Returning Smashes with Forehand

Subscribes to thread and waits for Gollum to respond.

 

How do you pose your body when returning smashes? Do you use your wrist or your elbow to swing the racket? How do you hold your racket? I'm rightly like you, I normally put my right leg slighly in front, upper body slightly in front (not completely straight), and use > 90% power from the wrist. I don't have any problem switching from backhand to forhand when returning smashes. But, I only use backhand return when I have to, I can return smashes to my right position with backhand return position, unless it's too far, then I switch to forehand position. Do you think your problem is with switching the grip from backhand to forehand position? Practice against the wall with switching backhand - forehand position, it helps.

 

For the little tip that i know of..

Just my 2 cents..
I think it has to do with how our body mechanism works, to a certain extent our arms..
For why backhand return is "stronger" then a forehand return, from what i read somewhere, it is because a backhand grip utilizes our thumb, which is much "stronger", then the rest of our hand's digits. See thumb pushing the wider side of handle. Yes, this is very common in doubles play..
However with a forehand grip, we "push" with the other fingers, usually with our index finger, which is/are not as "strong" as using a thumb...

 

Hmm..

don't know if mods/Kwun might want to move this thread to the Technique/Training sub-forum??..

 

Does your forehand lift technique have the same "explosive" power of the backhand? Usually a forehand lift is pulled more behind compared to a backhand lift. Pulling back your arm produce more power during a high serve, but when returning a smash, a half-stroke high serve is enough if the shuttle hits the sweet spot. An even lesser stroke is possible if the timing is correct. The idea is to transfer most of the power from the smash to hit the shuttle to the back court. The most important part is the pronation and upward lift of the forearm and wrist.

 

Normally I would guess that the problem is due to backhand bias in your stance and grip for smash defence, which means you are not prepared to play a forehand too. You could be preparing with a "backhand" thumb grip, or with your body turned somewhat sideways (racket foot forward) rather than square on.

You said, however, that you even avoid returning dropshots on the forehand if possible. Is your forehand lift from the net much weaker than your backhand lift?

If so, then the problem is more fundamental than smash defence. You need to be able to lift well from the net before you can contemplate lifting from a smash.

 

Did you grip your racket loosely in forehand lift before impact (loosely means you can do horizontal figure '8' w/o difficulty)? Do you use your wrist snap to help lift?
If the answer is 'no' to either, try them and see if it makes a difference.

I can fake forhand net shot for drop, then change to lift to back service line using mostly wrist. So it's possible to lift deep even if you don't use upper arm strength.

 

whats your singles forehand long serve like?

if your singles servre is good, theres probably no real problem with your stroke/technique and is more a problem of timing and your body positioning.

if you avoid serving forehand in singles for this reason as well, then gollum is right and that the problem lies somewhere in your fundamentals...

 

Maybe this thread link will help you..

..i just did a search and found this very informative thread posted a while back which discussed a similar issue to what you are inquiring.. you may want to read thru the posts in there and maybe they'll give you some insights..
http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21017

 

Okay, so your forehand is weaker than your backhand. Practise some forehand lifts from the net first; you might try using a racket head cover to train your fingers, wrist, and arm timing and strength. Put the cover on the racket and then hit lifts. You will need to use a shorter, faster action. You should "hold" the racket momentarily -- that is, you want the racket to be ready slightly before the shuttle arrives (Lee Jae Bok calls this "hold and hit"). Relax, relax, relax --- and then hit. Hit with a sudden tightening of your grip and arm muscles.

Don't forget that your wrist should be extended ("cocked back") before you hit. This lets it channel power from the arm muscles.

No, to me they sound much the same (actually, my forehand might be a little stronger).

This is normal. The backhand is much better for playing shots to the body, because it is a more natural (less contorted) position for your arm.

For this reason, most top players prefer defending on their backhands -- but they are perfectly able to defend on the forehand when the shuttle comes to their forehand side.

 

It's not good to have your pants down while playing badminton. The opposition may complain of harrassment if female, or of deliberate distraction if male.

I have a similar side oriented power disparity in defence against smashes. However, a solution appeared to have developed on its own accord. What I do is to squat down and use a pan handle to drive upwards if the smash is to my forehand. This works if you are quite short, and can do a turbo speed squat.

I think the lack of forehand lift power is to do with the wrist. Since I am an arm player, my wrist is not very flexible and produces poor power on forehand lifts. From your description, you are probably in a similar situation.

 

This is called crouch defence. It can be absolutely lethal against weaker, flatter smashes, but it won't work when the smashes are fast and steep.

(Of course, if the smashes are fast and flat, you don't need any defence. Just get out the way and let the shuttle go out.)

 

Here's is where the advantage of being short comes in. Even steep smashes can be dealt with. It involves going low and do an upward block.

 

I'm not convinced you can do that effectively for steep and fast smashes. Against a really good smash, crouch defence is a desperation measure -- even if you are under 5 feet tall.

In particular, crouch defence makes it almost impossible to play a good lift. I say "almost impossible", because I've seen Kim Dong Moon do this in a desperate rally. The commentator, Gill Clark, said, "He plays shots that I just don't think are possible."

Actually, even Kim's crouch defence lift was a bit short, but he recovered and went on to win the rally.

Still, if it works for you, use it But, depending on the opponents you play, you might need to improve your forehand defence. It would be very bad for you to play against an observant player with a big, accurate smash.

 

I do a lot of crouch defense. I am not tall (~1.72 or 1.73m) 5' 8". It seems to work well in many occasions when the smashes just keep smashing onto the same spot and at certain times, I just squat down waiting for the next smash that came from my return from his previous smash and if he/she keeps smashing at the same direction, angle, my squat defence works well.

I find that quick response to smash defense is important. I usually defend with my backhand because it is stronger too. When smashes are to my forehand, I have to adjust my backhand grip to my forehand and usually it fails because my reflex is too slow. I guess being able to anticipate where the smasher's going to return is important too. I don't know how the top players do it.

Oh, when i do forehand returns of opponent's smashes, they are powerful because I don't just use my fingers I use my arm to drive the smash.

 

i think to get a better return on your forehand, imho, its all about position position position. (in doubles only, right handed) normally, for me, i stand with my right foot forward in backhand defensive position when recieving a smash. however, depending on where the shuttle is placed and where the likely spot of the smash might be, i switched my feet position, having my left foot forward awaiting or anticipating a smash on my forehand side. having this left foot forward position, i feel more stable to either quickly use my forehand to drive straight, a very wicked cross court drive, or a lift to any corners. in fact, at this position, my forehand drive return from a smash is much quicker and faster than in my backhand defensive position (right foot being forward) using either forehand or backhand strokes. the drawbacks at this position is that my backhand return is not as quick and fast or strong than having my right foot forward in defensive position. i hope you get to try it and see if it will make your forehand defence much stronger. one side note, the great ha tae kwan uses the left foot forward defense a lot and he had many great smash return winners using his forehand.

 

Your problem is backhand bias.

When you are waiting for a smash, you don't know what side it will come. You need to be ready for both sides, because you don't have enough time to change your grip and posture (at least, you can only change them very slightly).


With a neutral "forehand" grip, you can hit on both sides with no, or minimal, grip adjustment. You should also have a neutral posture, with your body square to the smasher (not leaning in with your racket side).

A full "backhand" thumb grip actually reduces your power on backhand defence, because it locks your wrist. Better to use a grip closer to "forehand". You can still use the thumb. Also, the full thumb grip makes it almost impossible to play a forehand, since you don't have time for such a big change of grip.