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As viewers, it's easy to watch pro
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players and say, "Man, this player just
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needs to stop making so many mistakes."
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We definitely said it ourselves in
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multiple videos. So, we know just how
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easy it is to forget how difficult it
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can be for pros. You see, bad mitten
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pros often have to play in conditions
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that are far different from what your
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typical bad mitten player is used to. In
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these large arenas with hundreds of
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people watching, factors like drift,
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lighting, and the general higher roofs
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and open space can make it extremely
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difficult to control the shuttle. And
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perhaps you may have even greater
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respect for the pros, considering that
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they fly in often only a day or two
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before the tournament and only have a
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couple of hours to test court conditions
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before being expected to play at their
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best. Victor Lie versus Aush Shetty at
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the 2025 Hyo Open is a phenomenal
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example of how playing conditions can
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completely shake up your game. Two
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theoretically closely matched players
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saw either one-sided losses or wins
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before entering a third set that Aush
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Shetty ultimately won. Victor Lie was
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down a staggering 11 to0 at the interval
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before losing 21 to1 in the first game.
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Ausetti had a similar story in the
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second being down 10 to zero before
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ultimately losing 21 to4. So what
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happened? How could these games be so
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The match between Victor Lie and Aush
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Shetty is a prime example of how drift
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can completely change the game. On the
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court that Victor Lie and Aush Shetty
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played on, there was a drift blowing
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from the far side of the court toward
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the side closer to the camera. This
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drift made the side closer to the camera
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the better side to play on. Here's why.
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Generally, it is much easier for prom
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male players to add power to their shot
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versus taking away power to control
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their shot better, especially in the
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case of lifts and clears. When you're
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playing with a drift, shots that
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normally land in without a drift can
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often go out, and adjusting your power
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takes a great deal of skill. This is why
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both I use Shetty and Victor Lie
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struggled heavily when playing with the
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drift, where they made a significant
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number of what seemed like unforced
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But even if you were able to control
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your lifts and clears well enough to
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keep the shuttle inbounds,
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there's an even bigger problem to
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consider. Adjusting your power lower
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often means slowing down your racket
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swing and shot speed. And when you slow
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down your shot and swing, you make it
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much easier for your opponent to react
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to the shuttle and attack.
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Comparatively, when you're playing
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against the drift, you can actually
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speed up your swing and increase your
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shot speed without the shuttle landing
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out. This makes it extremely difficult
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for your opponent to react and requires
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them to move faster. That's why despite
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many of the lifts not reaching the full
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court's length when played against the
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drift, these pros still often end up
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taking more neutral shots like a late
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forehand or backhand.
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There were several instances as well
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where the player playing with the drift
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would often misjudge the lift. The fast
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shot speed can make it seem like the
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shuttle was going out, but the drift
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ultimately keeps it in.
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So, what can you do if you play in these
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drifty conditions? Well, let's take a
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look at what Victor Lie and Aayush
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At the start of the third game, Victor
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Lie starts on the side playing with the
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drift and Aushetti starts against the
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drift. What you'll notice immediately is
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how much Victor Lie pushes the pace,
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trying his absolute hardest to take the
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net early and avoid lifting.
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You'll also notice that Victor often
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opts for cross pushes as well, given
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that you can play the shot with more
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power compared to a straight. Who we
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really want to highlight though is Aush
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Shetty. In these drifty conditions, Aish
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Shetty noticeably changes his play
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depending on the side of the court. When
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playing on the side against the drift,
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Shetty played a style where he generally
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played neutralizing shots in the back
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court while putting all his attention on
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the net. He knows Victor Lie does not
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want to lift and even if he does, the
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shot will be slower because Lie needs to
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Thus, he can spend more focus on
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And a strategy that worked well was to
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block a little tighter to the net to
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force Victor Lie to move the full
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distances on the court.
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When switching to the other side, a
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usetti then flipped his game where he
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decided to block farther and put
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emphasis on attacking in the back court.
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The first goal was to prevent Victor
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from playing spin nets as a spin makes
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lifts even harder to control in drifty
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conditions. The second goal was to be
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ready for what we talked about earlier
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where playing against the drift allows
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players to hit their pushes and lifts
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faster without the shot going out. And
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indeed, Aush Shetty was successful in
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accomplishing his goals and eventually
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Now, one thing both players should have
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done more was play a flatter game. There
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are some instances where Shetty and
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Victor attempted to play the drive game,
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but it definitely could have been used
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more, especially in the third game.
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We can take a look at how Mimo and
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Ginting played each other at the various
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The China Open venue is known to be very
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drifty given how large it is, which is
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why we can see Mimo, a player more well
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known for his control, initiate a lot
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more drives and flatter exchanges than
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Both Aush Shetty and Victor Lie could
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have went for drives a lot more. though
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it is understandable that they didn't go
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for it given that those shots may not be
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comfortable for them. But if your drive
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game is good or you have trouble
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controlling the shuttle in certain
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venues, playing a flatter game is
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certainly something you can go for. Not
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all of us will end up playing in a large
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drifty stadium, but there are certainly
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other situations that make some of the
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lessons from this video very important.
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For example, you may suddenly switch
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from a slower shuttle to a faster
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shuttle. You may end up playing on a
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court where a fan or vent is blowing air
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on your court. In these cases, you can't
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just complain about your situation.
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There are things you can do to still
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win, like changing your shot choice and
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anticipation to not get punished by
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external conditions. This is what
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separates the truly great players from
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the good. If you like this video, make
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sure to hit the like and subscribe
7:38
button so you don't miss out on future
7:40
videos. As always, let us know what you
7:42
would like to see in the comments below.
