from what i noticed seeing many top players playing and what some of the better players do.they seem to have really very flexible wrist to change the racket face contact to the shuttle very quickly.but i really cant seem to do that.is there a way to learn this.this is especially useful in doubles for pushing.
It's not about flexible wrists; it's about changing grip. Skilled players have precise control over their grip on the racket, and are able to change the grip during a stroke to alter the angle of the racket face. This allows them to be deceptive, and creates the appearance of "flexible wrists". These grip changes are effected by manipulating the racket in your fingers. The thumb and index finger (first finger) are the "control" fingers: they twist the racket face. The other three fingers are the "stability" fingers: they are used to keep the racket head stable throughout the grip change and hitting process.
Gollum Could you give some examples about grip changing (eg. reverse slice shot). Slice drop shot has always been my trouble. I cannot hit it consistenly enough. So far, I use the same grip for all forehand stroke at backcourt, and use only wrist to direct the shuttle. But, since it does not really work, I wonder if it has something to do with grip. One of my friend use pandhandle grip to play drop shot, but I dont like it since it's so readable.
If you are using your wrist to direct the shuttle, then it's not really a sliced dropshot. There are two basic ways to perform a sliced dropshot from the rearcourt: Change your grip Use a throwing action and change your TIMING (1) If you change your grip so that the racket face is angled, then a normal straight forehand action will produce sliced drops. (2) I think this is better. Rather than "slapping" the shuttle with a different grip, use the same grip and slice across the shuttle as your perform a normal forehand throwing action. For a forehand clear or smash, the forearm should go from supinated to pronated ("turned out" to "turned in"), and hit the shuttle in the middle of this turn when the racket face is pointing straight in front of you. This creates power and a straight shot. If you change the timing slightly, then the racket face will meet the shuttle angled inwards or outwards. This produces slice and reverse slice respectively. You can use this method to create the appearance of a powerful straight shot, but then take all the pace off the shuttle with the slice. You are absolutely right to avoid the panhandle grip. It should never be used for overhead forehands. Occasionally, good players will tell you that they use panhandle for overhead forehands. Ignore them; it will cripple your development as a badminton player.
you are great.thanks for telling me that.however do the players change it exactly at the last moment or they will just change their racket face after hitting a shot.thanks alot i will look throught my videos bearing this in mind
u mean change their racquet face *before* a shot? i think for more deception, then u would change at last moment, but for more consistency, then u would change it with more time to spare.
Agreed. I think it depends on the shot. Shots from the rearcourt tend to involve larger swings, and are harder to read. Consider shots from the midcourt and forecourt, where you often "hold" the racket face pointing straight before you hit (eg some drives, pushes, net shots). In this situation, you want to delay the change of grip as long as possible, in order to make a deceptive shot. Normally you will fake straight and hit cross, but you can try the other way around too.