THE WRIST ACTION

They say that badminton is all wrist. This is, however, not an entirely accurate statement. As you can see from the previous post about the forehand clear, several parts of the body are involved: hips, shoulder, elbow, and wrist. All these are involved in the generation of power for your stroke. Former RP team coach Butch Oreta says that the notion that badminton is all wrist must have come from the experience during a fast-pace game where a player is not able to perform all the movements (shoulder and hip turn), leaving only the wrist to do the job.

That being said, wrist action, nevertheless, is important in having an effective stroke. The first video (shown below) shows the wrist action in a forehand clear. Notice the sideways movement of the wrist as opposed to the up-and-down movement of the wrist in the second video. The second video shows the panhandle grip (so-called because the hand mimics the handling of a frying pan) and this wrist movement is applied when hitting the birdie while floating just above the net in what is known as a net kill. The wrist action in the forehand clear starts with the dropping of the racquet head behind your back which provides the cocking action for maximum power, then followed by the uncocking of the wrist together with the full extension of the arm. Note that the stroke does not end with the racquet head at the top as shown on the video, this is just for demonstration purpose. In actual game the racquet head ends down for the follow-through, which is equally important for adding power to your shots.

The speed you impart to the racquet head with the movement of your wrist from its cocked to its uncocked position also determines the force and type of your shot. Reduce the speed of your racquet head to do a drop shot. Increase it for a deep clear, and do it even faster for a smash. As will be shown later, the mechanics of the forehand clear is the foundation for other high forehand strokes such as the smash and drop shots.