I've seen players whose hands not seem to move much if at all, yet the shuttle flies very far. Is this mainly wrist strength, or is it technique? How do I practice this?
Its a combination of things. Good technique means imparting all of your strength into the shuttle. Combine this with strong fingers and you can easily hit long distances with very little movement. Its about focusing your strength and imparting it into the shuttle.
Agree. Maximal recruitment of all the right muscles at the right time on the shuttle, along with core muscles usage, will result in effortless power.
I guess what I'm asking is how to do this. Do I need a very strong wrist/finger or is my average wrist/finger enough to do it as long as I have the right technique. If not then clearly I have to train the wrist first before training for the technique.
Look up Paul Stewart's armchair exercise videos. But to be sure, you don't need a powerful forearm, just focused power. After all, the shuttle is only a measly 5g. https://www.google.ca/search?q=Paul...ved=0ahUKEwiczae72L3JAhUPzWMKHUGLCk8Q_AUICCgC
Focus on telling your brain to control your body to release the reguired amount of energy at the point of impact, Relax muscle and grip prior to impact are important. .
I have explained how to do this in a previous thread. Prizes for anyone who knows how to find old threads! You do not need exceptional wrist strength. Finger strength is more important. Tell me: can you hit a full court backhand clear? Yes, then you don't need any more strength. No? Then you may need to develop more strength. To be perfectly honest, you just need to train the technique - this will train your strength in turn as you go. But far more important than all this is just practice and belief - walk up to the shuttle and smack it hard using just your fingers (don't swing your arm too much - you can extend the elbow slightly if it helps). Your goal should be to stop the racket at the point of contact so there is no follow through. Note: whilst this is your goal, it will not actually happen - its just a mental tool to get you to focus all your strength into the hit. edit: to develop finger strength, squeeze a tennis ball as hard as you possibly can for 5 minutes. Every time you realize you are slacking, squeeze it harder again.
i don't think that's the right way to think about it. yes, the shuttle is 5g, but we also have a 90g racket to swing. and we are trying to accelerate it up to 100-200mph. speed matters into the calculation, and to get to that speed, it require a lot of force.
Yes, you're right. It's not how hard you hit, but how fast you hit. There's a kinetics formula (I can't locate it at the moment) that states that the outgoing projectile speed (ie shuttle) when hit will be exactly double the speed of the object hitting it (ie racket head).
This is so correct... I completely agree to each statement mentioned here.finger power is so important to improve your game. The shorter the swing of the racket, greater the chances of confusing opponents.
Honestly, you may want to learn how to pronate and supinate before starts using your wrist. I've read somewhere that the wrist can't be strenghten. But well, the idea is that you shouldn't rely heavily on wrist because the power does not come 100% from the wrist. It's just part of it. Forearms supination and pronation is what gives you most power in every shot.
Right... The wrist is a joint. Saying 'strengthen your wrist' is like saying 'strengthen your knee'. It doesn't really make sense when you think about it. But when people say this, their intended meaning is that you strengthen the surrounding muscles (normally forearm and quads, respectively.)
I think I read somewhere in the Indonesian forum that you can strengthen muscle by squeezing paper (any kind) into a ball (He said a golf Ball is the aim). He then said Bruce Lee used this as his main training to strengthen muscles surrounding his wrist. Don't know If it's true though