Ok so there is a lot of people and advice online that says hold the racket out and in front of you at around chest level. Like this vid for instance: http://www.youtube.com/BetterBadminton#p/u/10/9C1xsCkPOOw However if you watch any pro game the pros always keep the racket at waist height...any ideas why?
From what i've seen Position of racket depends on what you are doing. Pro's (Men's Singles especially) tend to have smashes be the final shot and the one thats the hardest to catch. Drops, although they aren't easy to get either, allow much more time for the player to react to. Smashes travel extremely Fast, and pro's need their racket to be there to catch the bird instantly. As such the racket needs to be lower right after they lift. That was for defense, But when they are on the offensive, i think their arm moves slightly up to catch drives/pushes and make it easier for them to jump smash and etc. (As their rackets already there)
Well as a singles player I can definitely say returning smashes that are close to the line is one of the hardest things to do (I want to dive for it but I'm scared I'll hurt my knees and I really don't want to risk it since they are so strong and healthy) although I feel like having the racket up where your stomach is or your lower chest it would be easier to block smashes (some go a little high but would not go out) and move rather than having it at your waist. I guess my situations don't apply for pros since all pro's get perfect angles down and smash a lot harder than my opponents
Like dragonistear says the racket height is fairly circumstancial but if defending a smash I would say holding the racket lower is better because it is easier to raise the racket to play a quality shot than it is to lower the racket then play a quality shot. However I would say attacking wise the racket should be higher somewhere about tape height as you cant really play an attacking shot lower than tape height anyway and if the racket is lower the time it takes to get the racket up might lose you the opportunity to attack the shuttle.
Well most rackets are of same height anyway. True but pro's hold their rackets down even after they do a smash, dropshot, or netshot. Also, although it is easier to block a smash holding a racket at waist height it makes doing everything else a bit harder: moving to the front or back for a clear or dropshot
chest height is standard ready position. pros racket position changes with conditions. best example of pros using standard ready position is in doubles before the serve, the player who is not serving or receiving will have his/her racket at chest height because they need to be ready for anything. As the rally progresses, they will change their racket position as they see fit. Same principles apply to court positioning and footwork as well. My advice is to master standard position and add changes as your understanding of the game increases. Example: racket up if you're doing fast drive exchange, racket head lower if you're defending steep angled smashes from deep in your court. and if you ever catch a lower level player with their racket down, aim for their face for an easy point.
...I'm starting to wonder if anyone reads any of my posts -__- I know what the standard ready position is and I'm saying pro's never use that standard ready position. I don't know about doubles, since I mainly watch singles, but in singles the players always have their racket at their waist. Watch a game of singles and you will see, no matter what the situation, a pro will always have his racket around his waist and not around his chest. Except for when they are receiving the serve.
I only read the initial post, LOL In singles, pros probably don't do standard position because they're expecting shots to be hit away from them anyway. Lowering centre of gravity improves court coverage, which can explain the lower arm ready position. The less than ideal racket position would explain why body smashes are so effective in singles at the pro level. all just a theory though. However, I know I hold my racket at waist level when playing singles as it seems to help with my movement. and I'm no pro.
lol its fine. Yea apparently the main reason everyone is speculating is for smash defense. I mean I don't know if the same applies to me since I don't face opponents that can smash 160+ mph. I guess I will keep my racket up because I feel like it improves everything besides smash defense...I'm still unsatisfied though...I feel like there has to be another benefit besides smash defense because I agree with the vid I posted above that holding your racket up helps with movement
i agree with post #2 but mostly i think smashes are harder to defend due to its short time response and steeper angles and also lowering your arm would make you more stable due to lower centre of gravity
but what about attacking clears and drives? thats what gives me the most problem because when someone does an attacking clear I want to intercept it and just flick it down into open space but its harder to do it with your racket at your waist. apparently pro's are so fast its not a problem. Sooo many times have I seen lin dan intercept an attacking clear or lift and just flick it down and play a winner when the racket was at his waist...its amazing how fast these guys are. As a solution I'm going to try and use a lighter racket to see if I can react faster. Using the BLX recon atm for singles but I'm going to try the BLX wave for singles instead. A lot lighter so hopefully it'll work
if u watch Lin Dan's racquet position, the racquet is not vertically down, but he's holding it horizontally between his leg and waist level. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXHc50rez-I because the majority of the time in singles the shots are coming away from you, you're retreiving it from a bottom-up position. if the shot is a clear, then you have enough time to move back and raise your arm and racquet. for the pros, the flow of movement is very important. if you watch Lin Dan's movements, when he goes backwards to hit an overhead, the racquet movement is in sync with his footwork so that it's always ready to hit the high shot. the racquet in front is useful only when you get into a drive back and forth ralies then you want to leave your arm there (which is more common in doubles). and the pro video you posted (about RAP) well even the title says it's more useful in the front court, so you are anticipating a drive or drop shot from your opponent. But in higher level singles, you are really moving from shot to shot, so there really isn't "home" position or "ready" position. what the "ready" position teaches beginners/intermediate players is the "mental" fortitude, that you want to keep your self centred and racquet not down but always be ready.
Yea I know pro's hold it horizontally and so do I when I hold it at my waist but idk it still seems hard to intercept an attacking clear that way. Yea when moving back for a clear or moving up to the front you have time to raise your racket so its not an issue but when your opponent does an attacking clear, almost like a drive, I find it difficult to jump up and intercept. Like I said I'm going to try using a lighter racket and see if it becomes easier. Doesn't happen too often where the opponent plays an attacking clear like that but it happens enough where I should have a good reply for it
maybe it's just me, but I highly doubt a racket that's 10grams lighter will help you with jumping and intercepting an attacking clear... unless of course you're really really really weak... like the wind blows and you fall over kind of weak.
lol I can jump just fine its bringing my racket up fast enough where I have the problem. Dude maybe its just me...but 10 grams is a lot. haha I don't know how you would measure my strength unless you want my deadlift, squat, bench, and pull-up numbers. I would say I'm pretty good
Would you say that those numbers translate to you being able to turn quickly on court, compensate for a lower skill level, accelerate faster on court? I wouldn't say your are not strong, but having those numbers at a good level does still means you can still be slow on court.
nah but the guy said weak not poor skill. I don't know how much skill there is to raise a racket...pretty straightforward unless you guys have a technique that enables you to raise it faster, granted I'm holding my racket where it should be in the ready position.