Difference in Chinese and Malaysian / Indonesian footwork for net shots – Steve’s Badminton Blog and Website

There are subtle differences between the Chinese and Indonesian / Malaysian footwork for going to the net. The rear leg follow through is one, where Indonesian / Malaysian footwork does not typically use that. Chinese footwork typically has that. There are also difference in the landing of the foot. But today, I am going to discuss the position of the player’s body and legs when executing a net shot. Let’s discuss.

In the snapshot above, we see Lee Chong Wei going in for a backhand net shot. The red lines represent how his legs and body are positioned. The triangle formed by the lines is a long triangle, and it obvious that Lee Chong Wei takes the net shot with his body upright. What we cannot see from the snapshot is that after the net shot, Lee Chong Wei reverses by taking first a small step with his right foot before kicking back with a bigger step. He does not pull his left leg in before he kicks out.

The next snapshot shows Ginting executing the same move. Ginting goes in a bit lower, with his knee bending more. The triangle shows Ginting’s body is upright, with the tip of the triangle above his head. He has a similar footwork to Lee Chong Wei for his reverse. Ginting kicks back with his right foot, first with a small step followed by a big step.

Both Lee Chong Wei and Ginting takes a similar body position when going for net shots at the backhand side. Their body is upright with their heads held up high.

Jonathan Christie has a slightly different footwork compare with most Indonesian and Malaysian players. This is evident to see here. His body is leaning forward as he takes the net shot. Christie’s footwork is a bit of a mix and has influences from Chinese style. He some times would pull his left leg forward after a net shot to kick out and reverse. Most of the time, he would be doing what Lee Chong Wei and Ginting does, which is to kick back the right leg, first with a small step followed by a bigger step.

Compared with the Lee Chong Wei, Ginting and Christie, Shi Yuqi goes much lower. He leans forward a lot more than Christie, and this makes him take a lower stance than them all. Shi Yuqi almost always follows through with his left leg and pulls it forward. He then kicks back with both legs.

Shi Yuqi’s low stance allows him to shift his centre of gravity easily. Here, we see him shifting it back a little as he prepares to reverse as he hits the shuttle. After the hit, he would bring his left leg forward and start to lean back more and that initiates the reverse. Doing so allows him to shift his body weight backwards and helps him move.

If Shi Yuqi was considered low, then Han Jian is a ground hugger! When Han Jian goes in for a net shot, he is as low as crounching down. Han Jian’s nimbleness on court was helped by his amazing footwork and low centre of gravity. Observe how low Han Jian goes in this snapshot!

Having a low stance is normal in the Chinese approach to footwork. There are a lot of turns involved in the movement, and in order to do those turns, the player must have a low centre of gravity. That helps with the turns. Having a low centre of gravity helps the player shift his balance to help him move around the court in a more efficient way. The player does not fight gravity to move, but uses it to move instead.

When I was training as a youth, I was taught to overcome gravity or my own momentum by putting in more power in the other direction. For example, when going forward for a net shot, I would stop the moment I hit the net shot. I would be having a stance like Lee Chong Wei’s stance above. Then to move back I would force a powerful kick to go back. As kicking out immediately after stopping is not possible, I would use a small step before using a bigger step. This is how Lee Chong Wei, Ginting and Christie does it.

While that works, it takes a huge toll on my body. I ended up with persistent knee injuries, which ultimately led to me giving up the sport. And now that I changed my footwork to follow the Chinese style, instead of fighting my own momentum, I have learnt to absorb it, and release the momentum in another direction to help me move there. And, it is this control of the momentum and balance which has helped me overcome my injuries.

Click here for the page on shifting balance:

The difference in stance when hitting the net shot reflects the type of footwork used. The lower stance allows for the quick shift in balance, which allows the player to use Han Jian’s footwork. Having a high stance means it is harder to shift balance to move, and that requires more power and speed in the footwork to kick out and move. This stance uses more fast twitch muscles.

There is no right way or wrong way to do it, but both methods there are pros and cons. The lower stance is extremely tiring as it requires the player to stay low, and the player will use a lot of energy to stay that low. The muscles used here are the slow twitch muscles, and a player can recover quickly from this. By improving his fitness levels, the player can overcome this.

Check out this article where I discuss fitness:

That’s a lot of thinking about only 1 movement, which is moving to the net on the backhand side. As mentioned above, there is no right or wrong here. Both methods work. The player must be aware of what are the pros and cons of both ways and work on the physical elements to enable that footwork.

For me personally, I have learnt both types of footwork. And at my advanced age of 46, the Chinese way is working better.

That’s all for this entry.

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