can play a shot 50cm away from the sideline and get the same hesitation from your opponent if you mix it up, compared to hitting full power on the line, when he expects it.

 

You're right that clearing is boring, but the essence of singles is consistency and rallying. The best singles players have been control type players and it's because attacking not only speeds up the game (it comes back to you faster), but bad attacks = giving the attack away. In doubles you can afford to flat smash, mishit smash, etc, because your partner will cover any half bad returns. In singles you always need to keep your balance and not over-extend any particular shot, unless you're 90% sure the shuttle will not be coming back.

It just sounds like you don't enjoy singles, which is fine good players though will exploit your impatience and rally you to death to win.

 

I wouldn't say the winning is pointless. It shows you were more consistent than your opponent, fitter than your opponent, and were more skillful than them. Clearing requires alot of skill, how close to the corner, height, length, consistency, speed.

 

I think you can think of it this way: how to set up the rally in order to kill. At higher levels people don't simply clear in order to have an endurance battle with their opponent. It's part of their tactic to set up for a smash. You don't necessarily need to have the mindset that you need to keep rallying. I think what you need to do is experiment with different types of clears, and see how it changes the return shots hit by your opponents. Punch clears are especially deadly and is one of my favourite shots in singles.

 

You'll find at different level of players, different styles prevail.

As a beginner, as long as you can get the shuttle back over the net, you're likely to win rallies within 5-6 strokes.

As a beginner-intermediate, if you have a BIG smash, you're likely to win just by smashing ANY return back

As an intermediate, you need consistent and accurate building shots, combined with a decent smash to finish off weak replies. Now your games often feature at least one or two 20+ stroke rallies.

As an advanced-intermediate player, you need consistent and accurate building shots, combined with tactical insight. i.e. not just "hit into empty spaces", but "if i hit it to his forehand, then lift it straight, he often plays a crosscourt smash, so i'll bias myself to play a really good block to PROMPT HIS WEAK REPLY (which then i will smash down). At this level, the first 10-20 points of a game are actually gauging your opponent's abilities not just "is his backhand weak?", but on sequences like "is his crosscourt diagonal movement weak?", "what if it's a deep high lift vs. a punch clear?", "does he like to play a killer smash off a certain lift that i can bait him into since i'm ready for it?". Games at this level will often feature at least one or two 30+ stroke rallies as players are probing each others' game, not just going for the winner every time.

As an advanced player, you can take the advanced intermediate, add a healthy dose of additional accuracy, deception, and speed (in racquet movement and footwork), and you can get someone like Momota or Shi Yuqi. Both players adhere to the same principles as an advanced-intermediate, but their playstyles differ. Momota is known for his incredible rally/defensive play (he rarely smashes unless it's a 90% chance of winning), whereas Shi Yuqi often uses a full power smash as a building shot (he isn't expecting an outright winner, he is just hoping for a weak defensive reply).

You don't need to be a rally style player to win at singles, even at your level. However, if a rally style player's defenses and retrieval are stronger than your aggressive, attacking player, then you will struggle to win. The predominant singles styles in pro play are 1) fast, flat speed play (e.g. LCW), rally play (e.g. Lin Dan, Momota), and aggressive power play (Shi Yuqi, Axelsen, Kidambi). At your level, it's likely that trying out different playing styles will allow you to understand the pros/cons of each style, and means you can understand what your opponent is trying to do, and what threatens him most. For example, rally players love to bait power players into smashing on a lift that's just low enough that they're jumping backwards so the smash is inaccurate, even if powerful, then play a tight block to the net. They are threatened by players who play accurate smashes/drops/punch clears, or are fast enough to play powerful smashes and still follow up a weak reply.

Finally, as you get stronger, singles play starts feeling a lot like doubles play, because players become much faster at moving, and every stroke needs to include an element of time pressure (like doubles), not just movement pressure. This is one reason why high deep serves are uncommon in MS at high level. Perhaps you'll find more joy in singles once you improve your overall game!

