I am currently coaching some relatively beginner ladies but some have some bad habits, built up over time play social badminton. All of these ladies are really struggling to get generate power and learn a good technique for a basic forehand clear. I suppose what I am looking for is a step-by-step guide to the break down of this shot, including movement, as I perhaps am not explaining it in a way for them to understand and translate to the court. A simple drill may help as their movement is just not there with bad habits of standing parallel to the net and relying on just arm movement to drive the shuttle. Has anyone come across this problem before ?
Have a contest to find out who can throw a shuttlecock with his or her hand the farthest. The winner will get an hour's worth of free coaching or a free shuttecock.
I'd say break it down into different components. I've had this issue in the past as well and the hardest part is the weight shift from right to left foot. Focus on footwork with no shuttles first then show the swinging motion alone, then combine the two. you need hours of good footwork drill before they can do it without thinking and combine it with the swing. Grip is also very important as most do not grip correctly for a good forehand. They also tend to swing across the body with no pronation. Also, don't let them try to clear to each other, that's useless. Get 15-20 shuttles and feed them so that they hit the shuttle from the rear of the court in the same spot every time.
Absolutely agree. Hitting a clear is exactly like throwing a stone or shuttle. It will remind them to keep their shoulder, arm and wrist loose, and even teach them to use a little bit of finger power at the final stage. Maybe to provide more performance incentive, whoever throws the furthest gets treated to a lunch or dinner by all the others.
Keep in mind, hitting a shuttle correctly is very like throwing a ball correctly. There's a reason that the saying "you throw like a girl" is around. Most girls don't throw very well... which would translate into not swinging well.