Does it have a name?
How often do you deliberately practice it
How would you describe it to a friend
Is this badminton stroke a net shot, a defensive push,
or something else, when it’s played to the opponents’ net area
- it’s played from around or below knee height
- from away from the net, but not quite the midcourt
- arms and legs wide, often in a long lunge
- The resulting shot can be a net (tight or long), a mid-court push, or a flick lift
I’ve not seen it in the coaching manuals
but it happens many, many times in a match
How much do you deliberately practice this stroke?
I chatted with a coaching friend
We both agreed that there was much more time givento work on net shots (shots played around and near the top of the net) than shots played from around the service line at or between knee to waist height.
For the majority of junior players (and maybe all players), I’d guess that a greater percentage (%) of these strokes are played compared to shots at or around the net-tape level.
Does your practice reflect this?
Do you specifically work to develop this stroke?
What are the key elements to this stroke
Consider these ideas with a friend
- How to design lots of practice situations to encourage strokes to be played from around the service line at knee to waist level and struck towards the opponents’ forecourt area.
- Is it possible to incorporate a wide range of variability in feeding – racket or hand, underarm or overhead, fast or loopy. All with the aim of creating these mid to front court low stroke strokes.
- Can using ‘player starts’ in practice give a new dynamic to this practice. The player starts the practice in a similar position to the ones in the image
- Does this stroke depend on 'uncertainty', eg the player needs to believe that a smash or fast clear is coming. How to create this?
- Could you use games with conditions or themes to encourage more opportunities for this stroke to appear in the rallies. What would motivate players to use fast slices or drop shots to ensure more shuttles go towards this area (especially the height).
Many shots are played from mid-net at knee height
If it’s true, then why do we set up so many “top of the tape” practices?
Do you want a conversation?
I’d like to hear from you if you have a viewpoint on anything that you’ve read
We don’t need to agree, but explore viewpoints.
It would be great to hear from you, send me an email : contact@badmintonandy.com
This is part of a series of conversation starters.
Although not in detail, the posts are written to get you thinking and talking with others.
![Introducing the badminton overhead – Challenge No.3 - Duplicate - [#36874]](https://badmintonandy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Badminton-Forehand-Overhead-3-scaled-1.jpg)
![Introducing the badminton overhead – Challenge No.2 - Duplicate - [#36821]](https://badmintonandy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Badminton-Forehand-Overhead-2-scaled-1.jpg)
