Has anyone taken noticed how high your elbow is when performing a smash ie, when is your elbow highest whilst smashing. I checked mine to be as high as my forehead, in the mirror. I know this is slightly lower than usual, what height do you guys smash at? I think I started to be a bit scared on my smashes (ie, I smash more safely by reducing a bit of height) due to damaging (or tearing) my arm muscle once by over stretching whilst smashing. Which brings me to my next question, do you guys feel that if you over stretch too much as in, only allow a very, very small bend in the elbow, is the smash much weaker in feeling? Because this is what I feel. I must keep the bend, well not big, but it is evident there, otherwise I feel there is lack of power. Opinions? EDIT: The muscle injury could of have been related to not warming up too prior to the game. I injured it on, if I remember correctly, a single foot air smash where I remembering "over reaching" for the shuttle. The smash look good to me, but the feeling in the arm 2 weeks after was bad I guess this is a warning to all people, if you are going to play badminton (or any sport) seriously, then warm up please! I warm my vocals when I do a singing recording, but I never do for badminton (till now) because I sometimes felt that people might think I'm "trying too hard".
i don't think anyone will think that way Anyways, my elbow is slightly above my forehead when i do any forehand overhead stroke...i agree that over-stretching will have an adverse effect on power as well as safety. i think the arm should be almost straight during the point of contact on the shuttle.......and probably not totally straight. i tihnk the key here is that you're comfortable with it
My friend said this to me recently in relations to another matter (singing). She said something like, we're not that serious, no need to warm up (like you?) as a joke but yeh. Anyways from now on, before my recording sessions, I will continue to warm up like always. Before my badminton gaming time, I will always warm up and stretch . I agree in that over stretching reduces power. I will try to allow an even higher contact point though. I feel the elbow should be head height though. Anyone else who smashes take notice of their elbow height? It doesn't matter if you jump smash or land smash. So all smashers answer (cmon, I know most out there can smash).
I smash at a height where it's comfortable for me. I have no idea where my elbow is, but I think it's at around my forehead level. As for warming up, it's very important, as is stretching. Warming up is essential for everything, it gets your body going, and you're body is "warm". It's the same for piano. You have to warm up to get your fingers and wrist working.
AND most importantly, warming up helps avoid injuries such as sprains or muscle pulling, and probably dislocation and so on
Dislocation!? Yikes, you don't see that too frequently. If you do get one, I'm guessing it would either be from an external injury (e.g. partner crashes onto your arm?) or that you have some serious strength imbalance issues - in which case warming up won't particularly help. As for the piano, go to the bathroom before the concert and run your hands under warm water for a while. Dry them thoroughly. Then, as you wait for your turn to perform, just wear a pair of gloves.
I think my contact pt of my smash is when my elbow is around my eye level - I think! I don't fully stretch my arm too when I smash, feels weaker - like you said. I guess it's because we want to aim down with our wrist eventually as opposed to aiming far, so bending the elbow makes it more comfortable and powerful. I don't know if I'm right, but it works for me so far. It also sounds difficult to smash with your arm fully stretched and you pronate.
at contact point, your elbow will always be at about forehead head, if you put your arm up , that is where your elbow will be. Wit most shots, you want to hit them as high as possible so your elbow should be about there. Another good question would be where does your elbow start at in preparation for a smash I lean right back so my elbow is a mid back height and my left hand is in the air following the shuttle. (i'm right handed)
With that said, if you try, your elbow can be higher than your head, but whether that is safe or not is another question, for me, sometimes I get the strain feeling if I place my elbow too high.
yea if you try to lift your elbow higher, you can feel the strain in your shoulder and your body is a bit lopsided so your balance could be off a bit. I think just at head height is a good height. I think personally its al about not trying to force the extra height especially if it feels uncomfortable but the power should come more from the twist in the body and the shoulder with the arm being last in the equation. Maybe you should try a few trial and error practices. I know myself i have tried hitting a jump smash tryng to use just my arm get the power and it was rubbish. You have to use the whole body to generate the power. Look at utube, there are lots of instructional vids on different stuff including smashs and jump smashs
I naturally have my elbow slightly lower. But these strainings have been when I override my brain by telling it just before my smash to hit even higher (elbow higher), and this leads to pain, and loss of power. This leads me to thinking, maybe this isn't so right. I think I shouldn't play around too much with my technique, but I'm experimenting, and this is how life revolves. Viewing youtube elbow height shows most at about... top of head height. I doubt I should do this personally. Camera angle makes a lot of difference so it is hard to actually guess real elbow height.
