Hi, I am a beginner and learning badminton. So please go easy on me. Observations:- I observed while hitting smashes on shuttles which are closer to my body (even the straight smash), there is a slice and shots are not clean. And when the shuttles are towards the forehand side, the shots are pretty clean. I understand that in order to hit cleaner, the face of the racquet should be perfectly perpendicular/headon to the shuttle at the moment of impact. Query:- Is it wrist or the forearm or both which changes the face of the racquet? In the overhead, when elbow is in front we start only with the racquet frame visible from the front and then at the moment of impact, we show the full face of the racquet. Can someone please explain to me the part from 'bringing the elbow front' till the 'impact to the shuttle'. That will help us to understand how to hit very clean shots. I have watched a lot of videos in normal as well slow motion but that particular phase of the swing is very fast and thus hard to understand. Is this video showing the correct technique? How to rotate your wrist for forehand shot EP2 | Badminton Mastery References: Badminton forehand grip in ultra slow motion [Coach Won's Badminton] #2 How to correctly perform the “Forehand Overhead Swing” Even here we can see that the racquet is still slicing. Badminton clear bio-mechanics - 5 easy tips Note:- I have included the title of the videos as well if anyone finds the links offensive (spam/misleading)
This topic has been discussed many times and there are different opinions. Most people would recommend to not "flick" your wrist on basic overhead strokes but keep it rather locked and use pronation of the forearm and also shoulder/upper arm. The stronger use of "wrist flicking" for basic overhead strokes has been become less popular over time. Badminton Family f.e. has some good videos on proper wrist usage that you may want to check out: Tobias Wadenke has a good tutorial for the forehand clear and smash that also covers this topic: A bit of reading material that should give you a better idea: https://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/index.php?threads/pronation-in-your-overhead-stroke.187531/ https://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/index.php?threads/position-of-wrist-in-clear-shots.186495/ https://badminton-coach.co.uk/discussion-forum/intermediate-general-qa/forearm-pronationsupination/ https://www.reddit.com/r/badminton/...ower/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
Thanks, I have gone through Tobias but this will help 'This topic has been discussed many times and there are different opinions. Most people would recommend to not "flick" your wrist on basic overhead strokes but keep it rather locked and use pronation of the forearm and also shoulder/upper arm.'. I will try this and read on all the links you have mentioned. Regards, Ankur
Hi did incorporate some changes and here is the final video. Slicing has stopped but still power is not transferred completely. Here I tried to keep the racquet face towards the net in the preparation as I was constantly slicing the shuttle. Shots were rather clean but still wasn't hitting the sweet spot. Wrist was also not locked which resulted in loss of power in the smash and not enough forearm rotation (pronation). Flick of the wrist is observed in the end. Regards, Ankur Vashishtha
But if you see right at the timestamp, I mentioned in the post. The racquet is still not facing exactly clean against the shuttle. Is it wrist or the forearm or both which changes the face of the racquet?
The racquet face is clean on the shuttle when it strikes the shuttle. You are unable to see it very well. At that point, the racquet face is turning from facing inwards to outwards. The racquet face has to turn inwards to outwards to help you generate the power. This is why the first video you linked from “badminton mastery “ is inefficient - in that video, the racquet face during the follow through is directed to the ground. This slow motion video makes it easier to see.
Find a coach or player you see that has a very good smash and get them to teach you it. Can you throw a ball / shuttlecock in a straight line? Can you do good clears (forehand shot from back of the court falling down as close to the opposite rear line) ? Clears, drop shots and smashes have very similar start up movements and mechanics. You say you are slicing the shuttle, have you checked your grip is correct? If a smash doesn't go in a straight line it's usually a tell tale sign that the grip is slightly wrong as the racquet face will be not in line with the net at the point of impact. It felt really weird to me when I had a coach correct my forehand grip and show me clears and throwing action. But it was probably the most useful information anyone had ever taught me. Useful youtube channels for badminton learning that I haven't seen linked in this topic yet; Badminton Insight big minton. Badminton insight is two professional England players and the videos are really good. Big minton is a Korean player. His videos are shorter than 10 minutes, but it shows him being coached by a very inspirational player. And it has English subtitles too. His coach "the cock badminton" on youtube also has some pretty good videos. If you can film yourself again, but this time have the camera pointing towards your racquet arm (right handed?) it might be easier to see for us. Also if you could set up an angle from behind, showing the trajectory of your shots again it will be useful
I am able to clear till the back line. Yes that channel is amazing. Infact @2:36 in the above video, he points that the angle between arm and shoulder will help in keeping the racquet face towards the shuttle. And the angle between wrist and racquet always remains around 90 degree. "If you can film yourself again, but this time have the camera pointing towards your racquet arm (right handed?) it might be easier to see for us. Also if you could set up an angle from behind, showing the trajectory of your shots again it will be useful " I will definitely make a new video and post it.
If you can film yourself again, but this time have the camera pointing towards your racquet arm (right handed?) it might be easier to see for us. Also if you could set up an angle from behind, showing the trajectory of your shots again it will be useful I was able to film myself again. Please let me know if its correct and what needs to be improved.
Not bad. a) when you are waiting for the shuttle to drop, your right forearm is almost horizontal to the floor. It probably doesn’t make a difference in lower standards of play but if you’re looking to get a lot better, keep it more horizontal. b) turn the racquet face outwards after hitting the shuttle. That will help to reduce slicing the shuttle.
Apologies . Typo. Try to keep the forearm more vertical. Don’t drop the elbow down so much because that makes you have too big a swing and slows you down.
You look like you have done sports before. Keep the elbow higher when you prepare. I teach beginners to position it just below the shoulder height because people invariably drop it down too much to generate a bigger swing. No need to drop it down so much and try to keep the forearm more vertically towards the ceiling. A lot of people rock backwards to try and generate a big swing for more power. You don’t need a big swing. In fact too big a movement at the beginning of the swing will affect your accuracy. Turning the face of the racquet outwards: on your latest video, when you look at the follow through after hitting the shuttle, you see the racquet face facing inwards slightly. Even though you think you have got a proper contact, the racquet is still turned inwards when striking the shuttle. You haven’t been able to turn it outwards. Here is one tip which really helped my kid - the racquet face has to turn from inwards to outwards. Instead of trying to hit the shuttle at that point which is face on, I asked her to strike the shuttle as the racquet face has just turned outwards- ie. just after the face on position. This helped stop the unintentional slice.
Yes, I have been playing badminton for 1 year now. I used to play on weekends and only use power to solve everything. I was stunned to see the drops and I fell in love with this game. Drops prompted me to learn footwork, good attack prompted me to learn defence better and so on. I started rectifying my shortcomings and the game is improving. But I call myself a noob as I am still trying to learn all footwork/shots properly. I will definitely keep the elbow higher. Noted. You don’t need a big swing. In fact too big a movement at the beginning of the swing will affect your accuracy. Agreed and noted I will work on this as well. Regarding the racquet face facing inwards slightly, this brings to my original question, "Is it wrist or the forearm or both which changes the face of the racquet?" Should I cock the wrist to make the racquet face outside and then swing it? What contributes to the clean shot ? I am always slicing the shuttle which reduces the power. Regards, Ankur Vashishtha
Cheung might say different (more experienced in coaching), but i've always been told to be relaxed when smashing. So no cocked wrist. And at the point of impact squeeze thumb and first finger for a bit more power. Wrist and fingers should be used to control the face of the racquet in my experience. If you watch a bunch of bigminton's videos, it's something his coach emphasizes a lot.