1. How do you perform a forehand slice with pronation technique? (not reverse slice). Since pronation forces my forearm to rotate into a reverse slice direction, I cannot get this technique down. 2. Is this the technique that people use for late forehand corner shots?
(1) As you found, pronating will give you a reverse slice. As Cheung said, you can slice by going the other direction, i.e. supinating. (2) Yes, slice is used late in your forehand corner. It allows you to keep the shuttle in, when without slice you would be forced to hit it out the side. This does depend on where the shuttle is relative to you. Sometimes you need slice to make it go in, sometimes you don't.
When you are late and the shuttle has past you to your forehand corner. Use thumb grib, and pronate as you hit. For the footwork, point your racket foot toward the baseline. Watch Lin Dan play the baseline forehand - get it?
Not at all sure about the pronation part there. That sounds wrong. I'd want to see the video. I think pronating here will cause you to hit the shuttle out.
It's possible that the OP is thinking of a straight reverse slice (i.e. show a cross-court hitting action but use reverse slice to hit straight), typically used from the forehand corner. This is a reverse slice, but it's quite different from a cross-court reverse slice played from the backhand corner.
at 5:18, 6:29 etc with thrumb grip - you will need to pronate - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COBtDkq7Zqw Watch up, sometimes he reverse slice, very tricky.
Thanks for the link. I watched the video at those two points and I don't see it. In fact, I think it's impossible to see such fine detail in a whole-court, full-speed clip. I am familiar with the shot, just not hitting it in the way you describe.
This vid give slo-mo. Thumb grip so the racket face is facing me instead of open toward the net. In order to hit the shuttle, I have to pronate slight to drop, more to drive or clear. Hope this help clarify. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFLV6zKtI4s&list=PL0A15F9F8CEA36E90&index=21
Thanks for the link. I do the follow through different to the video. For the forecourt area, I will supinate on the follow through. (That's how I was taught). If it's a drive or clear, I will pronate slightly. For the OP, the pronation technique in the video may be easier.
I'm still not seeing this combination of slice and pronation. I see the slice, yes. And I see a follow through. But I don't see the pronation. It just looks like a standard neutralising shot to me.
A drop can be either slight with a slight pronation or slight supination; it depends on the grip, position relative to the shuttle, and the height. One of my favorite shot is forehand cross court drop; I reached high and take it early with a forehand grip and slicing at 10-11 o'clock (1-2 o'clock for right-hander) - with supination - sometimes I jumped faking a jump smash. The thumb grip with pronation pull drop is when I am late and the shuttle has past me. The pronation swing action (if execute well), should look the same whether I clear or I drop. The cross court pull drop is too complicated to write here (need a little "carrying" - which I don't even know how to express). The 2 shots are totally different.
Yes, I know there are lots of different kinds of drops. What I don't understand is this combination of pronation and slice (as opposed to reverse slice). That makes no sense to me.
Whilst I am not going to talk at all about the Lin Dan video, I will answer explicitly this question you have asked. Pronation is used during a regular slice if one is intending to hit a faster sliced dropshot - it has minimal slice, and travels quickly. In this way, you would pronate as you hit the shuttle, but you do not pronate in the direction your racket moves (non slice), your racket moves forwards whilst your pronation goes from right to left (for a right hander). Thinking about it as pronation, for the purpose of learning, is EXTREMELY unhelpful, but it is what is happening. I prefer to think of it as hitting slightly more firmly whilst I perform my slice. I cannot achieve (nor do i try to achieve) a large amount of slice whilst performing the shot in this way (unlike a reverse slice where the pronation can create a vicious slicing effect on the shuttle). As I said, it is a slight slice, but hit firmly. I use this as an attacking fast dropshot, but a similar principle can apply for late forehands where the racket moves one way (necessary due to bad positioning on court) and the shuttle moves another (slice by definition). In such situations, its rare you want to give a heavy slice, so you need to use some forward momentum as well, hence you will pronate slightly (which would result in your racket moving towards the net during the slice). I repeat: viewing this as pronation is highly unhelpful if trying to teach the shot. I hope you can understand what I have tried (badly) to explain.
That's a very interesting response, Matt. Thanks. Without actually seeing it in very slow motion, I'm not sure whether this actually happens. However, I think I can match the "feeling" that you describe to when I hit a harder slice: it feels part way between a slice and a normal hit. On careful reflection, I think you are probably right. Might be interesting to see what really happens if / when I get my new camera. 960 fps ftw. I certainly agree with you that it would be very unhelpful to use this as a coaching point. Just ask the player to hit the slice a bit harder.
