Switch Hands?

Discussion in 'Techniques / Training' started by seb1988, Mar 7, 2010.

  1. seb1988

    seb1988 Regular Member

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    Hey guys,

    I was wondering if you could offer me some advice. I'm about to join a club soon and before I'm really starting to play a bit more seriously I was wondering whether I should switch hands. I played casual badminton once a week for about 4 months and even back then noticed that I had trouble hitting long and effective clears.

    I'm a natural left hander, but was taught to play tennis with my right and therefore did the same in badminton, but like I said noticed that I really had a hard time playing a long clear. When I tried to do play with my left I obviously wasn't as skilled in playing with my right (because I'm not used to it) but I was able to hit a good clear (and also way faster smash) quite effortlessly.
    Now I'm wondering whether thats either merely due to the superior strength of my left arm compared to the right, or if I should actually switch hands because the fact that I'm left handed would hinder me from getting to the same level if I was to keep on playing with my right.

    Hope you can offer me some advice, it would be much appreciated.

    seb
     
  2. druss

    druss Regular Member

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    I think you should play with your dominant hand. Keep in mind that in general teh dominant hand tends to have more coordination and strength. I think you'll find that you'll catch up to the right hand in terms of skill very quickly and will also go farther if you switch.

    Remember, Lin Dan is left handed too so there's no reason not to use the dominant hand.
     
  3. Paragon

    Paragon Regular Member

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    left handed people also have an advantage in badminton, like in most racket sports. They cut across the natural spin of the birdie allowing for faster smashes, and shots. Since there is also a smaller amount of left handed players, often times opponents hit the shuttle to the left hand forehand position, since that would be right handed peoples backhands.

    You should always use the dominant limb for the required sport, such as proper foot position in snowboarding or in this case badminton. don't worry about the skill level if your left hand, if it is the dominant one it will easily catch up to your right hand.
     
  4. charliebadders

    charliebadders Regular Member

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    my double partner use to play with both hand so he never had to use backhand but once he got into fast double he couldn't changed in time so he decided to go one handed, but he had a hard choice to make, choose power or accuracy. he choose accuracy in the end and now his left hand is alot more powerful than his right, it just tales some time to get use to it, me and him have always been about level but when he first started using one hand i would beat him like 21-5. just stick with it, power will manly comes from your technique and if you're naturally lefty then you should in time get a better technique using that hand.
     
  5. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    Agree.

    Go with your dominant left hand. It will be an advantage as the feather bird spins in an optimal direction for lefties... just ask Tan Boonheong and Fu Haifung, both of whom have the fastest smashes in the business.
     
  6. Flexsis

    Flexsis Regular Member

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    Left Hands usually have quicker reflexes and coordination o.o
     
  7. charliebadders

    charliebadders Regular Member

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    just stick to it and you will eventually be as good as your right :p spoke to my mate today and he said hold something in your right hand so you are less tempted to switch :p
     
  8. seb1988

    seb1988 Regular Member

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    Thank you so much for the advice everyone. I wasn't entirely sure whether it would really be the right decision.
    Last time I discussed it with the guys from the badminton club I used to play in, they kinda pushed me to use my right hand, because I was obviously (and I guess quite naturally) making more mistakes at the beginning and they just wanted to play and didn't really care that much about long-term improvement.
     
  9. Athelete1234

    Athelete1234 Regular Member

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    I think it's more important to get your feet lined up....ultimately the arm can be taught, but overall coordinating the body and legs with the arm is most important.
     
  10. modious

    modious Regular Member

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    well Rafael Nadal's dominant hand is right but he uses his left hand to play tennis if I'm not mistaken.
     
  11. seb1988

    seb1988 Regular Member

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    Thanks everybody for the advice. I had my first training session today and goodness me was I nervous (well actually it was just free play but still ;))
    I think it went pretty well though there were quite a few mishits and the shuttle didn't always go were it was intended to, but I guess that just requires practice. Still my overhead clear was already way better than anything I was ever able to do with my right.

    Anyway I got a blister at my thumb, just a little below the joint (not the one connecting palm and thumb) facing inwards when spreading my fingers. One of the guys I was playing with suggested that my grip was just too thin, but although I agree I think it might rather be that combined with me not holding the racket properly. So I thought you might be able to tell me what exactly I could be doing wrong so that I can pay attention to it next time.

    p.s.: hope it's not a problem I'm posting this here, just didn't want to open a new thread for this.
     
  12. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    Good to hear you switched! It'll be better for you in the long run. Plus you can also surprise your opponents in the future as you can switch your hands during the game!

    The blister you got was definitely from being nervous and gripping too tightly. You can always use a thicker grip to start with for now, then later as you get more adapted and more relaxed and loosen your grip, you can revert back to the thinner grip.
     
  13. Monster

    Monster Regular Member

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    Sorry but why is left handed players quicker?
     
  14. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    It's not that their reflexes are any quicker, but lefty smashes are quicker due to the way the racket face slices slightly across the bird upon impact that spins the shuttle the right way (clock wise or counter clockwise, I don't remember) that makes that bird travel faster ... just due to the way the feathers are inserted into the cork.

    Examples: Tan Boon-Heong and Fu Hai-Fung
     
  15. CrimsonRain

    CrimsonRain Regular Member

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    I never thought about that...but that totally makes sense because it would take some time for a bird rotating one way and then suddenly forced to rotate another way...
     
  16. extremenanopowe

    extremenanopowe Regular Member

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    Use ur instinct. Don't regret later. Stick to it. ;)
     
  17. Gollum

    Gollum Regular Member

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    I think that's unlikely to be true. For a powerful smash, the players must avoid any slice, as slice always reduces the speed of the shot.

    Personally, I think rather too much is made of this "natural spin" business, on far too little evidence.
     
  18. seb1988

    seb1988 Regular Member

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    Sorry to push this thread yet again, but I've come up with another question. Since I'm trying to get a proper technique but haven't had a real training session yet (gonna have one on thursd.), I'm sticking to b/c grips guide.

    However when hitting the forehand I found that instead of hitting them straight, I tend to slice across the feathers hence losing power. I managed to correct my grip slightly since I took one of the hints to far and overgriped towards the second bevel. Nevertheless I was wondering whether there might be a detailed description on how to hit a underhand forehand properly so I can perhaps practice the swinging motion @home. Especially the wrist (so when to start flicking it and just how) and arm movement (is it an eight figure like in tennis?) would be interesting.

    Hope I' not annoying you with those questions but I wanna make sure I get it right. :)
     

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