Hi guys, I have something to ask. When doing a backhand clear, do you strike the shuttle and snap your wrist (hence the racket) back, or do you just strike the shuttle and simply not follow through? I hope u understand what I mean. By the way I did a search on this particular question but couldn't find any answer in previous threads. K
If you are new to badminton, stop trying to do backhand clear. You will be better off just focusing on other part of your game. If you play long enough, you know you need proper coaching and dedication to learn proper backhand clear.
Here's an animated gif of LCW's backhand clear in slow mo from 2 angles. You can't do much follow thru because of the anatomy and physiology of the shoulder.
Thanks for your advice. I've been playing for about 9 years now. Instead of simply focusing on other parts of the game which I have, I now want to work on my backhand clear, which I think is an important stroke to be able to execute. Yes a coach is always the best choice but I don't see anything wrong asking here as well.
The follow thru is just simply allowing the muscles to completely relax right after supination into strike and letting the racket momentum carry the motion.
Thanks Visor. I understand that once we strike the shuttle, we immediately stop the racket and let it rebound back. We then 'follow through' to prepare for the next shot. What I face difficulty with is generating enough power to clear from baseline to baseline. I'm sure being able to develop such power will take time. A lot of other factors count as well: timing, shuttle in line with body, landing on the right foot when striking, etc.
Did you see the gif I posted above? Yes, lots of practice of the explosive timing of the snap. And also strangely enough, to remain relaxed at all times except for the short and explosive acceleration into strike when performing the shot.
I can't seem to view the image. Visor when u mention snap, u don't mean that one should literally snap the racket back right? What you mean is that upon striking, one immediately stops the racket and let it rebound back, correct?
Yes I know what you mean when u say strangely enough, one has to be relaxed as well. So far, for now, when I clear the shuttle from my baseline, I'm only able to clear it till the opponent's half court or 3/4 on better strikes. Gotta keep training and have a strong mental perseverance too.
Visor thanks for the animated gif. Yes you're right, we can't follow through much. I have been stopping my racket at the 12 o'clock position but I see LCW stopping it more like at the 2 o'clock position.
You don't need to snap back (but I understand it's more like a whipping action, so it may look like a snap back, but think of it as whipping it) , just allow the muscles to relax immediately after strike and the momentum will carry the motion. In that time, you can turn your body to recover faster to face the net.
Oh and in the final part of the kinetic chain transfer, there's also the all important but forgotten finger power too (ie grip tightening), which is hard to notice but is critical in getting that last bit of power and length. Finger power also requires a relaxed stroke.
There are plenty of good videos on Youtube about backhand techniques, Lee Jae Bok and Badminton England have nice instruction videos, check them out. Then as Visors says, practice practice practice. Good luck! Kindest regards, -Ajay- Quote of the Day We live in an age when pizza gets to your home before the police.
There are a few things here that I want to make a point of for anyone wanting to learn backhand clearing. 1) Grip: the grip you use isn't the traditional backhand grip with the thumb on the back of the racket, but rather a slight variation where the thumb is on the bevel 2) Torque: probably the most important. The biggest mistake I see players here and even in China make is watching international players and trying to copy their shots thinking they are just using their arm. In China, before you touch a shuttle you spend months and months simply swinging your racket until (among other things) you start to incorporate your torque into your swing. I remember FHF saying that the number one mistake that amateurs make is that they think they should swing from their arm to generate power and in doing so they injure themselves. In reality, you swing from your waist and your arm just follows through like a whip. Actually if you watch some of TH's backhand smashes you can see he starts with this right leg at 12:00 and twists his body quickly and hits the bird so that when his right foot lands again its somewhere near 6:00 3) Contact point: you can see in the GIF that LCW does not hit the bird flat on but instead cuts across the bird. This is the hardest thing for some people to fathom. You hit the bird as a slice but it comes out as a flat shot. This is because when you make contact with the bird it is flat, but the reason you start out as a slice is to try and hit the bird at a different vector than it is coming towards you. If you hit the bird flat on, you will have to push against the force that the bird already carries and add extra power on to the shuttle to make it fly, but if you hit it slightly on an angle you wont have to go against the power already on the bird and you can dedicate all your power to the flight of the shuttle. It is for the same reason that MD players don't block/drive/lift smashes by hitting the shuttle flat, but rather at a "top spin" type of angle. This way they don't have to directly push against the power that their opponent put into the smash
Bevel grip with thumb is also important for supination to occur effectively... otherwise extension alone is used. Never thought about the significance of imparting spin/slice into the shot. Makes sense though when I think about some more. That's why it's important to have high tensions so that the shuttle is not just hit on the cork only, but cork including the skirt so that slice/spin can occur. Tks for pointing out that detail, [MENTION=122958]Caffrey[/MENTION] !
https://youtu.be/-9B2XtqICFw?t=40 ^^ This is the Badminton England video mentioned earlier. The woman shows the importance of full body rotation, rather than just arm movement.
I never thought of the slice part too. Hard for me to picture it still. I'll have to practice more. Yes the grip tightening is important too. Thanks Visor. It's really a matter of practice - constant practice. Caffrey when u mention torque, (to put it simply) u mean the speed of the swing right? Racket man thanks for the video. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the technique the lady uses for the backhand clear is different from the guy's method. This is what I see: the lady has more of a snap back while the guy immediately stops the racket and simply allows it to rebound back.
Very much so. I forgot to mention that. I think the reason for this may be because males are generally stronger and will have more powerful arms, meaning that ,for the same shot, the man can afford to use less body rotation and just wrist strength to get the same result as the woman.