I constantly have a sore shoulder and upper arm. I tend to smash a lot but not excessively. Is my tequnique wrong?? I have tried more of a flicking motion but can not seem to get the same power. I only play once a week. I have tried warming up slowly abd not smashing during the first game but nothing seems to help. (other than not smashing). Any suggestions? Thanks Stewart
Hmm a sore shoulder? Well i used to have this problem....... But that was because in my opinion, because i hadn't played in along time. Now i play quite regularly, at least once a week. Next time when my season starts up again, it will be 4 times a week! Oh well....... I think its due to in sufficient warm-up OR MAYBE that you don't play that regularly. Coz by playing regularly, i think my shoulder has gotten used to it
Hey, you're not alone buddy, smashing has caused me a few problems. When I was in grade 10, I smashed like mad, and my body could take it. I stopped playing until now, but now I'm 20, and have grown/changed a lot since grade 10, and I've just started to smash like mad again, once a week for 6 hours. I noticed that my technique and form have completely changed, I'm not getting the same consistency and power that I was getting in grade 10, sad but true. As to my understanding, a smash's power source is not from the shoulder, it's from a whipping action performed by your entire body, from your tose to the tip of your raquet, as opposed to a flicking action using your wrist, or a swinging action performed by your shoulder. If you learn to whip the raquet, it will put very little to no stress on your shoulder, and your power will increase dramatically. Go find a friend who's really good at badminton, surely he'll tell you the same thing. I suggest you stop smashing using your current technique, you may permanently damage your shoulder. Sincerely Dave.
Hey, I just read a post that teaches you how to properly smash. They don't say to use the whole body, but it says that your arm should be straight out like a nazi salut when you contact the birdy in a smash, sounds strange eh? You must be wondering how you hit a birdy forwards without using a swinging motion.. It's all about the whipping action created at the end of the raquet, this is truly the nuclear power source you've been looking for in your smashes, get this swing(whip) down, and nobody will be returning your smashes, even off clears, I promise. I suggest you go read the post about "Smashing". Here's a quick quote: "if you use your wrist like the pros, the smash is more of forearm rotation with little wrist motion. at the end of smash the arm is straight like a the nazi salute (sorry for the lack of better term) the racket is vertical but up side down, at this point your body and arm should be RELAXED......than your arm and racket 'automaticaly' cross your body like you puting your sword away. disclaimer. i'm not saying i'm right, it is what i observed. before i have shoulder and wrist pain using 'snap of the wrist' on smash and backcourt clear but since i change my technique using forearm rotation instead of wrist, i free myself of pain. the way i discribe the smash is like using a hammer on a nail. exactly same motion except the last feet away from contact, at this point you do a forearm rotation with the follow thru. follow thru is very important because your racket lose a lot of momentum at contact, so you must follow thru. if you ever have wrist pain or shoulder pain while warm up or during session or after the session, i urge you to learn the proper technique....you get more power, less energy use, more control, and NO PAIN.no lie."
Practice off-court using your racket in a whip-like action, flicking the arm and wrist to get racquet speed - not from the shoulder. Go gently at first to get the feel before using too much force. Players who get shoulder problems tend to 'yank' their shoulder when playing clears and smashes instead of generating the necessary power mainly from the forearm and wrist. Try and see a coach for one or two sessions so that you can get the correct technique, otherwise you end up with a long-term problem. Dimo
Thanks for all above. I will try the "Nazi Salute Technique" and see how that goes. I am sitting at the PC practicing and my two daughters think I have gone mad. Stewart
explain to yr daughters that you haven't gone mad, you're just a Badminton Fanatic. I have a friend who claims to practice his backhand stroke at work in front of his PC, and his coworkers probably think he's crazy, too. You might try showing yr daughters the 'Badminton Fanatic' contributions in the humor section of BC; that could let them know yr behavior is normal for bdmnt players. I agree w/ David's advice. Also, "Sports Injury Handbook," by Dr Alan Levy, has a section on exercises to strengthen the shoulder muscles and prevent rotator cuff problems.
Tried out the Nazi Salute last night. Brilliant, it works. Okay so I missed more than I hit last night but when you get it right, WOW. No sore shoulder, more accuracy and better diguise. Needs a lot of practice but I am going to keep at it, thanks everyone, Stewart
Good to hear Stewart. I haven't played since I discovered this forum, but I've been reading all about pronation and supination, strategies and such. I've even watched almost all of @!#$ Ng's instructional videos from http://www.sportsid.com/newsite/, and now I'm all excited to get back to the court and try all these new things out. I hope the forearm based smash works as well for me as it has for you. Pain be gone, and power be here!!!!!! ;o)
Was I rubbish last week or what. Could not hit anything...... But this week I was WOW SUPERB (if I do say so myself ) I think I was trying to hard last week. I relaxed and was hitting everything. I do not think my smashes were as strong this week but the accuracy more than made up for it. Still sticking with it. Shoulder much better. Stewart