 

I used to hate playing against this boring, all-out defensive style. It frustrated me to no end, I would be the one taking the risks but more often than not would lose the match.

However, I just had to embrace it as a means to improve the quality and consistency of my attacking play. Now when I come up against this style, in addition to clearing back high and deep, I use sliced drop shots, punch clears and occasionally sliced smashes. I try to use movement pressure to gain the upper hand in the rally and avoid giving them pace to work off unless I think I can hit an outright winner.

Often defensive players are slow getting back to base so I try to avoid hitting back to the same corner they just played from. A good length cross court clear will test out their footwork.

Another tactic is to play some neutral shots, a fast drop or push to just beyond the T or a clear to middle of the back line can take them out of their comfort zone and put the onus of them to do something with the shuttle.

On a day when I'm feeling fast and fresh, I just ratchet up the pace of the game and they struggle to cope.

On a day when I feel fatigued and grouchy, I do what they to do me and just casually lift and clear to the baseline corners, never attack, eventually they get desperate or bored and attack, which exposes their weak attack.

 

This is a very open ended question but let me just prattle on. In my experience, the reason for this is they might be much better than you and want to toy around, but if they're not, it's probably because they don't have the speed to play a fast attacking game but believe they've got the tactical awareness to 'catch' you in a rally. An experienced player going into his 30s, whose game is slowing down, would likely be in this category.

I will further overgeneralize by saying
1. Their objective is for you to work harder than them by baiting you to attack and being able to just wait for your smash
2. They play safer shots
3. They vary between defensive and punch clears.
4. They tend to take half a second longer to think and react

In which case we want to disrupt the pace and put them under pressure by throwing in a few surprises. Strokes that force them to do fast footwork come to mind so one must learn them and make sure they are disguised proper. If there is a lack of variation and disguise they will read your shots too easily anyway. One thing I've found effective is to intercept their punch clears early and really work the angles. For example, chop the shuttle cross court to the service line. Say they punch clear to your backhand, do a fast intercept with an overhead slice to their backhand front court service line. Or do crosscourt half smashes to their midcourt (or even steeper if you can). Eg if the punch clear was to your backhand, target their midcourt backhand, if it was to your forehand, target their midcourt forehand. Of course, you can also try to do that to their normal clears but the reason to do this to punch clears is that it's an almost immediate return and it forces them to react fast and have no waiting time. They might be able to return it and get you running - but hey at least you're running; they're running. They will of course respond to this, but you get the idea. At the very least they would start to be wary of the front court and open up some space at the back. I will be careful not to do many full body smashes. In my limited experience, half smashes and slicing shots are much more effective against this kind of player and can be done with less effort.

 

hi all

I love playing this breed.
Earlier i used to run all over the court huffing and puffing and cursing and still losing the point slowly, painfully one after another eventually my body praying for the game to be over.
But then after embracing all the facts i started making progress with my game and the tables turned.

1) I learned how to do a decent backcourt clear back to back and with 'EASE' not just raw power.

2) Improved my judgement to identify which clears are out. Both sidelines and backcourt.

3) Calm down - Be patient. Earlier i used to automatically rush forward after smashing + rush back after a net drop.
Now i pause - look and walk.

4) Shift my base and keep a watch where the opponent is standing.
If i see him standing more towards the back(making shot by only moving 1-2 steps) i do a crosscourt drop. If he is more towards the front i do a clear. The difference is only of 1 extra step but believe me the discomfort shows.

5) Vary the tempo of the game. This is tricky because i also tend to make more mistakes when i get aggressive. But on my good day it works for me.

The central idea is to make the opponent run more than you. The more he runs the more mistakes he makes and the less you have to do effort to get a point.

During a game i always observe if my opponent is equally out of breath or not.
If he is then i keep doing what im doing and hope to outlast him. If not then i change my shot selection.
I still have a long way to master this style but i know im making progress when they ask for a break.
;p