Hi, I'm a Highschool badminton player and I've played for only one and a half years. I'm pretty much a beginner in everything I do, footwork isn't very good, clears are no problem, long drops are alright, drops is probably my most strong suit, smashes are pretty good (from what I've been told at the least , but I dun't think so), and finally my drives need a lot of work especially when forced to backhand drive. I'm about 5' 10" and I weigh 155 lbs. Lately I've gotten a new racket which I switched from a Isometric 23 VF (a low end racket with BG-85 strung on it) to a Carbonex 8600 light ti. Since my old racket was a 2U racket, and switching to a 3U racket, it's been quite difficult to smash at the speed i usually hit the birdy with. I feel like a lot of power is lost in my form, but I've been noticing from time to time that with this lighter racket i have to use more wrist power to create a better smash. I've been told that most 3U rackets require more wrist power than 2U because of the weight. I just want to know what I can do to improve on this, since lately it's been really killing my right shoulder. I really want a solution to this so that I can prevent any kind of shoulder injury.
u seemed very informed already about why your not smashing correctly. but you havnt mentioned forearm pronation. Please read the thread about pronating, it is where i learned and u will see some of my posts im also highschool sophomore played for total of 2 years and has greatly improved this year because of prooonating. i hope ppl dont get annoyed because every help i suggest has to do with it