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Would like to learn from you?

Han Jian has been training us on this as part of the Connecting Footwork training. What he has been doing is that he is making us initiate the movement with a cross court drop shot, then move forward to the other corner. These will be coming in the videos for Connecting Footwork in the coming weeks. For the previous week, in the Connecting Footwork videos already started the drop shot practice. th-cam.com/video/aB_1SqaleFA/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/3FST7whiN9U/w-d-xo.html

We don't do talking into the camera as we are not creating a scripted video for entertainment. This is it the real training, and this is what happens as we train. It was a conscious creative decision that we don't do a scripted video. There are too many around on TH-cam, and that makes it hard for viewers to differentiate the BS from the real deal. We are the real deal, and we don't have to spend so many words talking to the video to convince people. The technique used by Han Jian works. He conquered the world with it. And even now, Chinese players are still dominating using the same techniques. I learnt Malaysian / Indonesian style as a youth and DID NOT make it. I always wondered why. Now I know. And better yet, by using what Han Jian taught me, I have now recovered from the injuries which incurred when I played using Malaysian / Indonesian style. The proof is in the pudding. This stuff works. I get tired that many who barely understand this technique of badminton start becoming experts and critics. I delete most comments, but do keep some around for entertainment. And then occasionally, I would get a true lover of the sport who gets it, like yourself. It is for guys who understand it like yourself which makes all this effort in capturing these videos worthwhile. Thank you for your support. Much appreciated.

@@SteveTalksBadminton Thanks for the insightful reply. I'm happy to hear that you have found something that works amazingly for you. As an Indonesian myself I have a soft spot for our players / playing style, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate skill regardless of where it comes from. I will try to learn what I can from your videos to better myself :)

Your body bends slightly as a natural result of unwinding/rotating your hips and throwing your arm out, not because you literally force your back to bend forwards like is being shown in the training. Like when you actually look at what the body is doing, you're arching your back and pushing your non dominant hip forward to tension your body. When you suddenly whip your hip back to force the rotation up your torso it naturally kicks your legs forward in the air, your upper body loses that tension as it whips around, and the swing pulls your upper body forwards a bit. Those last 3 things are what you see as the body "bending forwards". At no point do you engage your muscles to essentially bow down, which is what is being taught and shown in the video... If you're swinging correctly your non-dominant leg should pull away from your swing as your rotate your body as to not hit your thigh, it's not a matter of bending forward to get your racket away. If you're hitting your thigh, your swing is not crossing far enough across your body, or you're swinging too low, or not out in front of you most likely. I normally wouldn't care too much about bad things being taught, but I suspect if someone was taught this and tried to use it for a while they might injure their back... and I don't want to see anyone do that.

Thank you for the words of encourgagement. Badminton is a very difficult sport to master as there are so many subtle things in the move. The pull down which Han Jian teaches is only applicable when using his technique. The way the racquet is held is different. Doing this when holding the racquet firm like an axe grip requires a different swing.

I am not deleting this comment because I find this rather amusing. Reminds me of a saying from Plato: “Wise men speak because they have something to say: Fools because they have to say something.” All the biggest smashers in badminton have a very obvious forward bend when they hit. The most pronounced is Lee Zii Jia where he crunches his body down as he hits. Let's just count who else has it... Lee Cheuk Yiu, Lee Chia Hao, Lin Dan, Axelsen... the list goes on. And we are not talking about the variation of smashes from the side, like forehand side no body turn, or backhand/over the head side. This is full frontal, straight smash. There are many variations of smash, many of which we discussed on my website and blog.

@@SteveTalksBadminton Insulting someone doesnt lend your argument credibility. You’re trying to copy pros without knowing whats biomechanically happening in their body. They are indeed bending forward but the hip rotates first. This video shows its like theyre just bending down like theyre bowing which has no hip involvement. On top of that you can already see the swing is ending incorrectly because you cant pronate properly without a rotational force. Youre copying pros like lzj and dissecting their swing from the top down from what youve seen in videos rather than knowing whats happening bottom up. Then youre mistakenly picking this out and emphasising it without knowing why they do it for a coaching lesson which is a common coaching error. There is a reason there is no other video like this because its fundamentally wrong.

lmao

@@mango2354 ​you can pick pick by what both players are performing on the court, after making the kid understand he did not care to move body at all some times,he is doing the same arm/wrist rotation at all times. It would be bonkers even might ruptures the body doing this on the third-court, plus you don't get time to take the next shot, i agree on this one

​@@SteveTalksBadminton This is wrong. Forward bending (especially with backward back bending) especially like what is demonstrated here is just dangerous and will just hurt your spine. To achieve power your need rotational power AND a bit of forward (abs) crunch to transmit the power, but not so much as to look down when you hit the shuttle. If you combine both, you get a more diagonal crunch, not forward. Stretch your obliques as much as possible by twisting your torso (like put your shoulders 90 degrees from your hip), now reach for the highest point you can hit with your racket, that's is the most efficient way to generate power. There is no deliberate "forward bending" in there.

