LEARNING AND TRAINING

REMEMBERShots in front court and at the net on backhand side

are easier to learn and to play. Always start nice and easy with the strokes to control the shuttle flight.

Concentrate on the correct movement (footwork and racquet) and not so much on the quality of the shot. Play a very soft shot when you play a net return (net-play). The movement for the lift is similar to the high serve. When the movement is stabilized increase racquet speed and shot quality.

Almost all players use shorter grip for front-court shots. Try to take the shuttle early when hitting in front-court area. When moving to the shot have your racquet already in front and end your footwork with a lunge of your racquet-foot.

DID YOU KNOW

The first All-England championship for men was held in 1899 and in 1900 the pioneer tournament for women was arranged. These, however, were regarded as "unofficial" and 1904 marked the beginning of the official All-England matches.

GRIP

OVERVIEWThe racquet is the most important equipment

to play badminton. It is the extension of the player’s arm and

hand. The player will hold the racquet such that it will not fall out of his hand after a hard hit shot.

The player also grips the racquet loose and flexible enough to move before the stroke so that he can turn the racquet and move it quickly into different grip positions.

UNIVERSAL ‘V’ GRIP The racquet head is the extension of the

palm of the player’s hand. It is similar to - 6 – o-clock position, like

on a watch. (Fig 3 and 3a). The racquet head points in 90° to the

floor. The smaller side of the handle is up. The racquet is hold in the middle of the

handle and lies on the fingers. There is a ‘V’ between index-finger and

the thumb. (see 4). The thumb is on the wider side of the

handle opposite side of the palm. Forearm and racquet should always show

an angle of 130° – 140°. Refer fig 1 and 2. The grip is loose <not tight> and there is

free space between the palm and the handle of the grip. The handle is in the fingers not in the palm of the hand.

The end of the racquet handle is slightly out of the palm.

BACKHAND GRIP Hold the racquet with the

universal V-Grip – Ref Fig 1 - Turn the racquet with the

fingers in your hand to the right side until the thumb is on the wide side of the handle. Ref Fig 2

Pictures 3 and 4 show the backhand grip.

In backhand shots the thumb presses down on the wide side of the handle to add more power to the shots.

When the arm is stretched the racquet shows like ‘9.15 hrs’ (‘2.45 hrs’) on the watch. Ref 4a.

REMEMBERIn backhand shots,

the wrist should always be cocked back towards the back of your hand.

This grip is mostly for hard (powerful) shots on the backhand side.

Forearm and racquet should always show an angle of 120° - 130° when hitting back-hand.

DID YOU KNOW

In 10th century, a game named Battledore and Shuttlecock was played in china, Japan, India and Greece. This is a game where you use the Battledore (a paddle) to hit the Shuttlecock back and forth.