Hi! Is there any hope or fast trick for a 45 yo league player still experiencing problems with this shot after 23 y of play. Can manage it but from the waist, not over my head and back facing net...help!! Dan
I know its easier said than done but how i do the backhand clear is to use both arm and wrist. Do a small back swing with the arm and snap your wrist backwards afterwards. It gives the shuttle about twice as much power than just the arm or wrist alone......
hope, yes. fast trick, probably not. when i learned backhand a few years back, actually, gosh, it was 10 years ago already. erm... anyway.... the key to it is strength training, get some weights and really train the forearm for strength, and use a squash racket and train it for speed. and then when you get to the court, get a partner to feed you bird one after another. persistence is key here. also, as Byro-Nenium pointed out, the shoulder is not of much use. most people who has a weak backhand try to get strength from their shoulder, that is not going to work. when you do the drills, raise your elbow and point it to the ceiling, and only use the elbow and wrist, esp concentrate on the wrist. pointing your elbow to the ceiling is the key. that stops you from using your shoulder. playing squash also helps to strengthen the wrist. it took me around 3 months to get it and another 3 to really use it comfortably. but it is definitely very handy and a powerful backhand is always very impressive.
This is the technique I learned from a CD . It works , in fact , provided that you need to practice a lot to make it as smooth as possible . Basically , step & turn your **back** to the birdy , backhand grip , hold it upright in front of you . Most important is relex and hold the handle **loosely** , then rotate you body natually & easily to the birdy , **roll your forearm inside** , imm. bring up your forearm with you upper arm and target to meet the birdy somewhere up on the side of you body . About impact **roll the forearm inside out** and grap the handle hard , **use your thumb to push the recquet** to the target . That's all there is to it . The loose grip then a hard grip is where the power comes from , of course , in connection with the other parts of the motions , don't count too much on the upper arm . Keep relexing . Hope this could help .
"...**roll your forearm inside** ..." This is actually a key point, in my opinion, because it forces you to present the "wrong" racquet face to the shuttle (as in an over-head forehand). Then, just before the impact, you twist your forearm so that the "correct" racquet face hits the shuttle. It's basically what "th" described, it's just a different way of thinking about it, which automatically makes you point your elbow up and supinate your forearm correctly. The rest is just timing ;-)
"...**roll your forearm inside** ..." This is actually a key point, in my opinion, because it forces you to present the "wrong" racquet face to the shuttle (as in an over-head forehand). Then, just before the impact, you twist your forearm so that the "correct" racquet face hits the shuttle. It's basically what "th" described, it's just a different way of thinking about it, which automatically makes you point your elbow up and supinate your forearm correctly. The rest is just timing ;-)