The most pronounced lean forward during a full smash is by Lee Zii Jia. And he has the most powerful smash in men's singles.

It's not the wrist which we are using to turn, it is the fingers. But you are right, if the player grips the racquet tight with the entire hand and swing like this, definitely will get injuries. Check my website out on how we actually hold the racquet: www.stevesbadminton.com/badminton-basics/grip-and-strokes/grip-techniques

Haha. Thanks for the encouragement, but it is not as it seems. This man was the greatest badminton player in the world in the late 70s all the way until the mid 80s. He is the master who taught the masters who taught the previous generation of champions from China (Lin Dan and Chen Long). He is like the Master in Jackie Chan's drunken fist Kung Fu movies, and he does not readily teach what he knows to anyone. Read about how it all started here: www.stevesbadminton.com/blog/how-i-started-my-training-with-han-jian-with-a-lot-of-pain2023129 And read about why I am doing this here: www.stevesbadminton.com/blog/the-feelings-which-fueled-my-ambition-to-make-sure-the-badminton-world-does-not-forget-han-jian20231216

You are most welcomed. I dare say that my channel is the only source of knowledge on elite Chinese style badminton on internet which is natively available in English. The others sources I see are all in Mandarin, and a lot of details are lost in translation when done using AI. Do check out my website for more resources: www.stevesbadminton.com/

Han Jian's method for smashes (and Chinese styles in general) is a bit different than what is defined as a stick smash used by other playing styles. The full explanation of the types of smashes are available on the website: www.stevesbadminton.com/badminton-basics/grips-and-strokes/smash When doing this smash like a stick smash, we do not turn the body, jump up quickly and hit it. It is similar to executing a half smash for us. When we want to do a full smash, we add in the body turn and pull down the arm as well. So, for Chinese style, it is basically the same method of smashing, whether stick smash, half smash or full smash. The grip part which I am teaching Fred here is used in all methods of smashes. It does not make a difference if it is the stick smash, half smash or full smash. This adds more power to the smash and reduces the backswing. The reduction of backswing aids recovery after the hit, so this also helps improve mobility. Anyway, check out the detailed explanation in the website. It is all in there, plus slow motion videos and snapshots.

Pleasure is mine! Do check out the website for more resources: www.stevesbadminton.com/

He is teaching a lot more than what he wrote in his book. He has mentioned that there were a lot of things which he could not include into his book as it was meant for the masses. Now, as I discuss with him what additional content should I add into the website's advance skills sections, he has so many ideas!! On the topic of balance, I am writing it up now for the advanced pages. It is a difficult topic to cover as what Han Jian teaches is not the typical definition of balance as defined by the Malaysian / Indonesian style. His technique requires dynamic balance. This is something we mention during our training sessions as "bicycle theory", which means keep moving to stay in balance. Stopping means falling. More of this coming soon as I continue working on the balance topic.

​@@SteveTalksBadminton Thanks Steve for the insight, explains a lot of things that seem amiss in Han Jians book. However your blog is oustanding, the entries on footwork, heel first, foot slamming are great, very technical. I'm also a technique guy so what you are writing resonates well. Like you I started badminton as a teenager, but I'm a few years older than you and haven't had any famous coach. During play especially singles, I would get pain in the lower front part of my right leg (I"m right handed), because landing at the last step, right knee slides to the front and gets ahead of the foot, due to body weight going forward. I tried a lot of counter measures: heel first, foot slam, pushing on the right foot upon landing (which only leads to more strain on the leg), trail hand backwards, lower center of gravity, etc... No matter what I tried, I would still get out of balance. And therein lies the problem: the more you get out of balance, the harder it is to get back into balance, the more energy spent also. And I think the heel first technique can be achieved by it being a consequence of good mechanics, and not conscious decision to do land heel first (that is it's done without even thinking about it). And this is why I firmly believe (even though I have no authority on this) that always staying in balance not only makes you move more efficiently and easier, but also makes you spend less energy. There are some great players that do this, namely Lee Hyun Il, who is almost always in balance. The main principle is to have your center of gravity always centered, that is between the legs. This is how it's done: before moving the right leg for the last step, have the butt stay backward, flex the left knee so that center of gravity gets lower. Automatically, the right leg will move forward and do a heel first, and you will stay in balance, center of gravity stays centered, recovery is quick, energy spent little. Inversely, if the left foot pushes upward, balance will be lost.

