My son, 7 years, when he hits the shuttle during serve/clear/smash does not snap his wrist rather use only his forearm to generate power. Please suggest some drills to get him to do the right technique. I tried the "hanging shuttle" method, but still he is not snapping his wrist during the serve.
Maybe show him how to drive without moving his forearm? Both forehand and backhand drives practically only use wrist motion. If you can show him how to keep his forearm still whilst snapping his wrist to do a drive motion, and then feed shuttles to him at a good height so that all he needs to do is flick his wrist to drive it back to you, he should slowly find some feeling for snapping the wrist. Also, you can show him how to only use his wrist to serve. Hold his forearm still and tell him to snap his wrist in a fast motion. Maybe the racquet is too heavy for him to actually do the quick snapping motion? I don't really know what other drills you can try besides literally showing him how the movement works and how it feels.
Thanks, let me try that. And No, it's not about a heavy racket as I have got him a 68 gm Apacs. He is pretty comfortable with that. When I constantly remind him to snap the wrist when he clears, he can hit from just front of his back line to the opponents back box. I am trying to get that as a habit rather than needing to remind every time.
That's good. There is no wrist snap required. It is outdated. However, the term is so ingrained, most people still use the word. At 7 years old, if he can clear the shuttle and hit the serve consistently, that is pretty good. I would worry more about the grip and whether that is correct more than the outdated "wrist snap".
How can it be outdated if it's how you generate most of the power in badminton? I mean definitely the grip is important too but once one gets past the fundamentals surely they need to then learn how to not injure themselves and use their wrist?
It's outdated, because the term "wrist snap" probably will lead players to hitting with incorrect technique. The wrist should not need to flex forward greatly or consciously during a normal badminton shot. Power is generated from forearm and fingers, and the wrist may move but is not the source of power.
because it isn't the way you generate most of the power. It's pronation of the racquet head using forearm pronation and finger technique.
But "snapping your wrist" does not necessarily mean you should be bending it forwards. Pronation followed by straightening your wrist is still snapping it. The natural movement requires tensing of your forearms and fingers and hence generates power. I think the phrase "wrist snapping" applies fine as long as the person who's teaching knows what they're doing.
Exactly. No, and thus most 7 years olds will not be able to do a rear tramline to tramline clear. How many 7 year olds can? I haven't seen many, if any....
Alright well, if strictly going by your definition of what snapping one's wrist means then yeah, I have to agree that's not the correct way of teaching someone to generate power. I should probably then correct my initial response and say that it's a slow process of teaching the kid the feeling of using forearm and finger muscles, and that the wrist movement is simply the result of pronation + tensing of the muscles.
Agree. At that age their power strokes are quite arm-y and one can only hit so far with that. Just for fun, have a look at this crazy children's rally. They look around 8 years old.
I would say that shows that it is entirely possible for a 7yr old to use finger/forearm power if they're just taught properly Which brings me the idea that maybe for someone so young, it isn't necessarily about teaching with a racquet in hand, but rather just teaching them what it feels like to tense their forearm and finger muscles. If the OP's son is able to clear/serve etc. using the wrong technique involving alot of arm, then as they get older they will find that their shots aren't any stronger/sharper because they're lacking the explosiveness required from good technique, and we all know how hard it is to change bad habits. I would say if someone's really young, using proper technique but unable to clear to the back of the court is better than using the wrong technique and clearing to the back of the court. The strength will come naturally with age.
So many replies, thanks guys.... Cheung - I completely understand where you are coming from regarding pronation and finger power. The key issue is that he is not using the right technique "consistently" All - To clarify, My son is going to a proper coach, so I believe he will be learning the right techniques. Maybe I used the wrong term "wrist snap". After reading the posts above, I think the core issue could be that unless he is reminded very frequently, his forearm is very stiff during hitting; so he is not transferring the proper power. That's what we are trying to fix. He cannot hit from back to back. But when he hits with the right technique(when constantly reminded), he can hit from just in front of his tramline to the opponents tramline - which I think is decent enough for his age. What I am trying is to enforce that as a habit.
I think habits are simply developed over time through repetition and practise. He should be fine since he's being taught the correct technique
Personally speaking from my own experience, a relaxed hitting technique is critical for proper effortless/efficient power. But it takes a lot of mindful practice and drills. If he has a good kinesthetic self awareness he may learn and progress faster, but if not, it'll take some time. Best now is to have a good feeder feed high shuttles to him properly so that he can focus only on his strokes and not have to worry about footwork getting him to the right place. And make sure to not shout at him to remind him to relax because that'll be one sure way to tighten him up ...
Since he's using a light racket, it may be possible for him to learn grip tightening. Here's something I had put together a while back when I was thinking out loud about how to help someone with grip tightening. You'll have to learn how it feels before you can explain it to your son. Re grip tightening, I've been fine tuning this final part of the kinetic chain and have achieved good results by keeping a few tips in mind. Here's some pics to help describe the action. Pic 1 above First start by feeling the elbow lead the stroke. Let the racket lag behind you and allow the weight of the racket head to fall back to create a gap between the handle and the hypothenar muscles of the hand (ie the part of the palm close to the pinky finger). This is the part where a loose grip is critical. Notice the handle at this point is mostly gripped by the fingers and the fulcrum is the first webspace. (In reality, the gap is not as big as shown. I just wanted to emphasize the feel of it.) Pics 2, 3, 4 above As the elbow nears the end of its throwing action, feel the butt of the handle lead the stroke. This is important in order to throw the racket head forward. At the same time, tighten the grip to cause the handle to contact the hypothenars. You should feel the racket head suddenly accelerate and whip forward. Pic 5 above Strike the shuttle with forearm pronation and relax with follow through. NB: When practicing this action with dry swings, start with perhaps 30% power or speed initially to get the right feel. Aim for a smooth and effortless whipping stroke. There should be no pain. Don't strong arm it! Gradually increase the speed of the throwing action as you dial in and optimize the timing of the end of one joint of the kinetic chain while the next joint begins. Aim for a high pitched sound of the racket head cutting through the air, while remembering to keep it smooth and effortless. Once you get to 70-80% speed, you can start trying to hit shuttles. Hope it helps!
