Does anyone have em? or know where I can find them? because I've been working on my backhand for quite a while now, but everytime I hit it it either slices the bird or it turns out I cant put enough power into it for it to go end to end. I've read through almost every post in the forum regarding backhand over head shot (yes I spent lik 4 hrs doing that just now) but I still dont really get it, and I cant find good pics of em on-line (most I find is just words describing how it works... but I learn better with pictures) If anyone's got em... please... post URL/pics here... THX!!
get badrad to show you! ... he has an awesome backhand smash. I've been on the receiving end of it a few times. -dave
I found this pic in a book. The pic is not clear though, u might wanna download and use ur software to zoom in. Hope this will help u out.
Dave... good idea!! too bad I havn't seen him since last meet at VRC tha I had attended thx for the pics mashimaro, however, with what the picture shows, you're taking the shot behind you, I believe that's what I do... but it becomes more of a slice shot than a direct hit
i am sorry, but the picture imho is completely wrong. from the beginning to the end of the stroke, the arm is straight. all swinging motion was performed by the shoulder joint, and the wrist. the player then is completely ignoring the strength of the elbow joint and the power of the triceps. that to be, is just incorrect...
BTW, That book is a book i used for a PE assignmet last year..some of the stuff is technically wrong, but i spose lays the idea down. The way i see it, if the backhand is played up high, then it should really be played around the head. A backhand should only be played when it is to the side, or too low for a round the head. So many people i say try a weak backhand, only to realise if they moved a couple of feet, there could be a comfortable round the head shot.
Related Question (I'm getting good at putting in these 'related' questions, no? ) : I have been able to do backhands, but most of my 'proper' backhands almost always end up as cross court backhands from one corner of the court to the other. For those down-the-sideline backhands, I actually need to hold the racquet at an almost panhandle grip to get it to fly straight and the stroke is done is a less than 'proper' stance ie the wrist would swing outwards instead of inwards or straightforwards to stop it from going cross court. Care to help/correct? I think something is definitely wrong somewhere.
For straight backhand, I actually induce a slight slice to the shot. Also, if I am a little late receiving a shot to my backhand... I will whip it straight right from underneath the shot.
sorry about the double post... Panhandle grip for BH drops?! Hmm... never done it before. I always grip with the thumb pushing towards the direction. The swing is more of a whipping motion and I take it a little to the front whenever possible, anything later will result in a clear...
As Kwun says at better levels of play you will see backhand drop played with panhandle grip, especially the crosscourt, since this allows the player to hit around the outside of the shuttle and impart slice.
some films Here you have the link to the Polish site where all basic strokes are shown. http://badminton.azs.uw.edu.pl/index.php?file=filmy the films on the left show the normal motion, films on the right - slow motion (better for lerning) film No. 8 is about backhand stroke if you need some translations let me know regards Dzgdz
Advice from Jake Downey Website (02/10/2003) www.badmintonbooks.com Hi there, Here is the COPY & PASTE from Jake Downey's Website: --- Proper Racquet Holding for the Backhand (02/10/2003) --- Letter from Phil Lowe, United States Dear Coach Downey, First of all, thanks for publishing your books on the web. I enjoy reading them and benefit a great deal. Now here is my question, and a common one: I've heard several different ways to hold racquet for backhand stroke, and couldn't really decide on the the right one. A popular version is to use the thumb for support, and slightly turn the racquet counter-clockwise for high clearing with backhand. I use this holding style to hit with backhand, and somewhat successful. In your opinion, what is the right way to hold racquet for backhand? Sincerely, Phil Answer Yes, this is an interesting and common question. Thanks for asking it In reply I will make two initial points. The first point is that the function of any grip ( how you hold the racket handle) is to enable you to control the racket head and racket face. The second point is that the shuttle is hit from different positions in the space around your body: from in front, the sides, above and behind. From any of these positions you would try to hit the shuttle to any place in the opposite court. It would follow from this, that in practice, a variety of grips should be used. Normally we teach beginners the basic forehand and backhand