I am writing exactly on this topic, and, even though I have not completed the article, I am enabling the page anyway just because we are discussing this topic: www.stevesbadminton.com/advanced-topics/balance This topic is complex, as it is about dynamic balance and not static balance. Malaysian / Indonesian style emphasizes on static balance. What that means is that they do not want to lose balance at all. I know that was the main problem with my game when I was a teenager. That also meant I could only do doubles. Given the speed of the game, we could never lose balance and must always be in balance and ready for the next shot. With singles, to achieve greater coverage and better shot quality, the players must lose balance and hit the shot, only to regain their balance after the shot. The analysis on this page shows that despite the player losing his balance when he hits the shot, the centre of gravity is exactly at the centre of the player's body. This allows for the player to hit a perfect shot, and only regain his balance to move after hitting. This topic, given its complexity, is difficult to put onto paper. This is where I am at right now with this page. Sharing with you for your thoughts.

@@SteveTalksBadminton Great entry on balance which encapsulates Han Jian. If I may, there are some questions or details that may need an answer to be thorough 1. leaning forward from the hips? the chest ? just the head ? 2. Does the centre of gravity shifts back between the legs immediately after getting out of balance ? so this would mean getting the torso back to a more upright position. But when does this happen ? If the footwork requires 3 step forward, then getting the torso upright should be done by the second step. But that begs the question, what if you only move one step? The torso would still be leaning forward as the right foot lands putting you out of balance upon landing. This would require a kick forward of the right leg. 3. if the left foot pushes too much from the ground and pushes the whole trunk forward, the right leg must kick forward very hard in order to stay in balance. If not, I'd call it lazy right leg, the right leg would have a difficult time extending forward, and even landing with a slamming foot or heel first, the torso would still be leaning forward with a forward center of gravity, meaning out of balance.

Complex questions which are difficult to answer. Let me have a crack at it. 1. When leaning forward, what is important is that the centre of gravity is forward. If you can do that with only your head... then yes. But the likely answer is the whole body. 2. The shifting of the centre of gravity to move from front to back, we are never really in balance. There is only a short moment when the centre of graviy is between both legs, but we shift it away so that we can continue moving.To have the centre of gravity between both feet means you are in balance and standing still. That is not the intention. This is one of the main problems I experienced when playing Malaysian style. We always keep the centre of gravity between both feet, even when moving. That limited my reach and speed. I need to use small steps to move because of this. With Han Jian's method, we destroy the balance totally. The centre of gravity is in the direction I want to go. I only pull it back when I want to stop. But because I am never truly staying still, I will never keep it between my feet. I keep shifting it as long as I am still moving. And to keep moving, it is required that we hunch down and keep the centre of gravity low, so that it is easier to shift around. If I need to stop, then I will stand straight up. As my centre of gravity goes up, I pull my feet in to stand straight. This results in the centre of gravity being between my feet. 3. We do not really kick out per say. We use the trailing leg as a pendulum. When the trailing leg is pulled forward, the centre of gravity is behind. This means we will be falling backwards. To initiate the movement backward, the right leg kicks out to move backwards and at the same time the trailing leg also swings backwards, creating a pull backwards. When you are lying flat on your back, you would have to raise your legs up, and then let them drop so that the movement of the legs pull your torso up into a sitting position. It is this same movement, but done standing in order to move backwards. All these topics are covered in the advanced pages which I am writing up. I am very glad for you to have brought it up.

Hahaha. I must have missed censoring that one!

Thank you so much for these words of encouragement. It is a very welcomed change to find nice folks such as yourself on social media. Most messages here are negative, hence why I filter the messages strictly. It is very refreshing to have nice people leaving such positive comments instead of the usual trolling. Thank you once again.

