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When you think of the most dominant badminton nation, China is almost always at the top of that list. But their success isn’t just about having more players or better training facilities — it’s also about how they approach the game. In this video, we break down 7 Chinese badminton principles that are commonly taught by Chinese coaches but rarely explained in detail elsewhere. And yes, these 7 concepts can be applied in all three disciplines - singles, doubles, and mixed doubles.
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Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
When you think of the most successful
0:01
badminton nation,
0:04
>> one of the first countries that may come
0:05
to mind is China.
0:09
>> Since 1978, when China was first
0:11
formally allowed to compete in the IBF,
0:14
now BWF, World Championships, China has
0:17
amassed 72 gold medals and is handily
0:20
the most dominant nation. And while
0:22
China does have a significant number of
0:24
highlevel players making each other
0:26
better internally and strong government
0:28
backing in developing high performance
0:30
athletes,
0:31
there are things that China does
0:32
uniquely from other nations that has
0:35
given their players an edge. In this
0:38
video, we're going to talk about seven
0:40
Chinese badminton principles that you
0:43
can practice and apply to your game. And
0:45
yes, all seven work for both singles and
0:48
doubles. The first Chinese concept we're
0:51
going to talk about is the concept of
0:55
>> the direct translation on Google
0:57
Translate is coherent, but it doesn't
0:59
quite get the meaning right except for
1:01
this part about ideas being arranged
1:03
logically allowing them to flow in a
1:06
reasonable connected manner. Our
1:08
definition for
1:10
>> in the bad mitten context is flow. Your
1:12
game should be flowing where every
1:14
action you do and will do should be
1:17
connected.
1:20
One of the easiest ways to understand
1:21
this is to think about footwork.
1:24
What surprised us a little when training
1:27
in China was just how little time they
1:29
spent working on footwork. Of course,
1:32
everyone will develop their basic
1:33
scissor kick, shuffle, and crossover
1:35
movements, but after that, there is not
1:39
a significant amount of time allocated
1:41
towards dedicated footwork practice.
1:44
This is because Chinese players often
1:46
train with the principle that footwork
1:48
should follow and flow with the game. If
1:50
you play a really good full smash, for
1:52
example,
1:54
you're not going to shuffle back to
1:55
middle, split step, and then go up for a
1:59
net kill.
2:01
Most likely you'll just sprint to the
2:03
net right after the smash and kill it.
2:06
And so your footwork practice is just
2:08
about finding your timing on court in an
2:11
actual rally. It should follow the pace
2:13
of the shots you hit and what your
2:16
opponent is able to return back. And
2:18
similarly,
2:20
you should be training your mental to
2:22
continuously follow the next shot to
2:24
keep the game flowing.
2:26
This is also why you'll see Chinese
2:28
players have a much smaller split step
2:30
compared to players like Europeans who
2:32
put more emphasis on the actual
2:34
movements.
2:44
Speaking of thinking about what your
2:45
opponent is able to return back, another
2:48
Chinese concept is
2:51
>> the direct translation of this is limit,
2:53
which is about right. One of the things
2:56
that Chinese players put high emphasis
2:57
on is learning how to limit their
3:00
opponent's shot options. They pay
3:02
special attention to angles and shot
3:04
speed to force their opponents into just
3:06
a few options. If you guys watched our
3:09
video about 2008 Lindan's secret
3:11
strategy, you'll know that Lindan is
3:13
especially good at limiting his
3:15
opponents. One concept from that video
3:18
is how it's much easier for players to
3:20
cut off flat shots from their forehand
3:22
side than their backhand side. It's also
3:25
easier for players to produce more power
3:26
from that forehand side.
3:29
Chinese players understand this well and
3:32
so they will purposely push and lift
3:34
higher towards their opponent's forehand
3:37
sides while playing flatter shots at the
3:39
backhand. And when you combine this idea
3:42
with making your game flow, the game
3:45
should generally become easier to play.
3:47
For example, if you play a good spin
3:50
net, your opponent is generally limited
3:52
to trying to reet or lift. In these
3:55
cases, you don't need to step so far
3:57
back as you have time to get back to the
3:59
high lift. Similarly,
4:02
no one is going to spin net a drive, and
4:04
as long as you're not heavily outclassed
4:06
by your opponent, there is no room to do
4:09
a deception either. The only responses
4:12
are generally blocks, lifts, or the most
4:14
dangerous one, a drive back. And so,
4:17
your focus when you drive should
4:19
generally be these three shots. and your
4:22
mental and footwork should speed up with
4:24
your shot. In doubles, this concept
4:27
becomes even more interesting because
4:29
you have a partner.
4:31
One case, for example, is attacking the
4:33
middle when you're the backourt player.
