Hey guys i was just wondering if shaking the racquet while awaiting another shot helps in any way? Does it relax your hand for the next shot or does it tense it up? I'm assuming it relaxes because a tense arm doesn't make for a good shot. Any time of ideas would help. I noticed this when i was watching the all england final ind vs ind, tony g, halim h, sigit b and candra w. Cheers, Nick
Legal or not I guess the question is are you shaking the racket on a low position or "waving" the racket high up? I think it is illegal to be waving the racket say if you are near the net. I have also noticed some players tapping the floor with their racket while waiting for the bird, is that legal?
The shaking of your racquet it to help have a faster reaction because your racquet is already in motion or something like that and it takes longer to move something when its still than when its already moving. Imo it helps confuse your opponent on which type of serve they'll use since i think its easier for them to judge is your racquet is still.
It's very interesting to read this. I've recently been told that I shake the racquet while waiting to hit overheads, and I wasn't even aware of it! I have no idea how long I've had this habit. I got to watch myself playing on video for the first time ever and, sure enough, I noticed it. It wasn't all the time, and it wasn't severe, but it was there. The two people who mentioned it to me recommended I don't do it. At this point, I'm not sure if I should work on eliminating it or not. For me. I think it's a combination of a nervous habit and a timing move.
Interestingly, top doubles players often "shake" their racquet when they are on defense, awaiting a possible smash. This is very noticeable in the 2000 gold medal match with Candra Wijaya/Tony Gunawan vs Lee Dong-Soo/Yoo Yong-Sung. I would probably go with My99broke's explanation - that is, shaking keeps your muscles "warm." But it would be interesting to hear a good explanation from some of the advanced players in this forum.
Re: Legal or not If you are receiving, you can do anything you want with your racket and your body short of jumping over to the other side. It's legal.
I would say it was to be "loose" (as opposed to tense) if your muscles tense up, you can't react as fast. re: threads on relaxed strokes and graceful movement
Re: Legal or not Tapping the floor with their racquet? I don't think I've ever heard of that. But hey, if they want to do that then I'd let them, because that means their racquet is down so you get more of an opportunity to flick one by them.
yes, that is correct. When some of you say "shake the racket"..some may be thinking of actually shaking the racket, holding the racket tightly which i've seen some people diong..which in my opinion is incorrect..and also is done just because it's a habit. The correct way when "shaking the racket", at least IMO, is to keep the racket loose in your hands and just lightly shake (up and down)..when defending. This is where keeping loose is the key to reacting fast. However, for an overhead shot, i've seen one person really exeragerate the "shaking the racket"..(and no offence, isn't a really good player)..But to use him as an example, he's pretty loose when doing this, possibly a bit too loose. When he's in the back, whether to do a clear, smash, or drop, he shakes the racket in good timing in which by the time he hits the bird, the racket head is coming forward. IMO though...i find that doing this, whether it's exeragerated or not, is no use. Overall, the "shaking of the racket" that this thread is on..i think it's only good, if done correctly, loosely, during defence, preparing for ur opponent's shot.
Know a person that fits that description. I really don't think it helps, all it do is waste your bodys precious energy besides it creates more tress to your wrist waving it around like that.
More food for thought While we're on the topic of "shaking," I also noticed how the top world doubles players are slightly "bouncing" constantly when they're defending. I assume this also has to do with keeping their muscles activated for faster acceleration on their footwork.
viper_mav. yes, you're correct. the "split step" or bouncing before foot movement is same thing as shaking the racket, it "loads" up the muscles and keep them relax before a sudden assertion of force (either a drive or footwork). as said, it is done before something that needs "quick" reaction speed. there have been a lot of discussion on the footwork side. a search will be very fruitful.
i recently just started to shake my racquet when defending and it really help... in a way, it help me concerntrate harder to the shuttle... and a bit of crounching helps too... a smash look 1/2 the speed if I shake the racquet + crounching... a small adjustment but a big improvement!!!
Shaking racquet can also make it harder for the opponent to read your shot Only at the moment of impact will the opponent be able to read the direction of the shuttle but then good players must have been trained for this situation..