Kids at this age are all rebellious and think they know better. We just got to stick with it and keep [ushing them.. Lee Chong Wei was rebellious and did not listen when he was a kid too. But when he finally woke up, he made history. So, never write off anyone. Give them a chance.

Wow steve ! Ive not watched your kid play in a few months he has improved a lot !,!

Still lacking tournament experience. It the tournament this week, he was so impressive in the first game. But, he could not hold on to the lead and lost it in 3 games. Skill wise he is doing all right. It is the game management part I need to work on. Some of it is down to fitness, some of it is down to mental strength. So, from now until the next tournament, the emphasis is on mental resilience and physical strength and fitness.

@@SteveTalksBadminton I think he has got some good technique. I didn’t watch the full video, I wasn’t quite understanding what you mean by the smash. I think you’re a great dad, I wished my dad did what you did, but he was very relaxed and let us decide on our own. Maybe I was too rebellious back then haha. Hope you show your son this, but definitely work hard, and work smart Steve’s son ! I hope you can find the love for the game of badminton, and be the best player you can be ! Looking forward to more of your videos !

The first 5 seconds of each video shows the location: Subang, Malaysia.

I felt like I was dying then... seeing stars and legs were beyond burning... :D:D:D I swear, he enjoys seeing people suffer...

@@SteveTalksBadminton lol... it certainly looks like it.. i think all coaches have that..

Yes, the great Momota likes to do that. Ginting also tried to follow after that.

Welcome! A pleasure to have audience from all over the world.

No this is done by using the fingers to spin the racquet. Check out the subsequent video on backhand drives. It is more obvious when doing backhand drives. Check out my website as well for detailed explanations on the moves: www.stevesbadminton.com/badminton-basics/grips-and-strokes/drive

In this video Han Jian was explaning the movement he wrote in his book. The details from the book are extracted and published here: www.stevesbadminton.com/badminton-basics/footwork/moving-to-the-baseline

I feel that the secrets which makes elites Chinese players so good should be shared. But to truly master these secrets is another matter all together. Do check out my website for more resources. The details of what we do in our training videos are explained in greater detail there: www.stevesbadminton.com/

The smash we learn here is a bit different from the full arm swing smash. Check out the website for full explanations on the grip, lobs and smash here: www.stevesbadminton.com/badminton-basics/grip-and-strokes/grip-techniques www.stevesbadminton.com/badminton-basics/grips-and-strokes/overheads/lobs www.stevesbadminton.com/badminton-basics/grips-and-strokes/smash

@@SteveTalksBadminton ohh I see So that was not a standard swing but the Han Jiang method right ??

Yes. What Han Jian is teaching us here are the same techniques used by elite Chinese players. It has a lot of subtle tricks and secrets which are difficult to see. That is the objective of this TH-cam channel, the website and blog: to document down the secrets of Chinese badminton used by their elite players.

Most will only cherish what he has taught many years after the fact, when they finally realise how amazing his techniques are. I came from the other side of the fence. I always wondered why I cannot do what the Chinese players can. And I wanted to know how they do it. And that lead to this TH-cam channel and my website. Please do check out the website as well. I have reviewed Han Jian's book and put in the details there, along with videos to explain. I will soon upload his book there as well, once I figured out how to get around the copyright and publisher challenges.

@@SteveTalksBadminton I coached for him for many years. I get what you are talking about.

Yes definitely. Last year we missed it because the school missed out due to some paperwork issues.

That is correct. To do an emergency lift when we purposely want it to stay in the air longer, we need to hit it from a lower point to get the right angle. The strength determines the height it will go and the distance, hence the air time. Look at the trajectory diagram in the page in my website, it should give an idea of what I mean: www.stevesbadminton.com/badminton-basics/grips-and-strokes/lift-and-flick

