I've always had trouble smashing in the past. I could never get the timing right and I had trouble "snapping" my wrist. I'd actually hit the shuttle at shoulder level often resulting in the shuttle hitting the net. I played a game today and I got the whole wrist snapping part down. Now I can finally pull off a decent smash! What should I work on next that could improve my smash?
Obviously you don't know much about technique... You should not completly confuse beginners with such postings...
They are both part of the same technique. Different coaches emphasise different biomechanical elements, and use different metaphors ("wrist snap" is a metaphor; forearm pronation is not). Why don't we just describe the whole action with biomechanical accuracy? Well, it's just too complex and does not help the player. What matters is that the player gets the feeling of the correct movements. Which of the following is easier to learn from? Hit the smash with a short, snappy, "wristy" movement (*demonstrate*). The timing of grip tightening with the fingers is essential: stay relaxed until the last moment. Just before you hit the shuttle, it looks like you are going to cut it with the side (frame) of the racket. The grip tightening snaps the racket head around so that you hit square-on with the strings instead. Or: The kinetic chain starts in the legs and transversus abdominis. Bring your hip forwards as your obliques contract, and your shoulders turn. Your arm swing starts with external rotation of the upper arm and supination of the forearm. The wrist will radially deviate but should not be tense. Finish with an explosive internal rotation of the upper arm and pronation of the forearm. Tightening of the fingers coordinates with wrist flexion and ulnal deviation. Contract your rectus abdomnis, timed with the end of hitting, for extra power. Personally, I find the former more effective for teaching
congrats! While working on your strokes, make sure practice proper footwork as well. Overall, if you can't get to the spot on time, all the good strokes become nothing.
Interesting that you omit wrist extension in the backswing description. I know, it was only intended to illustrate that a description riddled with technical jargon would be incomprehensibile to a typical badminton player, but ... Should there be no significant wrist extension as a part of backswing?
Yes your wrist should bend back a little, because your grip should be loose and to have a loose grip you need to relax your wrist, hence the wrist bends back on the backswing.
Exactly. A relaxed wrist is best. Exactly how much do you extend the wrist? I don't know. It's best learned by "feel", not measurements. I believe the movement is a mixture of extension and radial deviation on the backswing, then flexion and ulnal deviation as you hit. The wrist movement, by itself, is very weak. Its purpose is to act as a relaxed "slingshot" to channel the other, more powerful movements into the shuttle. The wrist movement should be coordinated with the grip tightening ("finger power"); this is what gets you that sharp, "wristy" smash. So when you think about wrist movement, I recommend concentrating first on how you coordinate it with the grip tightening, and second on how you coordinate that with the arm swing. Don't think of using the wrist itself to power the shot -- it won't matter much how strong your wrist curls are, for example.
I got confused about a year ago when I asked the folks here on the proper smashing movement from head to toe with technical jargons of pronation and supination despite checking www.dictionary.com The thing to remember is one of Gollum's paragraphs I saw above: Just before you hit the shuttle, it looks like you are going to cut it with the side (frame) of the racket. The grip tightening snaps the racket head around so that you hit square-on with the strings instead. To add on to his paragraph, I would recommend swinging of your wrist at the end like a baseball player. It works for me and it feels great. Maybe that's the wrist snap thing that some ppl refer to. Bottomline is, as long as it works & effective, don't worry too much about technical explanations.
