Featured Image: BugWarp
The split-step in badminton is one of the most important technical skills in the game. This simple movement helps players to traverse the court much more dynamically and helps to create a rhythm to your footwork.
As an example, check out the above video. Look how fast Lee Chong Wei is able to move around the court. What makes him so fast? Of course, there are a few elements such as strength and power. But the most important element is his technique.
If you read my earlier post – What is good footwork? – you will be able to tell that LCW’s footwork is efficient, economical and effective. But if you look even closer you’ll notice almost before every movement, he performs a small bounce. This is the split step.
What Is The Split Step?
It can be classed as a small jump or bounce before you move on the court. It’s a subtle movement, allowing you to create kinetic energy which is used to improve your speed from your base position.
Why It Helps You Move Faster
When you perform the split-step in badminton, you create kinetic energy. When you land your split step this kinetic energy is loaded into your legs. In this way, you create a spring effect which enables you to use this energy to move more easily to your destination on court.
During this process two important things naturally happen:
- You lower your centre of gravity
- You gain better balance
As you land the split step, the feet are widened, creating a stable base. As a result, the centre of gravity is also lowered which helps to power you in the direction you wish to travel to on court.
Not only is this beneficial from a stationary point of view, but the split-step also helps you change direction more rapidly when moving. This is what makes footwork seem so fluid when the pros move around the court.
It’s actually very hard to change direction on the court without the split-step as you have limited space and time to react. This can cause injuries as you’re putting a lot of pressure on your joints to change direction very quickly.
In these situations, the split step helps to very briefly stop the initial momentum, then start again in the right direction – which is much faster and more efficient. If you think of it like a car – it’s the difference between trying to speed around a corner or slowing down to take the corner tighter.
How To Perform The Split Step
Here I will break down the split-step in badminton and how to perform it correctly. If you want to follow along and shadow the movement make sure you have enough space! For this, assume you are in the centre of the court, square to the net.
Step 1 – The Prep-Jump
The first stage is to do a very small jump. The key is to jump just high enough that you can spread your feet in the fastest time. Therefore, this is not a large jump, your feet leave to the ground only for a fraction of a second. Remember the longer you’re in the air, the longer you can’t move! So keep it short and sweet! As you become used to the movement, you’ll be able to simply drop your centre of gravity and split your feet which really minimises your air time.
Step 2 – Landing
When you land from your jump, your feet should be spread wider than shoulder-width apart and with a slight bend in the knees. Keep relaxed as you land, as this will help transfer the energy more efficiently when you come to moving. By bending your knees and spreading your feet wider, you create a lower centre of gravity which helps you to use that kinetic energy more effectively by providing a more stable base to move from.
Step Three – Moving From The Landing
Once you land, you immediately need to push off to the area of the court you’re moving to. Remember, that energy you created from the jump is now loaded in the legs. So you need to utilise it as soon as possible by pushing off from your feet in the direction you intend to go.
If you wait too long after you land, you will lose the spring from your jump and therefore won’t be able to move as quickly from your base position. Losing that momentum in that fraction of a second could have compound effects, such as being slightly late to the shuttle. A good opponent will punish that and put you under more pressure.
Timing
In a real game scenario, the split step is performed just before the opponent hits the shuttle. Therefore you time your landing as the opponent hits the shuttle, giving you visibility on which direction to move.
If you perform the split-step too early, you might land but the shuttle hasn’t been hit yet by your opponent. In this case, you will have lost the energy generated from your split step when you actually need to move. In other cases, you might have already committed yourself to move in a direction which is not where the opponent ended up playing the shot. Good deceptive shots can cause this to happen!
If you perform the split-step too late, eg after the opponent hits the shuttle, then the shuttle is already coming towards you. In some instances, you might be able to get away with a late split step, such as if the opponent plays a high lift, giving you time to adjust. However, in other situations, if you split step too late, you will be late to the shuttle.
Other Variations Of The Split Step
The split-step as defined above is used primarily when you’re covering the whole court. For example, if you’ve lifted the shuttle to the opponent’s rear court, there are a number of angles and shots they could play. Therefore the centre of the court is a good base position to cover all possible responses. This is sometimes referred to as a neutral split step in badminton.
However, you don’t have to perform the split step with both feet in line with each other. You can perform a staggered or directional split step. Typically this is with the racket foot in front of the non-racket foot but can also be the other way. Watch Peter Gade below as he split steps and moves to play the forehand net shot.
By placing his feet in such a position, he is able to move faster to his forehand net shot than if his feet were in line. This is because the non-racket foot is already in the correct position for him to move forwards. If his feet were in line (neutral), he would have to do a quick adjustment to position his feet correctly for the movement.
Use Of The Directional Split Step
This is very useful in situations where you know the opponent’s shot choice is limited or correctly anticipate the opponent’s shot. For example, at the net where typically most responses are either a net shot or a lift. The staggered split allows you to move quickly forward to the net to take the shuttle early should the opponent play a net shot.
While this sounds complicated, as you practise and play more, you’ll find that not only will the split-step become more natural, but you’ll also know the right variations to use in different situations. Use these to your advantage!
The direction of your feet will determine in which direction you can move fastest. If the racket foot is in front, you’ll be able to cover the net forehand side and rear backhand side faster. If the non-racket foot is in front, you’ll be able to cover the net backhand side and rear forehand side faster.
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