If you respond with a clear from a punch clear, the chances are it's going to be straight. If they're using a punch clear, it's likely they're going straight. Therefore if you clear straight off of a straight punch clear, you give them loads of time to attack. A good response to a punch clear is a cross court stick smash, because you then deprive them of time.
Just watched your video. It's impossible to tell if your pronation technique has improved. I really think that this exercise did not achieve very much. Usually when we train clears at an intermediate stage, we use either the left side or right side of the court. We are not trying to train the whole movement as there are too many small things affecting your technique. Don't bother about shuttles going out of court. Just pick it up from the floor if it goes out. I can't really comment on the rest of it. To be honest, I don't think it achieved anything.
Yes you can, if you have the technique to play a proper clear (which is a bit doubtful at the moment). That's why you need to be able to play 20, 30 ,40 ,50+ clears in a row. If you can't play a clear off a routine clear, there's no hope for you to attempt to play a clear off an attacking clear. All the good kids in HK are playing straight clears first. As one coach was discussing with me, if players can't even control a clear, there's not much we can do in terms of advising on tactics.
Shows that I'll be achieving even less in games then! Surprisingly difficult to find someone who wants to train their simple drills.
Your video shows your definition of simple needs to be revised. You are trying to correct everything in one go on a full court. Seriously, training should be restricted to one aspect. To give an example, I am training some new shots in doubles. This coach is an ex international player, not a very high ranking but quite good explanation of technique. Even though I have a lot of experience, we just break down the stroke into components. In the end, I still can't achieve the stroke. So, he just stood there feeding me shots and I just take one step for the stroke. The stroke is a simple straight forehand push at the forecourt from service line below net to opponents service line. The aim is to keep the shuttle low and not make the shuttle spin (because this makes the shuttle 'float' giving time for an opponent to attack). When I get a training partner, we do the same type of exercise. We specifically target training certain areas of our game.
What I mean to say is that I can't find anyone who wants to actually train such a drill as you describe with me.
Using this as a warm up may work as long as it doesn't take too long, and make you too tired, but its just a good training exercise - use it for all your shots Pulling a bow back will create a good shape, but imagine... instead of holding you racket and having your hand at a "knocked arrow" height, you instead have your hand in line or slightly above the top of your head. This position may help you to reach up. Its the same one you would use when throwing an object e.g. a ball, a javelin etc. A lower trajectory clear just means you need to swing earlier to make a full contact. You can still use fully body rotation, use the same footwork etc... but worry less about that and more about hitting the shuttle as early as you physically can. Forget pronation and all these other things: use the correct grip and just hit the shuttle as soon as you can. You can still easily clear off a low trajectory clear, without actually resulting in a late contact - you just have to get a move on and swing for it! Good luck!
I watched a bit of your clearing video, using YouTube's slow-motion feature. It seems to me that your contact point is actually not that bad. You tend to be hitting with the elbow well above shoulder height. It is hard to be sure given the slightly chaotic practice and bad camera angle, but it's not something that jumps out at me. The thing that really looks wrong is your left elbow. You are tucking it in very tight, early on in the stroke. I think you are not effectively rotating in your shoulders. It looks like both shoulders are moving at the same time, which looks a bit stiff and awkward. In other words, I think you have a kinetic chain issue. You have been breaking down the components of the stroke well, and individually they are okay. But it doesn't flow. I think there has been too much focus on individual elements and not enough on putting everything together into an effective throwing action. To address the shoulder issue specifically: the timing should not be both shoulders moving together, as though you were spinning on the spot. The timing should be "left -- right", with the left starting to move just before the right. This is part of a throwing action. I know it's really basic, but you might want to just take a soft ball or a shuttle and throw it (overhead). This is similar to the rhythm and overall movement of a badminton overhead. Another clue here is that your back foot placement is often wrong: it often faces too much forwards, instead of more side-on. This tells me you are not really turning your body effectively, even though there is some upper body turn. Remember that the hitting action starts from the ground -- i.e. to develop power most effectively, there should be a transfer of energy/force from the ground, through the core, shoulders, arm, and hand. Instead, you sometimes have an upper body turn that is "fighting" your lower body, which has not turned much.
He won't get so tired if he sticks to half court. Go for the height first as Matt said a few threads earlier (I. E. not running backwards but in a stationary position) Once you have that, then experiment with the fingers, trying to get a nice click on impact of the racket face on to the shuttle. If you have those two things, that will get you well on your way. Important to note, don't worry about the length of the clear. It will start to come naturally if you have the height, and the correct strike on to the shuttle.
