i'm an intermediate player. male 5 foot 8 170 pounds. i'm in my late 30's strong weak i can't say. I'd like to know how you perform a backhand diagonal overhead cross court drop. not around the head shot or side arm, i'm not interested in either of these to be clear. this is one of the shots i'd like to learn to add to my variety of shots. i can clear with my backhand from the back my court to the other back side of the opposing court, in fact i can probably do it from one diagonal to the other if i wanted to, so power is not an issue here, it's just the way to execute this particular shot. i can do backhand drop straight to the net but not to the cross court position. is this a slice technique or is it a full contact straight on shot? the slice i can sort of see but straight on i can't seem to understand that. i think my problem comes from my grip position. I put my thumb on the flattest part of the grip to execute my backhand shots. the cross court shot i'm asking for might require the switching of the grip but i'd like to hear it from someone else here. my foot position is left foot slightly in front of my right foot when executing a backhand shot. this might have to be altered as well. i find that my wrist is contorting and flexing way beyond the limits if i had to continue with my stance and with my grip position. how can i perform this shot? thanks in advance for your tips and advice on this particular shot execution.
It sounds like you are using a thumb grip for your overhead backhand shots. Generally speaking, this grip is not suitable for overhead backhands. Instead, I recommend using a bevel grip. A cross-court drop shot can be performed using much the same technique as a straight drop: a smooth "pulling" or "hooking" action to guide the shuttle over the net. However, it can also help to add slice to your drop shots. You can do this by turning the arm inwards (pronating), so that the shuttle is struck with a angled racket face. You can also adjust your grip to help control the angle. This is especially useful when the shuttle has travelled behind you, and it's difficult to get the cross-court angle using the normal bevel grip. Here, you can move towards a panhandle grip instead.
Alright so it sounds so far that the grip change is the key here. Thanks I'll try that the next time I'm on the court. thanks.
