Travails of the tall badminton player: All that’s on 6-foot-4 Ayush Shetty’s to-do list

But the wins are stringing along nicely with each outing for the Mangalorean – All England finalist Lee Chia Hao last week, former World champion Loh Kean Yew earlier, and also Rasmus Gemke and Jason Gunawan earlier. But the tall frame had struggled against Lin Chun Yi and Mads Christophersen on sheer speed, and even the flat, paral, lel game of Alap Mishra bothered him at the Nationals before he swamped him at Macau in 29 minutes. The long strides and reach don’t help when flat exchanges and pushes are aimed into his body. The tall man needs plenty of doubles drills for that.

But the striding will help if he can up the pace without running too much to cover the court.

But agility asides tall-coded games get their insta returns. Hard smashes, from his forehand crosscourt come naturally to him. That specific belting of the smashes means Ayush hasn’t had to greatly diversify his back court attack variations though those would add a wicked punch to his game.

The strong leaning on a power-hit means he hasn’t quite honed his anticipation either against deception for which that quick movement to corner after serving is something Chopda has had to push him to prepare. But aggressive smashing also takes a toll on his shoulder and Ayush, Chopda says, will need to get far stronger to go deeper into tournaments, especially if he’s pushed in quarterfinals or semifinals and doesn’t want to be a spent force on court the next day.

 

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Ayush tends to over-commit to the net which has nothing to do with him being tall, but instead of tapping, a smash and a follow-up or a cross punch overhead or just a flick variation are the post-smash skills he’ll need to develop to maximise that big frame, Chopda says. His academy coach Vimal Kumar would also rather have him clip the smashes like Axelsen (also 6’4″) does.

Tall agility drills test the crouching that leaves him haggard though he’s good on squats. His net tumble is fine racquet work, and along with his smash can pose a big threat to top players. But Vimal Kumar warns that Ayush can tire quicker than shorter players and his trainer Vaibhav has been putting in good hours to up his core strength so he’s not jelly footed in long matches, after unleashing steep sharp down strokes in slightly slower shuttle conditions.

Core strength, Chopda says, are core torso muscles and lower back, which can be very prone to injury. Losses in tournaments have seen him make best use of remaining days by getting stronger in the gym and Chopda attest that Ayush is pretty independent in travel and fending for himself – some things nurtured by his coaches and what he saw when sparring with Axelsen.

His hunger for taking on bigger names is high, and he looks built to take on the world. But being tall doesn’t automatically translate into success without solid foundations of fitness. Expected to stomp because of his natural advantages, it’s the stealth on the low-slung strokes where Ayush might need most work and improvement.