I have compiled all the variations of smashes on the website. Please find it here: www.stevesbadminton.com/badminton-basics/grips-and-strokes/smash What we are practicing is Han Jian's method for smashes, which is described at the end of the page. This method is used by some of the Chinese players, not all of them. Lin Dan, Shi Yuqi and Weng Hong Yang are users of this technique. The other Chinese players have slight difference which make their technique different. Lee Chong Wei always pulls his arm down when he goes for a smash. Ginting is similar in execution. That method gives the smash much more power. If you observe the smash speed records, it is almost never a Chinese player. I will get to this in the next paragraph. By pulling down the arm to smash, combining with the body turn and jump, it give the smash a lot of power, but sacrifices on angle. The smash would not be as sharp and lands towards the baseline of the court. Using Han Jian's approach it causes the smash to be much sharper, but sacrifices some power. Lin Dan's smashes are always weaker than Lee Chong Wei's. Lee Chong Wei easily hits smashes in excess of 400km/h whereas Lin Dan's never crosses the 400km/h mark. But who scores more points with the smash between the 2 of them when going head to head? I am discounting other opponents here because Lee Chong Wei will always win that due to him competiting in much more tournaments and winning against lesser opponents. The answer to the question above is Lin Dan. He always scores more points with his smash against Lee Chong Wei. Lee Chong Wei struggles to get points against Lin Dan with his smash. There are several reasons for this. Power is not one of them. A good player will always return a smash even when it is powerful when they are ready for it. Lin Dan's smashes are sharp and deceptive, and he has very little backswing, which means he can execute it very quickly. That leads to Lin Dan winning points with his smash. When going for more power in the smash, you would need a bigger backswing, a faster body turn, a fast arm swing, a jump forward, etc. That means you need more time to prepare for a big smash. The opponent can see that coming. If he digs in with his defensive stance, chances are he will return it. This is why the Chinese philosophy of smashes is to hit with rapid smashes for 80% of the power several times instead of a big smash. This can be seen in kungfu and Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do. Other forms of martial arts such as karate, taekwando, silat, muay thai, boxing, and so on, prioritises quick take downs, i.e. quick kill moves. And this shows in their badminton. Long answer to a short question. But, no, Han Jian does not want us to hit it any other way. Doing it right gives a smash around 90% of the power of a power smash using the Malaysian / Indonesian method. But I have better angle, better recovery, better mobility, and most importantly less chance of getting injury.

@@SteveTalksBadminton thank you Steve for the informative explanation. I really appreciate it. I will watch over the other variation videos you have shared. I kinda agree with you. I am actually a doubles player which is why i was more interested in the full power smash but i think singles placing the shuttle is more important than trying to kill so it makes complete sense. I still enjoy watching singles training videos coz i feel singles movement is very “graceful” :)))

You can see the different philosophies of badminton at play when Liang Weikeng / Wang Chang goes against Rankireddy / Shetty. The Chinese follows the same way of smashing Han Jian teaches us. The Indians use the Indonesian way of going full power. The Indians like to punch through defenses with pure power. The Chinese tends to be more surgical in their smashes. Liang Weikeng always sets up opportunities for Wang Chang to kill at the front court with his smash.

For doubles you don't really need this. Malaysian players don't practice this technique and do just fine in doubles.

Haha. I heard that before. Many TH-cam coaches say the same thing. However, if you use the "axe grip" to swing and hit your smashes, it is sound advice. Doing it which having an "axe grip" would hurt your wrist. I tried that when I was a youth player and earlier on before I learnt the right technique from Han Jian, and it really hurt my wrist. So bad to the point I could not hold a knife in the kitchen. If you mastered the light grip technique where you let go, or at the very least loosen your grip immediately after the hit, then this technique is not an issue. Check out the details to the grip techniques here: www.stevesbadminton.com/badminton-basics/grip-and-strokes/grip-techniques

The boys are on Duora 77 and 88. The rationale is, use a high flex and then work your way to medium flex and finally stiff. As they get stronger, they would go for stiffer racquets. This would reduce the chance on injuries like tennis elbows.

Sure I do. Here is the link to the website page. The videos related to drop shots are in there: www.stevesbadminton.com/badminton-basics/grips-and-strokes/drop-shot I am going for a new approach to the playlists for 2024. The playlists will be based on the type of shot so that I can link it back to the website. This would help ease the navigation.

Yes I agree. Han Jian keeps his racquet low when he is going for deception. Fred does it all the time, and that is considered a bad habit.

Pleasure! What Han Jian is teaching us here is something which we can't easily find outside of China. It is definitely worth capturing and archieving. Please check out the website and blog where all these videos get catalogued and discussed. www.stevesbadminton.com

Very well said, friend. But for a teenager who has not been exposed to other sports, this is the message. It is clear and concise and easy to understand. Other sports have their basic game too, which players should always revert to when things are not going their way. When back into the groove, then apply the more complex moves.

Sifu still recuperating after surgery.

@@SteveTalksBadminton oh I see, what kind of surgery?

He had surgery on his left foot while he when he went back to China in September 2023. He is now back here in Malaysia, but is recuperating at home.