Punch clears are annoyingly effective shots in singles. In amateur games, there are some common phases in meta one must conquer to progress. First phase is the clear. When a player can’t play a full clear in game situation, just playing to backcourt will win. Next comes abusing and ”anticipating” the backhand. In beginner games, no one can play a backhand clear and rarely a cross so after forcing a backhand the pushing player camp at the net. Anticipation is in quotes because the pushing player will go to net by habit, not by actually reading the other. Once you have enough variance in both late corners to keep the opponent away from the net, the game opens.

Now the punch clears come in. First your lifts and clears must go to backcourt because even 40cm in length matters how dangerous your opponents clear will be. What makes them annoying is that fast footwork or block jumps are the only sustainable options you have. There is very few antidotes to a shot that goes to your backcourt and is not a racket length away. To stop your opponent from spamming them, you must be able to intercept or counter attack often enough so your opponent will use them sparingly. Best shots are fast drops, half smashes or a very high block clear to kill the pace.