back hand trouble

Ok you have to have ur grip right. Hold it like a forehand but with the thumb up the side of ur grip pointing towards the head of the racket. This way you can snap better and for a backhand, following through is good. Also turn your body to produce more power. If you are right handed, step with ur right foot across you body so your right shoulder is and a bit of the back is pointed to the net or direction you want to hit it to. Then swing with the right grip

 

Errm, hopefully this should help, it won't improve ur backhand but its easier to learn so u can cover up your weakness.

Hartono turn.
Stand square on to the net. Step out, with ur non racquet foot towards where u think the shuttle will land. Put all ur weight onto ur non racquet foot and do a 180(degree) hop round, you can hop distance if u r under pressure, land on both feet, Neway the hop bit puts you near ur backhand side of the court, but stood so that you are able to use your forehand.

I hope that explains it

 

Hold your racquet with the backhand grip and always remember to bend your elbows.

 

There are ways to improve your power. One would just be practicing the right way of executing the backhand. If you can watch a video of a real badminton game, there's a chance you can observe the right technique to execute the backhand. Another way is to take a 5lbs or 3lbs weight and do wrist curls with them. You should do it slowly and take your time. A gradual improvement might be seen if you do that.

If you want to do a clear, try to do a whiping motion toward the birdie as if you're whiping a towel. I think there's an FAQ somewhere on this site that explains it much better than I just did.

 

I just wrote a detailed post, but the site claimed I wasn't logged in. Grrrrr
I'll Try again..

Ok, I'm not a coach, so first of all, you need to get coaching if possible.

Right, this is if your're right handed - try to take it on your forehand, but if you're caught, try the following. Make sure you have the correct grip as described above.

You need to be in a position with your back to the net, with your right foot parallel to the net. You need to be behind the shuttle, so that it would drop about 40 cm diagonally in front of your foot.

Draw your arm back so that your elbow's slightly above eye level, and your elbow's bent as if you're looking at the time on an imaginary watch on your wrist.

Swing and straighten your arm (keeping the elbow slightly bent), keeping it pronated (shaft pointing straight down) Then suppinate your arm (rotate it 180degrees clockwise.

Make sure you're behind and slightly to the side of the shuttle, your foot's firmly on the floor, parallel to the net, and that the action of swinging your arm is separate from the suppination.

My overhead backhand's definitely my weakest shot, but it's much better now that I've been working on it with my coach. I'm sure there are other techniques, but using this, I can clear baseline to baseline without too much effort, and I don't have to desperately take evasive action when I'm caught by a deep clear.

I hope this is clear enough, and that it helps.

 

Try using a squash racket to increase ur bckhand strength.

 

i've seen many player getting into the medium skill level have problem
getting the back hand swing right.
More then often they already have the strength and wrist power to
be able to make a good back hand clear. For many of my friends who
had been frustrated with not getting enough power to clear backhand,
they usually tends to take the bird "too late" or they subconsiously
position themself on the same horizaontal plane with the bird as they take
the bird with backhand. Most of them don't even realize it untill someone
observe from the side and tell them, if you can postion yourself
to hit the bird like 10cm in front of yourself, or intercept the bird earlier
before it get pass the horizontal plane as your body, the result is greatly improved. the idea is the same as what ppl used to say get behind the bird when u swing and it applys to forehand/backhand.
As on the swing motion itself, my coach used to say when you start your back hand swing, bring out your elbow first then take the elbow as support point and whip your forearm out then finally snap your wrist backward upon impact (important to use the backhand grip so your thumb can push
forward here add a lot to the power).
Usually once they get the feel of it and its rather obvious that all other back hand shots comes together naturally.
very similar to what dcp1l said, just in my own words so hope it would be helpful to a get a clear picture.

 

Interesting replies.. Well, my coach always told me that backhand is mostly about having strong wrists. The older coaching books mention a full swing of the arm for a good backhand clear. But these books were written when we had much much heavier racquets. With the newer lightweight racquets we don't need much of a hand swing, a quick snap of the wrists should send the birdie far and wide. Getting into position quickly makes a hell of a difference when playing the backhand clear. Try to position yourself behind the shuttle to get maximum leverage. Also, as mentioned by many people above, change your grip with your thumb behind. More than strength, its about getting the timing right. Get a partner and ask him to keep hitting to your backhand for a while and you keep clearing. Someone once said, "The best way to play backhand, is to not play it at all" So use it sparingly.

B.

