Hi, I (Age 35) find it very difficult to hit clear while playing badminton for pretty long. There is a 13 year old girl( and many more) at the club where I play , hitting forehand clear with amazing whipping sound. I am surprised if she is stronger than me. Can someone explain this, AG
It goes to show you it isn't typically how strong one is. Those girls that are on teams in high school are beasts. Easily can beat me in a game of singles. I need to be more tricky with my play. They always accuse me of cheating, and I don't deny it. Gotta get a point somehow.
Why don't you ask the girl herself? Another way would be to ask a third person to compare your swing to her swing. You stand next to the girl and both of you do shadow swings. Then the third person can watch you both and do the comparison.
Well actually for me, i don't find it difficult to clear from baseline to baseline nor lift from net to baseline. Ummmmmmm, technique? Strength training? lol i find this funny especially that the kids who defeated you were girls. lol
Using your wording "whipping sound" as the example. If you pick up a whip and try make it crack just by launching it forward hard it will not make the crack. Same in badminton it is all about the timing of your power.
Technique? I have seen players as young as 6 hitting baseline to baseline or baseline to the doubles long service line.
A number of things I can think of. Technique is an obvious one. Other than that, string tension (as mentioned) might play a part. Compare their clears trajectories with that of yours. Are yours too high? This might prevent your clears from going far. Another factor - speed of the shuttles used. Compare yours with theirs, are yours slower? Coach Paul Stewart has an article about using shuttles of the right speed. Yonex AS-30, e.g., is the standard shuttle of choice for U.S. junior tournaments. It's faster than a lot of other brands, and thus is easier to clear. Weight of your racket may also play a role.
Minor correction. I shouldn't have said Yonex AS-30 is faster. It's the "gold" standard in speed, if you do the speed test properly. Instead, I should say the other brands are not of the right speeds (i.e. too slow). Here's Coach Paul's article: http://badminton-coach.co.uk/278/more-on-incorrect-shuttle-speeds-its-becoming-a-hot-topic/ and this: http://badminton-coach.co.uk/261/why-incorrect-badminton-shuttle-speeds-are-killing-skill-levels/
???? All yonex shuttles have different speeds and are inconsistent between batches as well. Conditions effect the shuttles speed that's why they take 3 different speeds to a tournament. To say Yonex AS-30 is the gold standard in speed is just wrong. If I had a speed 2 as-30 and you had a speed 4 as-30 your shuttle is going to be a massively faster shuttle. In uk they sell speed 2,3 and 4or (77,78&79). Other brands perform better from batch to batch as well just depends. Also gold standard would surely be the as-50 or as tournament shuttle if you were going for yonex.
I don't get the question!! A baseline to baseline clear is the most important shot in badminton. So the answer is: Yes, EVERY 13-year-old girl who takes the sport somewhat serious should be able to play solid clears... You can never play serious badminton without this shot...
AS-50 may be for adult or higher level (i.e. international) tournaments? Given a particular speed (e.g. 77) for your altitude, humidity and temperature, the shuttle speed among different brands could be different. Of course, there would be variations in speed even at a given speed of AS-30. It's called "tolerance" in the specification. But I'm not surprised some spec is tighter than others. It seems you should read coach Stewart's article I provided earlier. He also provides method to do shuttle speed testing.