4:35
As long as your shot has good downwards
4:37
angle, your opponents are pretty much
4:39
limited to just lifting it high. If they
4:41
try to initiate any sort of drive or
4:43
net, the shots are generally really easy
4:46
for your partner to cut off.
4:48
You may also play certain shots to force
4:50
your opponents into an undesirable
4:52
rotation or put yourself into a good
4:54
rotation.
5:00
When you're good at limiting your
5:01
opponent's shot selection,
5:03
you should also be able to convert those
5:05
opportunities into winning points. There
5:08
is a Chinese phrase that you'll hear
5:09
frequently in badminton called
5:13
the direct translation of catch the ball
5:15
shouldn't be taken quite literally. And
5:18
a better phrase would be catch the
5:19
opportunity or in other words,
5:21
anticipate.
5:23
There are many levels to anticipation,
5:25
but the first and general level that
5:28
should be mastered right at the start is
5:30
to be ready to attack when your
5:31
opponents are out of position. Whenever
5:33
your opponent takes it late in the front
5:35
or back court, they're really only able
5:38
to play close to the net or into the
5:40
back court. So when that happens, you
5:43
need to be ready to attack by either
5:45
taking the loose front court shot early
5:48
or attacking [music] in the back court.
5:49
The next level after is then combining
5:52
this idea with limiting your opponent's
5:54
shot selection. If you block towards the
5:56
service line and your opponent is taking
5:59
the shuttle below the tape, it is very
6:01
likely for them to instinctively push or
6:04
lift. And here's where you can have some
6:06
of that intention where you may actively
6:09
position yourself to move to the back
6:11
court more quickly.
6:13
Here are some examples.
6:25
[music]
6:39
It's not just the back court either. You
6:41
can also do the same in the front court.
6:50
[cheering]
6:59
that seems a little bit uh in danger.
7:06
[music]
7:09
Now, what we just talked about can also
7:12
be interpreted as a form of the next
7:14
[music] Chinese concept.
7:17
>> In English, this means change speed. And
7:20
you might hear us or others say change
7:23
pace as well. Given how the Chinese play
7:25
heavily with ideas of rhythm and flow,
7:28
it also generally becomes a principle
7:30
that winning points will rely on
7:32
breaking your opponent's rhythm and
7:33
flow. And one of the most effective ways
7:36
to do this is through changing speed.
7:39
Pace changes, when done correctly, will
7:41
lead to your opponent mistiming their
7:42
split step and taking the shuttle late.
7:46
There are many different kinds of pace
7:47
changes and you can combine different
7:50
elements like your footwork and shot to
7:53
make your pace changes more deadly. For
7:55
example,
7:57
one thing you can do is speed up your
7:59
footwork in certain scenarios and then
8:02
play a slower shot. When you approach
8:05
the shuttle fast, opponents are often
8:07
expecting fast shots like drives or
8:09
smashes, so the sudden slow shot can
8:12
catch them off guard. There are also
8:14
times when you can maintain the same
8:16
speed in your footwork and then inject
8:19
pace with your hand to punish those who
8:21
are not ready.
8:23
>> All that's gone.
8:35
Another way to create opportunities for
8:36
yourself and break your opponent's
8:38
rhythm is a Chinese concept called
8:43
this one translates to get rid of or to
8:45
break away in English. We prefer the
8:47
breakaway definition, but it does
8:50
require some more explanation. In our
8:52
eyes, this Chinese concept is about
8:55
breaking away from your opponent's shot
8:57
combos and attack.
8:59
We already talked quite a bit about how
9:01
gameplay is supposed to flow where, for
9:03
example, if you full smash, you should
9:06
naturally just follow up to the front
9:08
court immediately in singles. Well, the
9:11
next level is to understand some of the
9:13
things that your opponent naturally
9:14
wants to do, like smash, follow up,
9:16
kill, and then counter it. If your
9:19
opponent smashes and you're able to whip
9:21
a return crosscourt, many times you
9:24
would be able to break away from your
9:25
opponent's attacking combo and position
9:27
yourself to be on the attack.
9:30
You can use this concept in doubles,
9:32
too. Whenever your opponents are
9:34
attacking, the ultimate goal is to get a
9:36
loose block or halfcourt lift that they
9:39
can kill to finish the rally.
9:42
Knowing this, you can practice
9:44
countering by practicing and using
9:46
returns that are not desirable for your
9:47
opponent.
9:48
Some good returns include lifting cross
9:51
or drive blocking to stop a continuous
9:53
attack.
9:55
Of course, executing this takes a great
9:58
deal of skill, and you're not expected
10:00
to completely stop your opponent's
10:02
attack on their very first shot.