 

First of all Pmitch, wrist strenght has very little to do with it, with the coming of a new trainer my backhand improved hugely, IF you have the right technique. (pleas note that i am not that tall, and i have wrists that are not all that big (actually i can barely wear any watches as they accentuate my tiny wrists )

First of all ( as said before) put your thumb on the broad site of you grip.
the second thing you need to do is practice without any shuttles.
The proper technique is to raise your elbow around to height of you neck/shoulder. Then you make sure youre wrist is drawn back (without turning your wrist back, you cant put any power to pressing it forward)
Then you make a fluid movement of strething your arm (essential is that you DO NOT SWING your elbow with it) and in the same motion of strengthing youre arm forward to the air (later shuttle) you push your racket forward with your wrist and thumb.

I learned it this way, and in the beginning you have to watch everything, but after little practice you will notice your backhand is better than ever..... once you get this basic backhand under control, you also will notice your backhand will be stronger from ALL positions (do to the right hitting technique with your elbow etc).

PS. Make sure you won't step back while perform the backhand, this gives you a lot of ''power drainage''.... when my backahnd was weak, i tended to walk back and hit the shuttle low with a backhand near the ground. But the proper technique is to step forword with your non-racquet leg (if your a right handed person you step out with left) and you perform the technique instructed above.

I hope you understood my explanation and good luck practising Pmitch!

Greetings, DutchRion

 

And on that note my advice is to work on your footwork so you can play overhead and recovery to get you out of trouble with backhand drops.

To make it clear, don't work on your backhand, it will make you lazy.

Reasoning is this, if you get used to playing a backhand from traning your opponent won't be afraid of a fast clear/smash from that side, therefore their base will come forward and you will be under more pressure. A fast overhead clear and good movement is worth much more than a good backhand as it means you can keep them under pressure, besides which after you've played 2 or 3 overhead clears back to them they'll stop bothering to pressure you on that side.

 

Too much rhetoric leads to bad advice, because it encourages simplification for dramatic effect.

It is true that round-the-head forehand strokes are more effective than backhands. In some situations, however, a round-the-head forehand is either impossible or so extreme that a good backhand is better.

The main merit of round-the-head forehands is that they enable you to maintain your attacking options (most notably the smash: backhand smashes are much weaker than forehand smashes). They also allow you to maintain a view of your opponent.

But in many situations in singles, an overhead backhand clear is essential. Learn it.

 

Bad advice? I would have liked you to have said that to the malay intl coach that made me work on overheads rather than backhands. Of course he had a backhand clear but this was learnt after he had won most of the junior tournaments in malaysia, which I would guess are stronger than most of the Senior Tournaments in the UK.

You may disagree with the advice which you are entitled to but if you're going to imply it's bad I would at least like to hear how training for a backhand clear is more important than training a bread and butter shot when you use the overhead frequently. Training for a shot that you are only going to need against a top opponent to get you out of trouble or training for a shot which you need against all opponents? You certainly don't need it to win games at low County level in the UK so why do you think someone who plays at a lower level than this needs it? It's like training to smash when you can't serve properly.

 

I'll say it to any international coach who is stupid enough to suggest you should not develop a backhand clear.

Of course, you won't find such a coach.

The quality of advice does not consist purely in what you know; it consists in how accurately you communicate what you know. When you exaggerate for effect, or take received advice out of context, you pass on a distorted vision of what's in your head.

You are right that developing a good round-the-head forehand is worthwhile, but it is also worthwhile to develop a good backhand. You are also right that possessing a good backhand can cause a player to use it when a forehand would have been better; but this is not a good reason to avoid learning backhands.

Of course, it's up to the player--and his coach, if he has one--to decide how much effort to devote to each of these strokes. But it would be unwise to neglect either of them entirely.

If a backhand clear is only useful at elite level, why are Badminton England teaching it on the Level 2 coaching syllabus? Or do you think you know better than the national coaching body?

 

well heres what i did....i practised my overhead clear...that goes straight down the line to the back court--->practised my overhead drop to both net corners-->these are nice i love these....they think im gonna drop down the line 95% of the time cuz its THE BACK HAND...but then i overhead drop it cross court...really nice shot i think....and over head cross smash...i practised these so much that when it came time to play they started picking on my backhand cuz i did crappy backhand so i just did a normal backhand drop they realize this in around 2 serves...then they get me...so i move to the overhead shot...works well won the game...after switch sides....the coach must have told him to hit to my forehand.....cuz he didnt hit to my forehand at all in the 1st game....then it went to the forehand i swung...and i suck....the lesson is practise everyhting even when u can do it well lol...or else u wil be screwed....so i lost the next two games due to my lack of forehand ability....................................

 

Exactly.

For the backhand clear, here are coaching points taken from the level 2 coaching manual; I indicate context in wavy brackets {...} to substitute for their photographs.

I believe this teaching represents the highest quality coaching advice. The new syllabus has been compiled from consultation with many top international coaches.

 

Do you have to switch to the backhand grip everytime you hit a backhand? I saw the matches and they were so fast that I wonder pp could do that.