Arm Or Wrist?

You need both. A balance of both is the best.

 

Yup. Both. You should do a full-arm swing, then a fast wrist movement at point of impact.

 

I should ask your coach !

I believe power is more about timing than raw strength. I see slightly built 14yr old girls hitting the shuttle very hard.

 

I agree with TheBear. The better your timing, and technique, the more you can bring out the power you potentially have. A balance between wrist and arm is important for power. Though, I'm wondering... I played mixed last year in juniors and I won championship, I only used about 3/4 of my power when I smashed, its more of where you smash, the precision, and the angle, rather than the power. You only need enough so they're either struggling to get it and leaves one side open, or enough so they can't reach it at all. I don't think you should worry too much about power if you have a decent amount, but more on footwork and precision.

 

due to all the respect of azn32boi, i just want to say something. Precision shouldn't be the word, Accuracy. That's the word i would use. Because "you can precise wrong", that's mean precise is you keep hitting at the same spot, and wat if the same spot you're hitting is out =). But truely to be able to be a good player is you need both, accurate and precise. That is what i learned in engineering class. THE TERM =).
but yea anyway, if you have a decent speed of smashing, rather improve a harder smash, then get it where you want it to be. Because the top chinese smasher hold the world record can't even out beat everybody with his smash all the time.
And what i think is if you swing the hardest hit of your limit, i dont think you able to direct it to where you want it to be EVERYTIME. Because i know some people gonna say i'm able to do that. Yea sure all the time?

 

^^^^^ even more correct XD (lols at this pointless reply)

 

Yeah, you need both as well as good timing. Work on everything and don't leave anything out.

 

You should be asking your coach how to get more power... that is the purpose of a coach right? Ask him to make sure that your technique is correct, and if it isn't then work with him to fix it. Just using the right technique can get you a lot more power, so then at that point you can work on your accuracy. But since you are playing mixed, your mixed strategy is very important. You'll need to work with your partner so that you both know what to do in any scenario. Just having a good strategy that puts to use both of your strengths is a quick way to improve your game, while strength and accuracy will increase slowly with time.

 

I been told by an expert once..

Wrist smash is used if a fast smashing required..
Arm smash is used for the ultimate smash..

But at one time i saw (as the audience) DJarum Kudus play, they only use wrist smash and most local player cant return or defend it..

 

let just say he has a humongous wrist power, or he just good at placing his smash. Local player tent to be lazy enough and not moving their feet to get to the bird, they rather just reach out and try to get the bird only. And of course i'm not saying allllll. So dont start with the hating, it just when an average or even adv players that whom dont go to tournament, they tend not to be all out in some games. And trust me over time, it does affects us. If you play with the lazy style most of the time, it will slow you down. That happened to me. I'm way slower, not that i'm not in the back then shape (which true i'm not it's an obvious) but because i've been playing in one of those college badminton class, and there's no good players so guess what you dont play with all your skills and strength out. And yea time over time, it'll kill the way you play.
Oh and another theory, the Local players that vodude mention, they're not that really good. =)

 

Arm or wrist

Of course it necessary to have strength in your arm, body and legs. A smash begins with the stability of your trunk, thereby transferring power to your upper body and from there to your arm and finally lower arm, wrist and fingers.
Please check out these clips:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09BNh1ZvoPM&feature=channel_page
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1CX5k59qYY&feature=channel_page
I saw another post, saying that a wrist smash is a fast smash and a smash with arm is a power smash.
It is an acceptable way of explaining the difference.
The fast smash, using wrist and especially fingers, is what we call "a sting" here in Denmark. But you’re still using the fast "twitch" with your body; therefore corestabillity is of great importance. It is often used while making china jump.
The full swing smash is the smash you use when you want max. power, a stroke you often use it when making a jump smash.

I can promise you that you can find some highQ clip august 2009 when we launch BestOnCourt.com

Best of luck

Engholm

 

Hmm...was Bruce Lee's one inch punch wrist power or a combination of forearm and wrist? Or shoulder? Or everything?

 

Now there's an interesting thought !

Karateka are taught to turn the fist just before striking (pronation).
Also that power comes from the hips.

I read that Bruce Lee's inch punch was a combination of physical and mental (chi) activities, but then he was one of the few to manage it so who knows!

I found that my footwork and speed increased measureably whilst I was training.

 

Just to add... A "fast smash" as you call is less often used then a "full" smash. The fast one is used when you want to break the rythme or when you don't have the time to perform the full smash (which takes more time since it includes more variables: the biceps, hips, shoulder.).

The fast smash is often used by players with an offensive style in singles and also in doubles where you have to keep a constant attack (hitting the birdie downwards).