10:04
Your goal, however, is to not let your
10:07
opponent continuously play consecutive
10:09
shots that they want to play.
10:11
A general rule of thumb is that after
10:14
one or two attacking shots from your
10:16
opponent, your opponent should feel the
10:17
need to neutralize the rally.
10:28
If they play three or four shots that's
10:30
within their combo, you will most likely
10:33
lose the rally.
10:35
>> That serve a long time. He was doing
10:37
that yesterday against the wind.
10:40
Moving
10:46
away from the tactical side of things a
10:48
little bit, there are a few Chinese
10:50
concepts we wanted to mention that will
10:52
help develop your technical skills.
10:55
The first one is one you may have
10:57
already heard us refer to in previous
10:58
videos and that's a concept called
11:02
>> the literal translation is make it tight
11:04
or to tighten. And although there is
11:06
some element of this where you [music]
11:08
need to tighten your core, we don't want
11:10
people to mistaken this concept to being
11:12
more stiff and tense on the court. After
11:14
all, if you're too stiff and tense on
11:16
the court, you won't be able to play
11:19
your shots well. Instead, we like to
11:21
refer to
11:22
>> as returning to a ready- hitting
11:24
position as fast as you can.
11:28
This doesn't mean returning back to the
11:30
middle necessarily, but moving your body
11:32
to a position where you're ready to push
11:34
off and play the next shot as soon as
11:37
your opponent hits. If you want to
11:39
effectively execute some of the
11:41
previously mentioned principles, then
11:43
getting really good at this upper body
11:45
recovery is super important as it'll
11:48
give you the time to actually react to
11:50
your opponents.
11:56
And for the final Chinese principle in
11:58
this video we want to talk about is
12:01
>> aka borrow force. The badmitten context
12:04
is you want to borrow force from various
12:06
elements to play your shots. For
12:08
example, your smash power doesn't just
12:10
come from your arms and it shouldn't. A
12:13
very strong and quick smash is a
12:15
combination of arm and body rotation
12:16
speed.
12:18
Similarly, a good spin net often comes
12:21
not from you trying to spin the bird as
12:23
much as you can with your fingers and
12:24
arm, but from the momentum you have
12:27
moving forward.
12:29
You can also use the concept of
12:31
borrowing force on your opponent.
12:33
Whenever your opponent plays a fast shot
12:35
against you, a lot of the time you don't
12:38
need to add a lot of your own power into
12:40
the shot.
12:41
It can be just as, if not more
12:43
effective, to simply redirect their shot
12:45
to a different direction.
12:48
In fact, this is what a younger Lindan
12:49
excelled at. A lot of players will watch
12:52
Lindan and think he's an allout
12:54
attacking player, but actually he
12:55
doesn't attack that much in the way that
12:58
a lot of people think. He's not the type
13:00
of player to force spin nets and then
13:03
sprint back and jump smash. Instead,
13:06
what younger Lindan was really good at
13:08
was punishing his opponents for trying
13:10
to pressure him. A lot of players will
13:13
go for fast pushes or punch clears to
13:15
try and make their opponents take a late
13:16
forehand or backhand. But younger Lindan
13:19
doesn't take late shots all that often
13:21
and instead cuts off fast shots early
13:23
and redirects the shot speed back at his
13:26
opponents.
13:33
>> You can use this on defense, too. Your
13:35
opponents might go for very hard full
13:37
smashes and simply sticking out your
13:40
racket can generally be enough. When you
13:43
successfully defend like this, your
13:45
opponent is going to be the one who's
13:47
way more tired. And if you're constantly
13:50
the one using less energy because you're
13:52
leveraging your opponent's strength,
13:54
then you're going to win more easily.
13:57
This concept of borrowing force is even
13:59
more important in doubles where your
14:02
shot depends so much on the preciseness
14:04
of your swing timing. You can't afford
14:06
to always do a full pullback on every
14:08
shot. And so the game relies heavily on
14:10
your ability to leverage momentum from
14:12
other sources such as your opponent's
14:15
shot and your legs.
14:23
Now these seven badmitten principles are
14:25
not unique to Chinese badminton players
14:27
nor are they a full comprehensive list
14:29
of all Chinese badmitten principles
14:32
but they are concepts we hear frequently
14:34
from Chinese badminton coaches and
14:36
rarely from other non-Chinese coaches.
14:38
Regardless knowing these concepts is one
14:41
thing and executing is a whole other.
14:46
It is our hope though that this video
14:49
has given you some things to keep in
14:50
mind when you go into your next
14:52
practice. If you like this video, make
14:55
sure to hit the like and subscribe
14:57
button so you don't miss out on future
14:59
content. Let us know what you would like
15:02
to see in the comments below. And as
15:04
always, thanks for watching.