Hey Guys I thought i would share some of the exercises i've been doing to train my arm and rotational speed. I bought a set of resistance bands about 2-3 months ago as i thought i would train my rotatorcuff to avoid injury, but these things are amazing and i've done many other exercises too. I feel i have most benefited from these 2 exercises http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1KLFK1gxEE&feature=relmfu and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIfEOFuTEdY&feature=related. i know the second video is for baseball pitchers but when i saw it i thought it looked similar to a badminton overhead shot, so i've been doing about 3 times a week for the last 2 months and i've seen great results. i also have done these exercises to which i feel has helped contribute to my improvement http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbZYOVrkIRs and pronator teres exercises using a hammer to pronate and supinate. Overall i have seen great improvement to my smash and it has taken my game to a new level, many of my friends have commented on how much my power has increased and joke that i must be taking steroid lol the only downside that i've seen so far is that it takes time to develop control on your clears as i would lose many points a game hitting the shuttle 3-5ft past the baseline. Before starting these exercises make sure your technique is good, as you would see a greater increase in performance if you improve your technique. However, if you a looking to add another edge to your game and you feel your technique is good add these exercises to your training and you might get the same results as me
Good exercises. But I would advise any newbie to weight training to be careful when working the rotator cuff. If you try too much resistance, or do it in a jerky manner, or don't have the proper postiioning/support, you can really hurt yourself. A general precaution for anyone out there who isn't sure of themselves from just watching these videos: please see a trainer who can show you how not to hurt yourself.
Great exercises, thanks! Also, I second what Fidget said about rotator cuff exercises a couple of posts above..
I tried this exercise and it did improve my smash!... a smashing exercise indeed.. thanks for posting!
I thought higher tensions tend to make it harder to smash?.. But the exercises makes sense to strengthen your smash. But having a good technique ensures you don't hurt your elbow or arm socket when trying to smash too hard.
The baseball excercise makes sense. My coach described the overhead shots to me as just like throwing a ball. Once he mentioned that, I pretended to throw a ball and scored my first real clear.
Yes it is harder, but if you do it right (right timing and point of contact) the smash will be harder aswell^^ (but it need some time to get used to it, before you can retrieve the extra power^^) But the higher tension will improve your control in the other strokes significantly. So you will not "lose many points hitting the shuttle 3-5ft past the baseline." When I play with my 24 lbs racket, I struggle keeping the shuttle inside so I lose lots of points. With my 30 lbs racket they are all go exactly where I planned it ^^