Badminton Strokes

Badminton Strokes

It's very important to perform your badminton strokes correctly in order to execute quality badminton shots.

Remember, you must master these basic strokes in order to play like a pro!

Basically a stroke is the swing motion of your racket arm. It is not a badminton shot. However you'll need to perform these strokes to hit certain shots.

The power of any badminton shot comes from how well you perform your  strokes (swing motion). A beginner should first learn how to perform the correct strokes.

Why is it important to perform the correct strokes from the start?

It is impossible to hit strong backhand shots in badminton if you perform the wrong backhand stroke.

Let's look at an example...

John did not learn the correct badminton backhand stroke and have been hitting backhands using 'his own style' for several years.

After few years of wrong backhand stroke technique, John finds it difficult to 're-learn' the correct backhand stroke technique. He is already too used to the wrong technique.He has developed a bad habit!

Why are bad habits BAD in badminton?

1. It restricts you from performing quality badminton shots.
2. Bad habits often become your weakness. You perform your overhead backhand strokes wrongly. There is no way you could hit a backhand clear to the baseline. The only shot you can do is a straight backhand drop. Your opponent knows about it. After hitting the shuttle to your backhand area, your opponent rush to the forecourt and waits for your drop shot. 

Once you have developed the habit of performing your strokes, it's very difficult to change the way you perform these strokes in the future. Therefore, it's important that you learn the correct strokes right from the start (all types of strokes, not only the backhand.

If you think you have 'bad habits', it is never too late. You'll find some useful guides on badminton strokes below to help you become a better a player. Of course, practice is always the key to perfection. 

The basic strokes are:

• Overhead Forehand Stroke
• Overhead Backhand Stroke
• Underarm Forehand Stroke
• Underarm Backhand Stroke

When the shuttle flies towards a particular area around your body, you'll need to use different strokes to hit the shuttle. The picture above shows you the 4 different areas around your body where you're required to use the 4 different badminton strokes to return the shuttle.

Once you learn how to perform these basic strokes, you can then use these strokes to hit all types of shots in badminton; Clear, Drop and Smash.