We see sometimes when a player manages to retrieve a near impossible shot. For example, Lin Dan seems to fly to his right while retrieving Lee Chong Wei’s cross court smash. Or Kento Momota diving to his right retrieving a slice from Chen Long. How do they do it? Let’s discuss.

A good defense is more than just being able to jump to the right side where the opponent is attacking. It is also about anticipation. A good player is able to see when the opponent is going to attack and prepares himself for the attack. To prepare, he would take up a defensive stance by lowering his body and executing a split step right as the opponent hits the shot. The bounce from the split step allows the player to jump quickly to either side he needs to go. And even if he only need to block it without moving, the bounce from the split step can be channelled into the racquet to power the return.

What is described above is a standard defence. But what about shots are angles which would be outright winners? That is when the anticipation of the coming attack gets taken up to the next level.

In the snapshot above, Lee Chong is doing a quick 2 step jump to his forehand side to execute a no body turn smash. This is his favourite move. The angle he is able to hit it usually makes it a winner. He scores plenty of points with this smash.

Lin Dan knows all about that smash as Lee Chong Wei overuses it. So, when Lin Dan sees Lee Chong Wei doing a quick 2 step jump to his forehand side, Lin Dan is expecting Lee Chong Wei to hits that smash. The moment Lin Dan see that it is not a straight smash, he just jumps to his right without thinking twice.

Lin Dan was anticipating that smash to come, and due to that, he was ready to jump to his right. He did not jump too soon, as Lee Chong Wei might see that and choose to hit it straight instead. But when Lin Dan see Lee Chong Wei going in for a strong attack, he was ready for that shot.

Lee Chong Wei’s options are limited when he commits to the attack. He could only hit it straight or cross court. The other variation would be the power. He could hit it with a half smash or a full smash. He does not have option to play other shots once he commits to attack. And that makes it easy for Lin Dan.

In the course of this match in the 2018 All England, Lee Chong Wei only managed to score points from this smash a few times. Lin Dan got it well covered. It was to the point where the commentators, Morten Frost and Jill Clarke were discussing how well is Lin Dan defending as Lee Chong Wei could not score many points with his smash.

In the same rally right before hitting his favourite smash, Lee Chong Wei tried to put Lin Dan off by hitting a straight smash instead. As Lee Chong Wei did not move a quickly as he usually does when going for an attack, Lin Dan could see it was not going to be a powerful attack coming. Lin Dan did not go into a full defensive stance, but he was still anticipating the attack.

Lee Chong Wei hitting a straight smash meant that Lin Dan did not have to move and he just returned the smash. Lee Chong Wei does not have a lot of deception in his attacks, and in this case, Lin Dan could read that it was not a powerful attack, and the main guess Lin Dan had to make was the direction of the attack. Lin Dan was still ready to move to return the attack, but in this case, he did not need to.

In more recent times, we have Kento Momota doing the same thing. In his match against Chen Long, he showed a remarkable ability to anticipate Chen Long’s cross court smash. What is remarkable is that Chen Long does not use his cross court smash that frequently, and when he does use it, it usually wins him the point. And Momota has felt the power of that smash countless times.

In the Denmark Open 2019, when Chen Long unleashed his cross court smash on Momota, Momota seems to be anticipating that smash. The moment Chen Long hit the smash, Momota was moving to his right in an instant.

To understand why Momota was anticipating that smash from Chen Long requires some background to how things unfolded. The Denmark Open was held in October, and that was after 2 meetings in 2019 and another 3 in 2018. At this point, Momota has already beaten Chen Long 4 times, losing once. He was already pretty familiar with Chen Long’s game. So, Momota knew what Chen Long does which hurts him, and he was prepared for it.

Momota’s anticipation of that cross court smash took away one of Chen Long’s most lethal weapons in his game. That forced Chen Long to find other ways to win points, and against an in form Momota, there were no easy ways. Chen Long does not have deception in his game. He relies on long rallies and his defence to wear down his opponents so that his attacks can work. He does not have very strong attacks either, with the cross court smash being his most potent weapon. Momota’s anticipation of the smash allowed him to counter it, and that left Chen Long with no easy way to win points. And this is why Momota has such a good head to head record against Chen Long in 2018 and 2019.

Chen Long’s preference for his smash is a straight smash, and most of the time he would hit it straight. Only on the rare occasion he would hit it cross court to devastating effect. Momota is aware of this and he takes up a position which allows him to retrieve the straight smash with ease, but also is prepared for the cross court. Momota can see the an attack coming, the question is which direction. Momota was anticipating the cross court, as it is the main weapon from Chen Long which can hurt him. But he needs to be able to handle the usual straight smash from Chen Long as well, and the position he took allows him to do so.

In this case Momota easily deals with the straight smash from Chen Long. Chen Long’s tactical approach is usually to hit the straight smash most of the time, and when the opponent gets comfortable with it, he hits the cross court. Momota being aware of this and is anticipating that tactic is able to deal with it, and that makes Chen Long’s life harder in the match. There were no easy points for Chen Long anymore.

The conclusion here is that a great defense is not only about the raw ability of the player. He may have great reactions to block shots which come fast and hard. The player may have excellent footwork to dive from side to side. But, that is, some times, still not enough. The opponent can still hit winners which are almost impossible to get back.

But… with anticipation and an understanding of the opponent’s game, it becomes possible to return those shots which were previously winners. And when the player is able to do that, it would demoralise the opponent more, and make victory all but certain.

That’s all for this entry.

Until the next update, eat well, get plenty of rest, and keep the badminton going!