Role of shoulder in overhead swings?

Discussion in 'Techniques / Training' started by giant_q_tip, Jun 5, 2017.

  1. giant_q_tip

    giant_q_tip Regular Member

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    Hi guys,

    I understand that when performing an overhead swing, your upper arm (elbow), leads the forearm, which leads the wrist.

    My question is, throughout the sequence of motion, should I raise your shoulder to "reach" for the shuttle?

    I feel that if I use my shoulders, I have troubles with activating my forearms and wrist. The transfer of power throughout my arm feels diffused if I raise my shoulder to reach the shuttle. Maybe I'm using my shoulder too much, when the emphasis should be on the forearms?

    So in martial arts, I was taught that when you throw a punch, you should have your shoulder cover your chin from the side when your arm is extended. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but this tenses and solidifies my shoulder, and it sort of adds power to the punch.

    Here's a visual of the shoulder raised when punching - http://www.infighting.ca/media/0021.jpg

    Then the other day, I googled about serving in tennis, which has the same concept of having the elbow lead the swing. And I came across this video, which talks about having your shoulder near your chin, for power in forehand and backhand shots.



    So basically, should I apply this to my overhead shots in badminton? Maybe even other shots as well like the drives?

    Thanks in advance!
     
  2. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    Firstly no time for shoulder to be involved in drives because it's too fast and you don't need power from the shoulders anyway for drives.

    Secondly if you are talking of overhead clears then the shoulder action is just like am overhead throwing action. Don't need too much shoulder action since pronation and finger power can take the shuttle from baseline to baseline.

    Smash may benefit from shoulder input, for both power and angle. That's when you need to reach up a bit with the shoulder (like YYS or Ahsan).

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  3. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    Different martial arts teach different ways of punching!

    To be honest, trying to extrapolate other movements to badminton needs to be done with some caution.

    Look up slow motion videos of international badminton players on youtube. You can probably judge for yourself whether those players put their shoulder close to their chin.
     
  4. MSeeley

    MSeeley Regular Member

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    No - you do not need to worry about this. Contact the shuttle as high as you can physically reach it - then your shoulder will be doing the appropriate thing. Similar to the "kinetic chain" question last week - do not try to make your shoulder do anything - just reach your racket up as high as possible with the correct grip (without locking your elbow) and then you will find your shoulder has done the correct thing.

    As a final note: be careful of cues like "the elbow leads the swing". If you were to video me playing, then it might look like the elbow leads in some way. However, thats not what it feels like! All I do is control the racket so that the racket moves correctly. Just because a description of the way the body actually does move is accurate, doesn't make it a useful coaching cue. If I tried to "lead with the elbow" on my swing - it would probably look completely different because I am now consciously trying to do something. My goal should always be to make the racket hit the shuttle, such that the shuttle moves in the way you want.

    Good luck!
     
  5. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    It is still important to be aware of the elbow leading part of the swing, because it is

    1. critical to pronation and the whipping action
    2. critical to prevent pushing with shoulder and arm (as some like the OP would think as in punching)
    3. so quick and fleeting that it is almost invisible to an observer, even on slow mo replays.

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    #5 visor, Jun 6, 2017
    Last edited: Jun 6, 2017
  6. MSeeley

    MSeeley Regular Member

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    Yeah - fair point. Still - my warning is more for obsessing about coaching cues. Try to be more outcome focused e.g. take the shuttle high, hit it steep etc.
     
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