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Kento Mimoda is an all-time great
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badminton men's singles player who had
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one of the most fluid and effortless
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movements on court. He's definitely one
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of the best players to study to get
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better at footwork. In this video, we
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want to take a closer look at Kento
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Mamot's footwork. More specifically, his
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transitional footwork, aka the footwork
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after his recovery, but before his
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movement to the shuttle. Transitional
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footwork or a transition step between
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the recovery footwork and movement to
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the next shot is crucial to having
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smooth movement on the court. It's
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easier to show an example than to
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explain it. Here's an example of what we
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mean by Mamot's transitional footwork.
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In this rally, notice how Mamot's left
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foot moves in front after he plays the
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straight forehand block.
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This movement is essentially an
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anticipation for these two corners
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highlighted on the screen. And this is
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what we mean by transition footwork. It
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is a small oneep or twostep adjustment
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between the recovery footwork and the
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footwork towards the next shot. That
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makes the transition between the
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recovery and footwork towards the next
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To avoid a long and tedious video, we
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will not be breaking down how Mimoda
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moves in all situations considered. But
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we will be breaking down his footwork in
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three of his arguably most played shot
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categories and look at how he moves in
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various situations and how he
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transitions from one shot to another.
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One of Mamot's greatest strengths that
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doesn't really get the attention it
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deserves is his ability to neutralize
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aggressive and fast pushes from his
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While half of this is the shot quality,
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the other half is the type of movement
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based off of the shot played. For
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example, let's take a look at a straight
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Generally speaking, after playing the
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shot, Mimoto will take a small
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repositioning shuffle back towards the
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The purpose of this shuffle is to help
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quickly push Mamoda out of the corner.
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Then, as he performs his split step, he
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will put his left foot in front to move
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more fluidly to the net. This is the
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transition footwork that allows Mimoda
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to take the net early.
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Mamot's crosscourt forehand slice
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footwork is very similar to his straight
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where Mimoto will perform the short and
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quick shuffle and put his left foot
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forward in anticipation of the net. This
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is generally very intuitive for many
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badminton players and is the transition
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footwork that allows Mimoto to cover the
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You can see in this clip that not only
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is Mimoto able to cover the straight net
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from his opponent, but he is also able
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to jump out and attack the straight
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It's also important to take into
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consideration that Mamoto's recovery
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footwork will match his shot speed. So,
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if Mimoto plays a faster shot like a
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drive or a punch clear that pushes the
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pace of the game, Mamoto will look to
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Now, another thing that is important to
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take into consideration is where your
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opponent is taking your shot. The beauty
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of bad mitten is that many situations
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will be similar, but none will be the
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if you look at this clip where Mamota
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drives straight on his forehand side,
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you can see Mimoda adjusts his feet to
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be side to side to better cover the
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drive from Lie Chong Way because he
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threatens many shot options by taking
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the shuttle that high.
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But if you take a look at this clip
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where Mamot's opponent doesn't take his
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drive as high, Mamoto will switch his
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feet so his left foot is in front to be
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in better position to take the net.
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example of Mimoda adjusting and adapting
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to different situations is keeping the
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racket leg behind after playing the
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straight or cross from his late
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after Talking about Mamot's transition
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steps from his late backcourt to his
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other shots, we now need to look at how
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Mamoto transitions from his front court
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to his other shots. For Mamot's front
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court, we will mainly talk about his
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recovery on his pushes.
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When he pushes straight, he will usually
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walk or skip backwards depending on his
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shot speed and how fast he needs to
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Interestingly, most of the clips we
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watched of Mamoa had him shuffling when
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pushing cross on his forehand side and
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walking back when pushing crosscourt on
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An explanation for this is about being
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in the optimal position for defense when
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defending on your backhand side. The
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general best position for defense in
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singles is to have your non-rackcket leg
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a little staggered behind your racket
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leg to make it easier to turn quicker
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for the fast straight shot. So when
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Mamoto pushes crosscourt on his forehand
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he recovers by shuffling.
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This enables him to already be in a
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backhand defense position without having
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to change the positioning of his hips.
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And just like we mentioned before, no
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situation is exactly the same. And it is
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important to note that Mamota may not
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always return directly to the middle of
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the court after every time he pushes. If
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he sees that his opponent is taking the
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shuttle late, he will edge up further.
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But most of the time will stay side by
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side in his feet positioning.
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And depending on where he played his
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push, he will cover more on that side.
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This is to ensure that he is already
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positioned for their fastest or most
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After talking about Mimot's pushes a
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little, it's only natural that we cover
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his defense transition footwork after
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it. Mimot's transition footwork from
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defense will vary depending on the shot
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quality of his defense and what he wants
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For example, in this clip, after Mamoto
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blocks Shiuchi's straight smash, he
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keeps his feet side by side.
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The reason for this is simply because of
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his defense quality. And where Shiuchi
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is taking the shuttle, because she is
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approaching the net with his racket face
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up, he threatens Mimoda because he can
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And in cases where Mimo's opponents are
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not immediately threatening a drive, you
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can see Mimoto block and actually shift
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his left foot in front of his body.
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Doing this allows him to take a more
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aggressive stance because he can move
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more quickly to the front and the back.
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And this is simply because he sees his
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opponent take his follow-up block with a
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flat racket face and lower approach,
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which means the shot generally has to
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come up. When you see your opponents
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take the shuttle with a flat racket
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face, they will likely push or net. So,
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there is no need to prepare for the
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To summarize, transition footwork is
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exactly what the name implies. It's the
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footwork in between the shots you play
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that will smoothly get you from one
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corner to another. Many top players with
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great footwork, such as Kento Mimoda,
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have mastered transition footwork.
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Transition footwork is what truly makes
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one's footwork smooth and efficient and
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something we should definitely pay
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attention to when practicing our
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footwork. Who do you think had the best
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movement on the court of all time? Let
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us know in the comments below. And don't
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forget to comment what you want to see
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next. If you guys like this video, make
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sure to hit the like and subscribe
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button. And as always, thanks for
