The hook Shot in badminton

go on using this shot; it`s pretty efective you say - why chance it?
Perhaps it`s your signature shot. As long as it works don`t change.

 

desperation shot is what it is...

Heh! When I read the title to your thread, I thought you're talking about a midcourt interception. BTW, I used to do this for all my power shots. Still do occasionally when I receive a flick. Nowadays, I would try to avoid it when I can and replace that shot with a defensive clear.

It's really a bad habit. First of all, it's poor form that won't do much to reinforce good habit of moving behind the shot. Secondly you could overuse your wrist and injury it. There's a chance that you could slip when you reach backward. Yes, you could surprise people with it but they will get used to it faster. Believe me, you'll use it alot if you're not disciplined enough to get back into proper form since it allows you to reach the shuttle for an offensive shot. Drops with this kind of shot is actually very dangerous in competitive doubles games as opponents will be looking for it. If your wrist is not strong enough to do a fast drop, a slow drop would give opponents enough time to rush in and kill it. Also, you're actually restricted in your movement despite what you think. You can't observe your opponents' positions before you hit cuz you'll be stretched out and pre-occupied with the late contact. With this form, it's even worse cuz any smash coming out of it won't be powerful so there's little to no deception. If your opponents know you got a poor-ass shot of a smash when you do that, they won't be deceived by your shot.

If you want to know how 'good' this kind of form is, look for it in high level competitions and professional games. Chances are, you won't find anybody decent who would do this kinda shot.

 

I think that by hitting in that position, your choice of shots would be limited. If you do a clear or a drive in that position, your shots are most probably going to end up half-court and you wouldn't want that happening .... Unless you've got a very strong arm which could send the shuttle to the baselline....

 

But you cann see pros smash with right bodyside in the back without rotating the body sometimes. why do you think he does not have a strong forearm and can perform this shots? Of corse it`s generally not a good idea if you "always take the shuttle behind your head, although you could perhaps get behind it". But sometimes its ok to do one step less since you don`t get out of position or save stamina. But one shouldn`t train this much because its right, you get lazy and cannot produce enough power. It´s only for deception or against opponents who cannot handle it (as described in his post).

 

Yes, usually fatigue itself will make us sloppy in our footwork. Poor form will happen although it will happen more often for those who haven't been trained early in their lives as they still retain their own ways of hitting. Since we all agree that it's generally a bad idea to take the shuttle behind, why compound it with a weak offensive shot? Badminton is a series of mini-races... you lose one mini-race when you're late or have to take the shot behind your head or below your waist. When you do lose one mini-race, it's not always end of the rally but most often salvageable with a higher percentage shot such as a high clear. You can deceived people for the first few times with the hookshot, but seasoned players will know that you're stretched out and limited in your options. If your opponents could anticipate your shots, they could move in TWICE as fast to capitalise the shot.

Rather than promote poor form, it's better to reinforce proper ones. Goodness knows that majority of us have little to no opportunities to proper coaching, we should all the more correct ourselves sooner and keep to proper techniques that were proven to be effective. Bad habits and forms are hard to rid off once they're grooved in.

TrueBlue, I have yet to witness a high-calibre club player in any tournament, let alone a professional player execute the hookshot. Most would have at least some torso rotation to face the net. If it's really that effective, I am sure alot more competitive players would have incorporate that method in their repertoire already.

 

But oab wrote "whenever the shuttle gets behind me", that means the shuttle is behind him, he cannot be faster than the shuttle and manage to pass the shuttle. So he can only play it behind his head. hmm, of course a defensive shot would be better in singles in this situation. But if you see an empty space in the net area of your opponents - why not play an offensive shot like drop in DOUBLES?
Perhaps you could explain a bit more about the sitution u uswe this shot, oab?
I mean is it only whne you cannot reach the shuttle in front of u by all means or do you always let the shuttle pass to hit it behind you?

When talking ybout some pros i meant shots like a slice forehand overhead cross court shot from the forehand rear court. It was discussed here: Tjhe thread was about the opponent of hendrawan in the 2000 olympics final playing the shot. I think he took this shot slightly behind his head without a whole 180° body rotation.