Hey Folks, So I have a bit of an advanced technique question. Back when I used to play badminton I had no problem shifting my weight from behind me to in front of me when I swung. But recently I’ve been boxing and the way you generate power in boxing is twisting from side to side; shifting your weight on to your left leg. The end result has been that when I go back to badminton, when I swing I twist my body and (I’m right handed) when I smash my weight transfers back to my back leg ie. when I smash I place all of my weight on my back right leg but when I end I transfer it all back on to my left leg which is behind me (because you turn and switch legs). So I’m trying to iron out of this habit but I’m having some real difficulty because the way I conceptualise generating power is quickly turning my core and as a result I lose out on a ton of power because my weight is literally working against me. Any ideas on how to fix this? Maybe a new way of conceptualisant the generation of power? On a side note, this has been affecting my overall game. Because I’m so upright instead of leaning forward, I’m having difficulty rushing my counterattack in doubles (ie. hard drive and rush the net)
Could be the shoulder movement. Usually a badminton smash has a shoulder tilt. In boxing this is more restricted. Also your contact point might need to be far enough forward - perhaps bring it forward another six inches.
A smash is a downward application of force, so your abd and core muscles should not work to rotate horizontally around your vertical axis, but obliquely to crunch your abd muscles downwards from top right to bottom left (for a right hander). Very much like throwing a baseball downwards into a low catcher's glove. Perhaps you should break it down to the basics and start with a simple side on preparation position with racket foot at the back, and when you practice smash, concentrate on crunching your abd muscles obliquely and don't jump and don't do the scissor kick through but simply just transfer your weight from rear racket foot to the front foot. This will prevent your trunk from turning too much sideways as your body will have only turned 90 degrees ending up parallel to the net. I imagine the action as similar to my hand coming down with pronation and a whipping action to slap hard onto the *top* of my opponent's head in front of me. And the most important part is it's the top I'm slapping, not the side. Once you're locked into the feeling of forward and downward weight transfer, then you can jump and incorporate scissor kick.
Not sure if I have completely understood you, and if not I apologise. But I will offer a slightly alternate view of power generation: It starts with the floor: you bend your legs slightly and "pull" energy upwards through your back leg (right leg) This energy continues to travel upwards through the core, which includes a sideways twisting, but combined with an elongation of the body because the energy is travelling upwards The energy then curves as you contract your core muscles so that instead of purely upwards, the energy goes slightly forwards too You then "release" your arm which begins to snap forwards and upwards, and it feels like you are striking downwards on the shuttle Thats how it feels to me All these motions are quite small. There is definitely twisting of the core, and shoulders, and hips, but also an elongation of the body, transferring from the legs up through the core and into the arm. It doesn't matter whether I jump "forwards" with right foot going forwards, or "backwards" with left leg moving behind me, the feeling is the same.
Definitely the shoulder movement. I'm trying to figure out how to conceptualize it though. How to think of a smash in order to transfer my weight properly. Here's a question: How do you guys think of a smash? Between a soft and hard smash, what changes? What do you focus on? Turning feet/hips faster?
I know exactly what you're talking about. I just don't know how to actually do it. How do you think of power generation? When you want to smash as hard as possible, what motion do you focus on to generate power?
