Until recently my coach pointed out sometimes I have a bad habit of not having my elbow up high enough when I swing my racket which resulted in some of my shots messing up. The problem I have with this though is that if I try to make a conscious effort in having my elbow up as high as I can during my racket swing it feels as if I'm forcing it too much causing my arm to tense up. Any advice on this problem?
its takes time and practice. U need to practice it off court. Pretend you r goin for a shot, do the foot work and then do the shot correctly doin it slowly first increasing the speed as u become more comfortable. Then when u go on court, it will feel more natural and u wont ave to tink bout it as much Hope this helps
Clarification? Hm, you might want to specify what kind of shot you're talking about, so it'd be easier to help you out. Are you trying to smash, clear...? Anyway, with almost any swing, you shouldn't have your arm perfectly straight up. Your elbow should be up high so you can put more power and angle on your shots, but it should still be slightly bent. If it is perfectly straight, you lose power on your smashes AND you can easily injure your elbow on backhand clears. So when hitting overhead shots, it's best to have it at about a 135 degree angle. Hope that helps a bit. Actually, one more thing. While practicing a new way of swinging, don't worry about missing the birdie once in a while. If you miss the birdie a few times while practicing, it's almost a good sign that you're on your way to breaking a bad habit. Good luck!
Well typically it's the clearing and smashing I sometimes have problems with. It's just I usually have a tough time differentiating when my elbows up high enough because I sometimes lower my elbow too much resulting in a really flat shot.
wellll i dont really see that your elbow needs to be held very high when hitting a smash or clear. Remember the shuttle needs to be slightly in front of you. This helps because you have to reach forward to hit the shuttle which will give you the angle and it also helps extend your arm. The other thing is make sure you try to hit the shuttle at the highest possible point. This will again make you reach further forward extending your arm fully. Reaching to the highest point will also help extend your elbow and arm to the correct height. Rather than trying to hold your elbow high try hitting it at the highest point and a bit in front of you instead. It will make your swing more relaxed and natural rather than forcing your elbow to stay up. Otherwise your technique will get mumbled up.
I think I know what your coach is talking about. I've seen some people swing at what looks like a three-quarter angle... that's probably what you're doing. If my guess is correct (I might be wrong), your weight transfer probably looks more like a swinging door than a... I can't think of a good analogy... a windmill? Maybe focus, when you swing, on throwing your body (elbow, waist, arm) up and then transferring your energy into a downward motion rather than a side-to-side weight transfer. Also, my coaches used to make me do this thing where I would press my body against a wall with my arm pointed straight up and then just practice the motion at the elbow (bringing your forearm back, then extending it) while keeping the triceps pressed up against the wall. This exercise also forces you to turn your racquet the correct way (since your racquet should be flat against the wall when you extend).
