Position for defending smashes – Steve’s Badminton Blog and Website

Last week during training, Fred was struggling to defend against Han Jian’s attacks. It was not from a lack of skill, but rather his positioning was wrong. This led me to recall an article I wrote about where to send for a defensive lift. This time, I will be talking about what position to take when a lift goes to the corners.

The diagram above shows the angles which the player must cover when an attack comes from the corner. The player needs to be alert for attacks coming straight along the sideline, an attack cross court to the other side, or a body attack straight at the player.

Straight Attacks

The straight line is always a danger as the opponent can aim to hit the shuttle straight along the line and, when the shuttle flies straight along the line, the risk of the shuttle going out is lower. The opponent can then opt to put more power into the attack to break through the player’s defenses by using brute force. That is often why we see top players staying closer to the sideline when defending attacks from corners.

In the snapshot above with Lin Dan versus Lee Chong Wei, Lin Dan knows Lee Chong Wei will most likely hit his favourite shot, the cross court smash with no body turn, and yet despite that, Lin Dan takes up a position closer to the sideline. That is a precaution which even the best player in the world takes. Should Lee Chong Wei decide to do a straight smash and put power into it, that is going to be very difficult to defend against, despite that side being Lin Dan’s forehand side. Retrieving a smash from the forehand side does not require a turn as the player can just jump sideways to reach it. And yet, Lin Dan, and Momota takes that precaution.

Cross Court Attacks

There are 2 reasons which make the cross court shot less of a threat in this situation when the opponent is attacking from the rear corner. Firstly, the cross court shot has a further distance to travel as it is moving diagonally. The attacker must always hit the cross court shot higher than a straight attack as it needs to travel further before the reaches the net. That in effect means the net is “higher” for the cross court shot as it reaches the net at that height at a further distance. This means the cross court attack will always land a further distance than a straight attack. Secondly, the cross court attack will be in the air longer and as it moves diagonally from the player, he can see the trajectory of the attack clearer. This gives the player a bit more time to reach the shot and a better chance of defending against it as he can see it.

It is due to these 2 reasons that a player needs to take up a position a bit closer to the sideline where the opponent is launching the attack.

Conclusion

This was the lesson which Fred needed to learn during the training. Once he understood that and took up the right position on court, he could defend against these attacks.

That’s it for this entry.

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