Serves/Backhand/Aim/Wrist power

:Your teamate.who is better at rear court and front court

 

since he's used to playing MD but playing XD, then he should be the one that is better from the rear (in most partnerships anyway)

 

I read somewhere in these forums that it's more about forearm supination/pronation than wrist power, but i think that exercise you're doing should help. Doing sit-ups also help since you use them when doing a power shot.
For your backhand, you just need to practice it with good form.

 

There are lots of different options. You can use racket head cover exercises, resistance bands, gyroscopes (e.g. Powerball), or light hand weights. You can also use home-made equipment such as a brick connected to a broom handle by some cord (turn the handle between your hands to raise the brick).

These exercises mainly train the forearm (and to a lesser extent, the upper arm). Bear in mind that wrist movements (flexion, extension, radial or ulnar deviation) are inherently quite weak. That's not to say they are useless, but merely that you won't get much power from a pure wrist action alone.

Backhands are often used as a last resort, since playing a round-the-head forehand is preferable. Sometimes, the reason you played a weak shot is simply that the situation was desperate!

Remember also that, in this situation, your opponents are likely better placed to punish any loose shots: anticipating your drop shot, they will move in to cover the net. When you play a forehand, even if it is technically no better than your backhand drop, the penalty will be less: the opponents are hanging back, because they also need to cover your clear and smash.

For a good backhand drop shot, try to take the shuttle out to side of you and don't let it get too far behind you. Use a bevel grip and guide the shuttle using a smooth "pulling" or "hooking" action. The pulling action comes mainly from the forearm, rather than flicking the wrist.

This may be a psychological issue. Perhaps you've lost confidence in your accuracy, and are hitting "safer" shots to the centre (you are worried about hitting out at the side). Or perhaps you have fallen into the habit of hitting the shuttle back to your opponent, rather than deliberately placing it into the open space.

Bear in mind that smashes and drop shots down the middle are actually good options in doubles, and that you usually want to avoid playing these shots cross-court. A clear down the middle is generally a bad idea, however (in doubles).

Don't forget that the straight low serve (to the centre) is the best serve in doubles. However, it would be useful if you had the option to serve wide as well.

Are you using a forehand or a backhand serve?

How high is "too high"?

Try increasing the speed of your pushing action. Think about pushing "through" the shuttle.

If you're short, then you may need to stand one step backwards from the service line.

Assuming the man is significantly stronger than the woman (i.e. he can hit harder smashes and move around a bit faster), then the preferred attacking position is to have the man at the back and the woman towards the front.

The man therefore serves from farther back, so that he can become the rearcourt attacker (the woman is in front when he serves, covering the net).

When defending, the woman takes the cross-court position, which makes it easier for her to move forwards when they regain the attack. To help maintain this preferred defensive position, the man will often play his lifts and clears straight, and the woman will often play hers cross-court.

It gets complicated when the opponents try to force the woman to the back of the court!

 

Theoretically, the backhand serve is superior in doubles, I think because it gives a slightly flatter trajectory for low serves. But for most club-level players the difference is so small that it hardly matters. You'll do better to go with whichever serve feels most natural and comfortable to you.

 

Plus it's easier to "push" thru the shuttle with control with the backhand than with the forehand... just the way the biomechanics of the wrist is easier that way in returning smashes.

 

Actually, at least for a smash, I would expect the upper arm rotation (via the shoulder muscles) to contribute more power than the forearm.

However, forearm rotation certainly contributes a lot more power than wrist movements.

For one thing, these muscles are not used much in everyday life; so any exercise that concentrates on them should be useful for badminton.

It's mainly about training the muscles to be "fast", as opposed to "strong". These are not exercises designed to build significant muscle mass.

The idea is that you push through the shot and guide it over the net, rather than punching at it.

There's more to it than that, but if I get much more specific I think I might end up writing an article.

Keep the bevel grip, but you need a different hitting action: finish with a sharp rebound or "tap" action, so that the follow-after movement of the racket is very limited.

