The Connection between Math and Badminton #2: Timing and Place for Hitting

Subtitle: Improve your hitting power, accuracy and control

In the sport of badminton, it’s very important to be able to hit well with both forehand and backhand strokes, and make all the shots, such as defensive clears, attacking clears, smashes and drops. How to master these techniques is the question most badminton aficionados are pondering.

A beautiful shot is a shot that has the right power, speed and is right on target. When watching professionals or even very good amateur players play a game, everyone else would wish that he/she has the level of skill that the people on the court have. If you go ask a good playing how can you improve your strokes, the person would most likely tell you the obvious things like hold the racket correctly, use the correct motion and know the correct timing etc. These are all good advices but they are all fairly vague. Is there something that we can understand immediately that can used to improve our hitting? Yes there is, and it again involves mathematics.

For those who have taken relatively high level math, the equation for a straight line in space shouldn’t look too strange. The formula is:
(X – X’) / l = (Y – Y’) / m = (Z – Z’)/ n

While a flat plane in space can represented by the following formula:
Ax + By + Cz + D = 0

For a the line to travel straight through the plane, the following conditions must be met:
l / A = m / B = n / C

Let’s say that the hitting surface of the racket is the plane in space and the instantaneous direction of the birdie is the straight line and picture it in you head. You should be able to figure out that the maximum force is delivered if the racket hits the bird head on (The plane being perpendicular to the line). This is the secret for hitting most type of power shots and you’ll get the most distance and control for the amount of work you do by hitting the bird head on with the sweet spot of your racket.

Now that you know the secret to getting good hits, the question is how can you translate this knowledge into actual good shots on the court. You can do it by keeping this knowledge in mind every time you hit the bird and spend lots of the practicing and perfecting your stroke. When you get to the point when your whole body is coordinated, and you are able to get to the right position, maintain the perfect posture and know when the bird will arrive at the sweet spot, then you would have reached a very high level of skill in badminton.

I suggest to you that in your spare time, spend some time in front of a mirror practicing your hitting posture. You don’t even need a racket for this exercise; you just have to pretend that you are holding the racket. Try to mimic the posture of the instructors on badminton videos and such, and check your posture every so often to make sure it’s correct. Repeat over and over so that the correct hitting posture will be etched inside your mind and the next time you play a game the right posture would be the instinctive reaction.

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