grips. (See pages 25-26 in ‘Teach your child Badminton’ and chapter 7, read pages 42-43 with fig 15 in ‘Excelling at Badminton’). As they progress I would teach my players variations on these basic grips to enable them to cope with the different situations they would encounter in the game. So let me now focus on the backhand grips. I usually teach three variations on the backhand grip which, for the purpose of your question, I will describe with respect to the situation when the shuttle is high on your backhand side. You could use these three backhand grips to hit a clear, smash or dropshot. First Situation – the shuttle is level with you and high on the backhand side. Your body position: Turn sideways to face the side of the court. Grip: the basic backhand grip. Place your thumb flat along the racket handle with your fingers spread out to hold the handle gently. Your thumb will apply pressure on your racket handle as you hit the shuttle. The litte finger side of your hand will point towards the shuttle as you go to hit it ( the hand is pronated (your palm turns downwards). As you hit the shuttle ( as if with your thumb) your hand will supinate (your palm turns upwards) to bring the racket face square-on to with the shuttle. The racket face will point towards the opposite court on impact. You don’t have to concern yourself with pronation, in the preparation phase, and supination, in the hitting phase, as they will occur naturally due to the construction of your arm and do so to some extent in all backhand hitting. Second situation – the shuttle has travelled past you and is just behind you on your backhand side. Your body position: Turn to your backhand side so that your feet are facing the rear of the court. Grip: the universal (multipurpose grip). If you continue to hold the racket in the basic backhand grip you will find that the racket face (at impact) points slightly outwards towards the side of the court and is not square on the shuttle at impact. The solution is to move your hand to around the racket handle and place your thumb flat along the top diagonal edge of the handle. This is the multipurpose grip. The racket face should now point towards the opposite court and be square on to the shuttle on impact. Third situation – the shuttle has travelled past you and is further behind you on the backhand side. Your body position: Turn to your backhand side so that your feet are facing the rear of the court. Grip: the panhandle grip. If you continue to use the multipurpose grip you will find that the racket face points towards the side of the opposite court. You want it to point into the opposite court so you move your hand around the racket handle and place your thumb flat along the top edge of the racket. The racket face should now point into the opposite court. This may feel strange and you may say to yourself, “This is ridiculous – this is the panhandle or fryingpan grip as used for hitting shuttles near the net on the forehand side or the grip most beginners use when the first pick up a racket.” You would be right but there again this grip allows you to control the racket head and face to hit shuttles effectively which are behind you on the backhand side. The same principle applies to the forehand side. If you take the three situations described above and apply them to the forehand side you will find that you will begin with the basic forehand grip, change to the multipurpose grip for the second situation and then to the basic backhand grip for the third situation ( to hit a shuttle which has got behind you on the forehand side). So in a sense with regard to the third situation. For shuttles behind you on the forehand side you use the basic backhand grip and for shuttles behind you on the backhand side you use the panhandle forehand grip. In conclusion, therefore, in actual play you will find that there are a variety of grips used to hit the shuttle to from and to the different places on the court. As I said at the start, the function of any grip is to enable you to control the racket face and racket head effectively. May I suggest that you look at photos of top players in action in my books or in badminton magazines, or watch them in action if you get the chance; you will see them use a variety of grips in different situations. I am sorry that I cannot demonstrate these grips to you but hope the explanation will be sufficient to answer your question and provide you with some interesting ideas to try out on the court. Have fun! Jake
Overhead backhand should be a mirror image of an overhead forehand shot with the exceptions being the preparation and follow-through phases. This means racket head should make about a 180 degree supination (for backhand). A point to for the backhand is right before you start your stroke pull your arm/forearm in closer to your body and then start your stroke as this will "coil," the muscles. Same idea as the wind-up for forehand stroke. Phil
