This Is What Made Prime Kento Momota So Good

[transcript]

Hi everyone! Welcome to Get Good At Badminton.

Today we will be talking about Kento Momota, and what made him so good in the 2018-2019 season.

When analyzing Momota’s gameplay during the 2018-2019 season, there were four key elements that stood out to us.

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The first key element we want to talk about is Momota’s outstanding body control.

Take a look at these few clips and look at Momota’s body position.

First, look at how low Kento Momota’s center of gravity is. Because Momota’s center of gravity is so low he is able to increase his ability to stay balanced when reacting to his opponent’s shots and his stability.

Second, notice how Kento Momota’s body position never really changes too much during the rally.

A lot of players with poor body control tend to bob up and down on the court. This makes it harder to react to your opponents shots and maintain stability.

Note that Kento doesn’t always maintain this position, or else this would be extremely tiring. Sometimes he will get up, especially for the attack, or relaxing after hitting an extremely high clear. But, on defense he will maintain this body position.

Another important point to mention is that Kento Momota was both very physically and mentally fit. He could keep the same body position and never falter due to his physical and mental endurance.

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The second element of Momota’s game that made him so dominant was his shot quality.

Number one, his lift quality.

Having good shot quality will restrict the amount of shots your opponent can make. For example, the difference between a short lift, and a lift that goes all the way to the back line is massive. With the short and slow lift, your opponent can do anything they want with the shuttle. However, with a faster and lift with good depth, it is very difficult to play winners off of those.

Momota’s lift quality was second to none.

Number two, his quality in his late forehand and late backhand.

Look at these clips where Momota’s drops and watch what his opponents can do. When Momota plays his late forehand or late backhand drop, they have faster shot speed and are very tight to the net, which restricts his opponent from capitalizing on it.

Momota’s drives in his backcourt are also “harder” and “faster” which makes it difficult for the opponent to control the shuttle.

When your shot speed is faster, it becomes increasingly difficult to play a deception, which also helps explain why Momota is so smooth on the court.

Number three, his net play.

We can also talk little bit about Momota’s net play, specifically his spin net. When Momota spins, the shot quality is so good that it forces the opponents to lift. Take a look at a few of these clips.

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On the topic of being smooth on the court, the third element is Kento Momota’s split step timing.

Arguably the most important for being smooth on the court is having good split step timing. When you mistime your split step you often have to correct it by doing a correctional split step. This will cause you to lose valuable seconds where you could be taking the shuttle at a higher point of contact.

The key to timing the split step is to split right when they are about to hit the shuttle. This requires a great deal of focus.

It is also important to push off with 100% effort when you land. After Momota has hit his shot, there is a brief amount of time where he recovers and watches the bird. Momota recovers based on his shot speed. For example, if he has hit an extremely high lift or clear, he may take his time to go back to the middle.

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Although there are much more than four elements that bring together Momota’s game, the last element that really stood out to us was Momota’s consistency and patience on the court.

Performing a great quality lift, or timing your split step correctly once is one thing. However, this is not called consistency. Consistency is being able to consistently do this almost every single shot, every single rally. This is consistency.

A lot of the times Momota wins points from unforced errors made by his opponents due to his consistency and great shot quality.

Momota’s patience on the court is unrivalved. His mentality isn’t to try to end the rallies early. This will cause him to force winners which often leads to many mistakes. He will continue getting his opponent’s shots back, and continue the build the rally until he has found the right time to put away the point.

When Momota thinks it is a good time to change the pace of the rally, he will. To play like this you do need good physical and trust in yourself to play the longer rallies. Prime Momota had exactly that and that is what made him so deadly.

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To summarize, these four key elements are what made Kento Momota so dominant in his 2018-2019 season.

Number one, body control. Low center of gravity helps maintain stabiltiy and balance on court.

Number two, shot quality. Better shot quality restricts your opponent’s shot options. This allowed Momota to move smoother on court.

Number three, split step timing. Time the split step right when your opponent is about to hit. Then push off with maximum effort.

Number four, patience and consistency. Momota’s ability to perform high quality shots and footwork everytime. His patience allows him to build rallies and capitalize when opponents make bad shots.

Do you guys miss prime Momota? Let us know in the comments!

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