It's important to get into a good position for your shot, so that you can meet the shuttle by bringing the racket forwards to it. If you are very late and reaching out behind you, then you won't have enough time to make a smooth, controlled swing.

If your drop shot is going high above the net, then that means you hit it in an upwards direction. Focus on the angle of your racket as you bring it forwards to meet the shuttle: it should be pointing flat or slightly downwards.

There's nothing wrong with sticking to a forehand serve at club level. However, the backhand serve does confer a small advantage for doubles; nowadays, you won't see any top doubles players serving forehand.

It depends which side you're serving to, and whether you're serving forehand or backhand. I'll assume backhand here.

For a right-hander serving wide to his left, rotate the shuttle sideways to help angle it towards the corner. Also turn the racket slightly outwards, so that you slice across the shuttle rather than hitting it dead-on.

To the right, you can still use the shuttle-turning, but not as much. You can't really slice here, so drop the elbow instead, allowing you to bring the racket head up and right.

There are other options too, such as simply twisting your shoulders to change the angle. This isn't as deceptive, but it's easier and can help with consistency.

 

Gollum, I think it's important that you be more specific here. Much more specific, please

 

Ha! I guess I walked into that one.

 

I saw the Danish pair LP/JR serving the low serves at AE last weekend. What I noticed is that they seem to be aming the backhand serve (when they raise the racket) to the wrong court side of the Tee and then at the last moment rotate the racket face before letting go the serve. It seems to me it is happening every time with a purpose.

My question : Is it a tactic to deceive the opponent to lull his attention/focus? I can imagine I as a receiver would be lulled into a chuckle if my opponent(server) points to the wrong court side(say 0.3m off the Tee).

 

Interesting; I've not seen this service style before. I must take a look at that.

My guess is that they're using it simply as a method of making their serve harder to read -- essentially, they're adding "background noise" to obscure the serve. But I'd need to see it myself really.

 

I

Take a look at this video. LP serving at 2:31 and 5:38. Is it a deception tactic?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ft1y8L7Zgbc&feature=player_embedded

 

At 2:31, I saw a downwards-angled racket preparation. Some players use this as a starting position to help them slice under the shuttle, making the low serve dip more sharply (you can also do it without this preparation, but the result may not be quite the same).

At 5:38 I saw the same thing, but I could also see some "random" panning from left to right. This could be intended to obscure the angle of the low serve -- he could serve at any moment, and his timing would then change the angle. I think the general idea here is to make it difficult for the opponent to "read" the serve.

 

IMO, backhand is more a question of technique than strength, since most of us won't be able to do a good backhand clear from baseline to baseline (at least not in the preasure of a match, and not consistently). So concentrate on playing a very tight net shot, you don't actually need that much force for that.

I love this drill:

- Stand in the middle of the left ne half of your court.
- Your partner stands close to the net, right in front of you (not on the diagonal side like when serving).
- Have them play the shuttle to your forehand front (around the serve line, not at the net) so you can comfortably return it to him.
- His next shot should be to your far backhand side.
- You return the shot to him, close to the net, and *really* concentrate on the shuttle flying low over the net.
- Repeat, forcing you to alternate between forehand and backhand all the time.

The drill gets harder the farther back the backhand shot is played, but technique should be good before making this distance larger.

 

while doing warm up drills, isolate your forearm by keeping ur arm extended thru the whole motion and use the wrist movements(flexion, pronation and supination) for ur stroke, that wil force u to involve more forearm movement in ur normal stroke. its the most natural method to strengthen the "wrist" power as u are playin badminton, on court, with a functioning racket and shuttle

 

oh and dont forget the tightening of fingers upon impact

 

Getting good at hitting backhands also requires you training your footwork. Shuffling, lunging and getting back to position.
This way you are able position your body in such a way that hitting the backhand is like a natural motion of your body thus reducing the strain on your body caused by twists and turns.
There are plenty of footwork drill suggestions around the net and even in BC. Try em out.