Gollum is exactly right. The issue is with the kinetic chain. But in my view this is only allowed because of the contact point - if the contact point gets higher, further in front, and generally earlier, I don't see that you have a choice but to improve the overall efficiency of the stroke. The thing is you cannot fix a kinetic chain by thinking about the kinetic chain - actively engaging in thinking about it actually takes body movements into the ownership of the conscious mind... which is just not that good at movement in general. In everyday life, and when playing, you do not actively think about how to move - your body just does it; I believe you should apply the same principle to the overhead power strokes - let your body figure it out by constant practice, focused only on the actual stroke itself, rather than movements to the shuttle. As Gollum pointed out - to help you practice, find a "cue" that allows you to effortlessly accomplish the stroke, without thinking about the components. "Left, Right" with the arms is a common one, particularly for power shots and smashes, but anything will do as long as you focus on the contact with the shuttle, not the technique. Good luck!
I would definitely agree that actively thinking about the kinetic chain when you are practising is just too much thinking. You don't want to be thinking, "first get the feet right, push with the legs, tighten core, move left shoulder, right shoulder, pronate, tighten grip...". Also a high contact point is one of the simplest and most important cues. So I definitely agree that "reach up high" is a good thing to focus on. However, I also find that this cue is not always enough on its own. Sometimes you have to try other cues or ideas as well, such as "left, right". or "side on". Pick one or at most two simple cues at a time.
Exactly. To expand on that: pick one cue - video yourself. If its improving, then keep using it. If its not improving, try a different cue! "Improving" means better looking shots (they look pretty), or better feeling shots... and normally both!
I have actually consciously been doing this as part of reaching up action. When I initially reviewed the pros, it looked like the racquet started cocking back as the left arm/shoulder move down (which would show shoulders moving together), but when looking closer now, it's fractionally before the cocking action even begins. I am not sure what to think about my left arm moving "early in the stroke" as you put it - it might actually be I'm not beginning the left arm movement early enough, which means i don't give enough time for the rest of the chain to work. What do you think? Part of the reaching up action is to force myself to begin the stroke earlier - before, when i didn't reach up at all, i would begin the stroke as the shuttle came into the hitting zone. As Matt put it, "if you can feel you can reach it, you're late". That leads to a pushing action instead as i struggle to accelerate the racquet fast enough. I think (i hope...) my clears look at least like i have a pulling action rather than the pushing it looked like in my linked matches in the original post. I'll have a go at getting my movement smoothed out without the footwork bits in. Probably do some work in the back garden I think practising footwork indoors has actually been damaging in some ways, as i cant actually straighten my arm without my racquet hitting the ceiling For now, I'll leave pronation/fingers aside and focus on the middle part of the chain. For me it also feels like my upper body fights against my lower, especially when doing 'opposite' movements like the backward scissor into the backhand corner. Perhaps when i get the middle 'kink' ironed out, i can connect the chain together more smoothly.
I had a look again at your most recent video compared with the very first one. This time on my desktop monitor. Obviously different settings (tournament versus practice) but I do feel there are some improvements with the overhead action in the latter video.
It's one of those things where it's plain to see that the movement is not smooth, pretty, or efficient. I think it's better than before, and the higher contact point is a good cue. I think part of the transition will be to get a confident stroke which i can rely on, then adjust my footwork timing. Previously it was "move there, then play the stroke", but i think i need to smooth out the transition so i consider the stroke preparation earlier - which probably means choosing a shorter footwork pattern when shuttles are played flatter. This seems most obvious in the forehand corner (my racquet is completely unprepared by the time my lunge foot lands in the rear forehand corner, leaving me with only the drop shot options), but I am sure it's present in all of my overhead actions too. I'll focus on the stroke now, and when it looks/feels smoother/efficient, i can work the footwork back in.
Just to save you some confusion... you already have the footwork. That's done. You now need the stroke. Mastering the stroke will sort the footwork out for you - its not a two stage process. Just master the stroke, get the best contact possible. Learn what that feels like. All movement thereafter is just to make sure you can achieve the best contact every time, and that doesn't require you to focus on your feet - just focus on the shuttle and the stroke. Obviously over time you may discover footwork inefficiencies, but these will likely be related to recovery inefficiencies. Good luck!
Yes, I suspect you could be right -- you're tucking in the elbow early, but that may be because you are too late to make the rest of the throwing movement with your left arm.
I had a go at start the left arm movement early and I can feel the difference when I get it right (which isn't very often). When I start the movement late, it's a rush to get my left arm out of the way, then my racquet arm comes through late, and because it isn't moving fast enough to contact the shuttle high, I end up bending the arm to get contact, which results in a pushing movement to accelerate my racquet in time. I feel i can get a decent movement if I focus on it, if I don't have to move far, and if my training partner lifts it very high for me. For lower lifts, i'm find i'm bending my arm still, and the 'pulling' feel disappears - it almost feels like i'm collapsing backwards (even when i'm not having to actually move far). Any ideas on how to handle lower lifts? Do they employ a different overhead action, or do I just have to prepare for the shot even earlier? For now, I just play it softly back to my partner to give me a higher lift so i don't confuse my practice, but it feels like an awkward shot should I want to play the clear.
