Did I pronate?!

Discussion in 'Techniques / Training' started by iFinale, Mar 24, 2006.

  1. iFinale

    iFinale Regular Member

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    Now I've been playing badminton for quite a while now, and I figured that the correct technique is really important in badminton, so i wanna fix it up before I further train harder...

    for my overhead clear/smash strokes, what i do now is when the shuttle comes, i turn my body so that im facing sideways with both hans raiased up and then as it approaches, i start twising my waist, turning left to face the front and then my right hand comes along with a relaxed swing, and at the moment of contact i suddenly cock my wrist and exert power and after that i'll hv a relaxed follow through.

    so i was actually wondering, even if with this sort of stroke i have now, i can manage to clear the shuttle back to the baseline, but i started realizing whether i have pronation or not (since it seems reli important). Cos ppl say when you pronate, at first during your swing, you aim your racket edge right at the shuttle and then right before contact you pronate and you hit the shuttle square with your racket face. But then when does this turning of the racket face occur? Right above your head? right before contact? cos if i turn my racket face too late, i wouldn't be really able to transfer my power onto the shuttle.

    What my stroke is now is that i'm pretty uncertain whether i actually turned my racket face or not, cos i realized that when my racket is above my head, i've already turned my racket face already and is hitting the shuttle squarely so im rather unsure whether i turned my racket face or not.

    another thing is that, pronation is when you hold a fist, your thumb's originally up and then you turn it to the left so that your thumb is facing the left right? so basically during my swing, even if i don't turn my racket face, and i swing with a relaxed stroke and at the point of contact i suddenly cock (tighten) my wrist, some sort of pronation would exist as well right? since my wrist would suddenly pronate...

    so basically... when people say you travel with your racket edge facing front then you turn your racket face.. when do you actually turn your racket face? right above your head during the swing? or at the very very moment before contact? cos by the time i see my racket at the 12 - 1 o clock position, my racket face is already facing the front squarely...

    so confusing... =(
     
  2. bchaiyow

    bchaiyow Regular Member

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    When you are swinging,pretend you are chopping wood with an axe where the branch is above your head, ie the the front (strings) of racket is NOT facing the bird. Swing all the way and just before the racket is about to reach the bird, then you pronate ie make your racket face, face squarely at the bird.
     
  3. setaa

    setaa Regular Member

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    that sounds odd.. i usually swing my racket with the string facing the net already
     
  4. crosscourt

    crosscourt Regular Member

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    Hold your hand with your palm facing up, now turn it so your palm is facing down - that movement is pronation. The reverse is supination.

    On your forehand shots you should be using pronation. On your backhand shots you should be using supination.

    The turn should occur just before you hit the shuttle so that the twist of your forarm generates a lot of the power used in the shot.
     
  5. Mag

    Mag Moderator

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    If you are hitting baseline-to-baseline clears, then YES, you are pronating (or supinating for backhands). It's simply not possible to generate the necessary power any other way. So don't worry about it, it just gets complicated when you start thinking too much about it. :p Look at the result instead: are you getting good power? Then you're doing it right.
     
  6. setaa

    setaa Regular Member

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    haha, i like that :D
     
  7. chessymonkey

    chessymonkey Regular Member

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    plus if yr racket is Facing the net before u start yr swing..
    chances are u are holding with a pan handle grip..

    bad idea, if u hold the racket like you hold a knife and swing the racket like a knife, yr racket head shouldn't be facing the net..
    remember you want to cut through air with more edge of the racket then a parpanticular surface where u get maxium air resistence.
    (more speed, better result)
    then somewhere before the racket hit the bird, you use your wrist and control the racket contact surface angle.
    it resembles something like swing an axe to chop branches off a tree.
    your wrist+forearm rotation will control the direction and wether it comes off as a "Slice" or a "full impact", u can not master Slice shots if u always hit it flat on like holding a flying pan
     

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