my backhand is really weak and i have been trying overheads for a long time and now my overheads are too over; i have to reach really far. my coach told me to take a full swing, the swing is like a backhand tennis hit. can anyone help me on my backhand, what should i do?
Try practicing hitting a bird vertical up to a high ceiling. Have you ever seen a tornado carrying a car up vertically into the sky? The air twist around and around in a spiral. You may try hitting the bird up in a spiral fashion. Eventually you may also try hitting backhand clear against a wall too. Hope this message help.
A weak backhand can be the result of poor footwork. Many players will place their foot down, or stamp, as they hit the shuttle. This means that your body is rotating slightly away from the shot. You must get there and plant your foot early allowing you to rotate into the shot. I am not convinced that a full shot is correct for an overhead backhand. Certainly the clear is an 'unwinding' of the arm rather than a 'stroke' as such. With your back to the net, but still looking at the shuttle, have your arm coiled and quickly rotate your shoulders into the shot unwinding the arm to the point of impact. There is very little follow though on this shot.
the two backhand smash variations i use are: (1) forearm supination with wrist cocked at 90 degrees and (2) no supination using backward wrist flick movement. doing the former is prefered, it gives me more power, however you need to be behind the shuttle in order to get full power and angle. doing the latter is a quicker shot, allows you to do the smash with the shuttle slightly behind you, however the angle may be flatter depending on how far back the shuttle is. to practice, i did drills as often as i could (everytime i played) for around 15 or 20 minutes of backhand smashes. also had to strengthen the wrist and back with a bit of weight training (not excessive).
i find the best method to do a backhand is by using the same wrist and hand movement when u use a wet towel to flick it at someone's ass..
Try this... For a stronger backhand, try always to take the shuttle to the side of your body rather than letting it get past you. If you take your BH with the back of your head towards the net, then the shuttle has gotten past you. If you get the chance, take a look at the Lee Jae Bok video, Play to Win. He recommends taking the first step (from the ready position) with the non-racket foot back, diagonally towards the deep BH corner. He then takes a series of short QUICK SIDE-steps towards that corner (or toward the intended contact position). As he is moving back, his racket tip is up, following the trajectory of the bird. As he gets to his destination, he steps across with his racket foot so that the back of his hitting shoulder faces the net, but his head & eyes are toward the side (NOT toward the back of the court). As he approaches his destination & shortly before the shuttle starts to come into hitting range, the racket is drawn back with the elbow now bent & pointed toward the oncoming bird. Just before the shuttle reaches the contact point (on the SIDE of the body), . the last step is taken as the arm is extended toward the shuttle. Note that the wrist is cocked back until the arm had become almost full extended again. As the shuttle gets to the intended contact point (high & to the SIDE of the body), the last step hits the floor and the thumb rapidly pushes the racket up to meet the shuttle; (this pushing with the thumb should give you the required supination of the forearm). To make this sequence successful, a proper gripping technique & the proper timing must be employed. For most BHs of this nature, the grip should be LOOSE (relaxed) with the fingers adjusted so that the thumb is on the back bevel of the grip. The wrist is laid (cocked) back and the grip is held primarily with the thumb & index finger. Immediately prior to contact, the other fingers squeeze the grip as the thumb is vigorously pushed forward. One major problem that many players have is employing the proper timing. The arm should become alsmost fully extended BEFORE the thumb makes that last push. Too often, the arm is not extended soon enough to facilitate the thumb (& forearm) action. The arm extension should be fairly slow at first (hence, needs to start early) with the thumb/forearm snap at the end of the extension being very rapid. Remember... EXTEND and then push. If the extension is too late, then a SEPERATE thumb/forearm snap won't be possible.
