I have a couple of errors or weaknesses in this game, and i have to rectify those myself as my coach is bedridden due to an injury. Can anyone help me out? 1) My footwork in backhand drive is awful. When a drive coming is too fast, i just can't move my right left to the left and reach the cork. And if i do, i take a lot of time to return to the basic position. While i can do most of the backhand drives from the basic stance, It's not enough when the cork skims through the court line. 2) When i play offensively, i change my grip to forehand 70-80% of the time (Even though i don't want to do that. I realize only after losing or winning a point, that most of my grip was forehand.). While it works as i move a lot and i do lot of overhead shots instead of backhand,quick drives to my upper body are weak, as i try to clear those with a backhand block with a forehand grip. <- Easy to exploit in tournaments, gotta get rid of it somehow. 3) God i love my racquet, but when i'm kinda late to clear the cork near the net, even though i reached it, i stop as i'm afraid that my racquet may hit the ground. It already happened once and my string snapped, so i am doing a lot more of this than before.... q.q 4) I hit my thighs at least 10-20 times in 3 sets of 21 point matches. While this is no big deal, i slow down for 5-7 secs because of the pain. Here's how that happens : I always jump smash, i never stay on the ground while smashing. But when the cork is hit say, to the mid court as high as possible and ultra-slow, I am afraid that i'll miss if i jump smash. So i stay on ground, and i smash with full power when my left leg is in front, and the follow through hits my left leg. <-Hilarious, but bad for my legs.... Really bad. How to get rid of these? These are the major flaws i do, and i have 2-3 three months for the next tournament. So i got plenty of time, but no matter what i do, these don't seem to fade.......
1) Maybe you are standing too close to the net so you cannot react in time, or you can work on your legs and/or core body to enable a faster movement, and heels off or barely touching the floor could help a little bit. 2) Loosen your grip, roll your racket in your hands so you can maintain a loose grip. 3) After hitting the shuttle, no need to actually use force to follow through, just let the momentum generated before and when hitting the shuttle take over, and if your racket or string snaps even so, their time is up or you need a refund. 4) I assume you hold your racket with your right hand, and i think you may need to rotate your body more and let the pronation lead the follow through more to your left. After all, it did not hit between your thighes, good thing isn't it, or it did?
ceebs typing its to hot, but in addition to point 4 ^ U can always try to change ur swing direction right before the end, to sweep across your sides. Feels weird but once u get use to it its actually very habitual
Thanks a lot for those tips ^^ Btw, i don't think you've quite understood the 3rd flaw yet. The problem is the racquet hits the ground before i even contact the shuttle, and the strings which budge out of the frame snap. I almost always use my arms as well and clear, instead of just using my wrist, so when i swing the racquet towards the net, and when the shuttle is almost near the ground, the racquet hits the ground, snapping the string in it. And on the 4rth flaw, are you recommending that a jump a little bit so that i can rotate? because when my foot is fixed on the ground, i can't imagine myself rotating :O
Yep I've tried it a lot. But i just can't get used to it for a straight smash >.< But i exactly smash that way when i aim towards the right side of the court, and i agree, it feels a bit weird doing it xD
get on your toes, don't be flat footed, and actively get back to the base position don't admire your shots (all more easily said than done)
lol xD the problem is, i seem to take a lot of time to get back to base position after a backhand drive. I just can't transfer weight quickly from right leg to left leg and get back faster like the other shots (clears,tosses,smashes) and as this is a backhand drive, i can't even see where i am hitting, which makes it all this more difficult. Have you experienced this problem?
D*** website ate my reply. 3) preload as you move and cock back your wrist to avoid hitting floor while preloading. If racket hits floor during actual lift, the shuttle is then too low for you to lift, you can do net shot, straight or crosscourt. 4) yes, do not glue your feet to the floor for that smash.
I would suggest you think very carefully about claiming that these are your "only" problems. In another post you asked how to perform a backhand smash, so would wonder that the inability to play a backhand smash is not also on your list... But anyway, some thoughts on your questions 1. The correct footwork for a backhand drive is to (for a right hander), simply take a large lunge towards the shuttle on your right leg. You made a comment about "not being able to see" the drive, because it is backhand... this means your footwork is wrong, and you are not taking the shuttle in front of you, as you should be doing. You should easily be able to see where you are hitting the shuttle for a backhand drive. In terms of recovery footwork, I would like to know what you are currently trying to do. What you should be doing, for the purpose of speed, is making the lunge, playing your shot, and then immediately swivelling on the spot (i.e. turning on the spot so that you face the net - you have not moved back towards the middle). Once you have turned to face the net, take one step back towards the middle. This movement is the same one used for recovering from deep in the backhand corner. The key is - turn quickly to face the net, THEN move. It is faster and requires less effort than trying to take a single big step back towards the middle. 2. You should be waiting in the ready position with your normal neutral grip. This should always be true, unless you are covering the net, in which case a panhandle grip is also ok. I suggest you fix this as quickly as possible. You need to FOCUS when you play. 3. Your swing is too big - you should just be using your fingers and wrist, not your arm. Just get your racket under the shuttle, and then squeeze your grip and send it souring to the back of the court. 4. I would say that not knowing how to perform a standing smash is a pretty major weakness. Maybe add it to your list? You should rotate even though you are standing. The way to do this is to get further behind the shuttle, so that you are falling into and reaching forwards for your shot. In this way, rotating will be easy, as you have to rotate to even reach the shuttle! Good luck with your training. Focus on one thing at a time! I am sure you will be successful.
Yeah that's why i mentioned "only major" and i never really knew one could do a backhand cross court smash, as i thought it was just outright impossible.... A Real ton of the time it took for me to do even an avg. backhand toss..... (I apologize if that sounded arrogant. I tried to to convey more of "major" instead of "only") Oh my o.o I thought i am supposed to move my right leg to me left completely and have my body being almost parallel to the net >.< No wonder it takes so much just to get back to base position..... The movement you said is way easier! Thanks a ton for that I agree... I direct more of my focus to hit the shuttle as fast as possible without thinking of defending a good return.... So clear = 90% wrist power? Thanks! i'll work on that then And thanks for the reply It really saved me a ton of time figuring out on how to stop doing these mistakes ^^
Its either 90% wrist power, or 50% wrist/forearm and 50% fingers. The point is, you do not neeeeeeeeed to use your arm. Just focus on the feeling of the fingers. Good luck!
