Weight of racket making it hard to flick?

why not first tell us what racket you use ...

 

Whenever you are in the forecourt (and even the mid-court area), hold your racket near the top of the grip. This will help with move the racket around much quicker so that you can execute flicks and other quick shots in the front.

 

Maybe it's just as simple as the size of your grip ?

In fact, I just changed mine last week but felt it was a bit thick for my small palm. My strokes seemed weaker. I removed my grip tape yesterday and retaped my grip again, this time with each helical turns spaced out further, so less overlapping and feels a lot thinner. I have a few games yesterday and my strokes were explosive compared to last week.

 

Yes, it is quite conceivable that a grip that is too large can be a factor. Nonetheless, since Ken168 was concerned about the weight od the racket, I believe that the major factor here is what part of the racket handle he's using.

"Choking up" on the grip as I mentioned previously is a standard practice whenever playing the midcourt or the forecourt, particularly in doubles. If you look at the grip guide on Badminton Central, you will see several grips designated as "short grips". Using the short grips should fix the problem with flicks. When you move deeper in the court, then cahnge back to the standard (long) grips.

 

Your ability to flick can be influenced by several factors:

• Your technical skill, and how well your muscles are trained
• The weight of your racket
• The balance of your racket
• The size of your grip (handle)
• Your choice of grip (how you hold the racket)

Contrary to some idealists, the racket does matter. A lot. In particular, a very heavy racket, or one heavily weighted towards the head, will make certain techniques almost impossible. These rackets tend to be cheap models.

(At the top end of the market, the differences are not so apparent; although premium rackets cater to a variety of tastes, they are all relatively light and evenly balanced.)

A couple of weeks ago, I was teaching two juniors how to smash. I taught them the technique commonly known as "wrist snap" -- using grip tightening for power (as demonstrated by the marvellous Zhao JianHua).

One of them was having trouble. After a while, I asked him if I could borrow his racket; it was absurdly heavy, and strongly weighted towards the head. Then I asked him to feed me shuttles to hit with his racket.

I couldn't do it: the racket was too heavy for me to perform a good demonstration. If I couldn't do it, what chance did he have? The racket was crippling his skill development.

I strongly advise new players to buy a racket that is reasonably light and not too weighted towards the head.

 

It appears that the Prince Classic Tour 01 weighs a mere 85g & is pretty evenly balanced. Unless the racket has been radically altered, I would say that the weight & balance of the racket is not the issue. Try the other suggestions -- grip size & hand location.

tobys.com/prodspec.asp?Prod_ID=1240
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A couple of other things just occured to me. If you think that your Prince racket really is too heavy, it is possible that you've got a counterfeit product. Keep in mind that the strings & overgrip will add a little weight. If your racket weighs a lot more than 87g than I would be suspicious of its authenticity. (Is this a common problem in the Philippines)?

Also check to see if your string tension isn't too extreme for your style of play. You definitely do not want it much looser than 18 lbs or greater than 27 lbs.

It the racket weight & other parameters appear to be ok and changing the location of your gripping hand doesn't help enough, then perhaps your stroke technique is seriously flawed.

Note that you should grip the racket pretty loosely (relaxed) most of the time. As you move your racket forward to execute the flick, let your fingers squeeze the grip somewhat. If none of these suggestions help, then consider having a coach review your stroke technique.

 

The weight and balance of a racquet can affect ones timing and the ability to play defensive shots and "tricky" shots. However, in my opinion, the differences are very subtle and in most cases it's simply a psychological effect.

For something straightforward like a flick serve, one shouldn't have a problem getting good length and height even with a squash racquet.

I would say it's the technique that's the problem, rather than the racquet.

Wayne Young

 

I agree that technique is almost always the problem, not equipment.

Nonetheless, I am convinced that extremely heavy/head-heavy rackets make some of the fundamental skills nearly impossible to learn, especially for junior players. In particular, they can't learn correct use of grip tightening.

Why? Because I've seen the difference -- an immediate and dramatic difference -- in ability when they swap rackets.

I can't maintain the dogma of "the racket doesn't matter" in the face of such clear evidence.

Bear in mind, however, that I am talking about a huge difference in racket weight/balance -- not like the relatively trivial difference between, say, a Mp99 and a Ns9000.

 

I'll have to agree with Gollum that weight & balance can have a very pronounced effect on hitting effective overheads, particularly smashes. I've tried to hit smashes with heavy cheapo ($10 US) student rackets with very poor results. The dense string pattern & racket stiffness were also significant factors, but it was obvious that the weight & balance were definitely major factors.

You may be right about this but I'll have to check it out for myself. I've got an ancient squash racket -- a woodie. It weighs in at a whopping 8oz or 227g. I believe that the current crop of squash racket are oft times less than 140g -- this was the weight of ye olde wooden badminton rackets of yesteryear (perhaps a half century ago).

 

Using a heavier racket -- about 150g -- is a well recognised training method.

Note that this is a training exercise. Using a heavy racket to play will not help you win games.

 

I believe that some wooden badmiton rackets prior to the early '70s may have been over 150g. That makes the lighter squash rackets of today lighter than many of the woodie badminton rackets.

I rarely ever hit with my super-heavy squash racket. I use it primarily for warm-up swings (w/o a shuttle) or "shadow strokes".

 

I must admit, when I was thinking about differences in racquets, I was thinking along the lines of modern racquets from mainstream brands. Racquets made of wood or metal hadn't even crossed my mind, let alone $10 racquets that come in a set with a net and a plastic shuttle!

Wayne Young

 

You'd be surprised at how many beginners & low intermediates are using low quality rackets that cost under $20 (US). BTW, I tried to execute a flick serve & a flick clear with my ultra-heavy (8oz) squash racket -- couldn't hit a reasonable flick at all (even tho' I gripped it 1/3 the way up). Will have to try this again with a 5 oz racket when I get the opportunity.
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