Badminton

Basic Strokes and Smashes in Badminton You Should Know

Playing Badminton is all about maneuvering your body and shot selection depending on how the shuttle flies and where it is aimed. Badminton strokes play a key role here.

Let’s take a look at some of the basic strokes and smashes in Badminton:

The Overhead Forehand stroke in Badminton

The overhead badminton forehand stroke is very common and is used most often in badminton. This stroke helps generate the most power.  

The power of a badminton forehand stroke comes from correct technique and not how much strength you exert into a swing. The larger the swing motion, the more momentum generated.

Hence, more power. However, keep in mind that the more you focus on power the more likely you get the technique wrong.

So let’s break down the forehand stroke:

  • Prepare

  • Aim

  • Follow Through.

Adopt the forehand grip and an attacking stance. Your body should face sideways, not the front. Move your racket arm towards the back and extend your chest to the widest extent possible to ensure you can do a full swing.

Lift up your non-racket arm as you stretch your racket arm towards the back. The non-racket arm plays an important role in maintaining body balance. Without good balance, there’s no way you can execute the correct technique for this stroke.

Your swing should be one smooth downward motion. Perform a full arm swing to generate maximum power. After you make contact with the shuttle, follow through with the swing and do not stop half way!

[pullquote]In other words, swing all the way down even after you’ve hit the shuttle. When you complete a full swing, your body should be facing the front. Your racket should end up in the lower front area of your body.[/pullquote]

Important Tips

  1. Avoid exerting too much strength into your forehand stroke. Too much power in your stroke will result in poor technique and loss of body balance.
  2. Complete a full swing to ensure maximum power in your stroke. Extend your chest to the widest extend for this purpose.
  3. Allow your racket to follow through.
  4. Your non-racket arm helps you maintain body balance and makes you feel more comfortable while performing your badminton swing.

The Overhead Backhand stroke in Badminton

The badminton backhand stroke is the Achilles heel for a lot of people, it’s a difficult stroke to execute and the technique, therefore, needs to be perfect.

It’s important to keep in mind that the backhand stroke for badminton is not like tennis or squash backhand! The correct technique to perform a badminton backhand stroke is more complicated than a tennis backhand.

The correct backhand technique is about generating power. Similar to the forehand, you make a complete backhand swing to generate the power to hit strong backhand shots.

The correct technique for a backhand stroke will allow you to hit the shuttle at your backhand area when it’s in mid-air. Therefore, the swinging pattern for badminton is very different. It’s only with the correct technique that you’ll be able to generate a lot of power as well as perform quality backhand shots.

Let’s take a look and break down the badminton backhand stroke into the following:

  • Prepare

  • Aim

  • Execute.

In order to perform a good badminton backhand stroke, use the backhand grip. Wrist action in badminton contributes a lot of power into your shots. Practice the correct way of flicking your wrist to generate the power.

[pullquote]Don’t hold your racket too tightly and don’t tense your arm muscles. When your muscles are too tense, your wrist will not be flexible to do a quick flick. [/pullquote]

You would be facing the front of the court at your initial position. From there, slowly turn your body facing to the back. Position yourself for a backhand.

While turning your body to the back, raise your racket to the position similar to the picture. Keep your racket arm as close as possible to your body. This is to ensure a complete backhand swing can be performed.

Just when you’re about to perform the backhand stroke, your body should already be facing the back of the court.

You’ll still have to complete your swing even after you hit the shuttle. Follow through with your racket. Following through helps with accuracy. It’s not so much for power, but accuracy.

Therefore, as you follow through with your swing, there’s no need to add more power or else you’ll lose balance.

Important Tips

  1. The badminton backhand stroke is not a tennis backhand.
  2. The flick of your wrist creates a powerful snapping motion. Do not hold your racket too tightly and do not tense your arm muscles so that your wrist is flexible to do the quick flick.
  3. The backhand swing should be one smooth and fast motion until your racket reaches all the way to the front. However, transfer all the power in the swing into your racket via the quick snapping motion of your
    wrist.

The Underarm Forehand stroke in Badminton

The correct badminton underarm forehand swing pattern is important if you want to hit quality badminton shots and maintain good body balance. This stroke does not require a lot of strength.

Since underarm strokes are usually performed at the front of the court, not much strength is needed to perform a baseline clear.

[pullquote]Your wrist action plays an important role in contributing to the power in your badminton underarm forehand. [/pullquote]

Gently flick your wrist towards the direction you want the shuttle to fly. It’s important that you use the forehand grip to perform an underarm forehand stroke. Make sure you do not hold your racket too tightly or you’ll limit the movement of your wrist.

As you lunge forward, raise your racket to the height where you’re going to hit the shuttle. When you’re about to commence your swing motion, your dominant leg should be at the front, supporting your body weight.

As you’re about to hit the shuttle, flick your wrist to generate power. However, only perform a gentle flick of your wrist or else you might hit the shuttle the shuttle long. As you hit the shuttle, bend your body slightly forward to make sure you maintain body balance.

[pullquote]After you hit the shuttle, allow your racket to follow through. Continue your swing motion even after you hit the shuttle. This does not help with power but enables a better quality flight trajectory of the shuttle. [/pullquote]

Besides, following through after hitting the shuttle increases the accuracy of your shot. 

Important Tips

  1. Do not exert too much strength into your underarm forehand stroke. Gently perform an underarm swing using the correct. Adopt the badminton forehand grip. Also, do not grip your racket too tightly so that your wrist is flexible to mobilize.
  2. Follow through with your swing, even after hitting the shuttle. This is important to create a better quality flight trajectory of the shuttle.

The Underarm Backhand stroke in Badminton

The badminton underarm backhand stroke is fairly easy to perform compared to other badminton strokes. This stroke is usually performed when your opponent hits a badminton drop shot to your backhand area at the front of the court. You don’t need to swing too hard for an underarm stroke.

A gentle underarm swing is sufficient to send the shuttle right to the back of the court. Most of the power of this stroke comes from the flick of your wrist. But you don’t need a strong flick to send the shuttle to your opponent’s baseline.

Since it’s fairly easy to produce power to hit a high clear, I find it’s not necessary to switch to a backhand grip. Use the forehand grip to perform a badminton underarm backhand stroke. However, remember not to grip your racket too tightly or else your wrist action is limited.

Swing upwards. Ensure that you complete your swing. This means that upon contact with the shuttle, continue with the swinging motion.

[pullquote]Just before your racket makes contact with the shuttle, flick your wrist to generate the power for your underarm stroke. At the same time, follow through with your swing even after you hit the shuttle.[/pullquote]

Important Tips

  1. Do not exert too much strength into your underarm backhand swing. Gently swing your racket using the correct technique and gently flick your wrist upon making contact with the shuttle.
  2. Allow the racket to follow through to enable better flight trajectory of the shuttle

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Tags: Badminton
Varun Kishore

I am a football crazy person and I eat, sleep, breathe football. A die-hard Arsenal fan with a passion for writing on football and sports in general. For me football is not just a game, it's a way of life.