The basics

Prepare by raising your elbow and bending back your wrist. There should also be a slight bend at the elbow.

As you do this, change grip. Move towards a panhandle grip for forehands, and a thumb grip grip for backhands.

Keep the backswing compact. The racket head should stay in front of you, rather than passing behind your shoulders.

Hit the shuttle by straightening your arm at the elbow, and flicking your wrist forwards. Use a tapping action, so that the racket head stops after impact or rebounds backwards; in other words, try to stop the racket head from continuing forwards and hitting the net!

Using the forearm for power

Forearm rotation will help you get more power.

The idea is to begin your hitting action with the racket face angled somewhat sideways, and then twist your forearm so that you contact the shuttle with the racket strings facing directly forwards.

Here’s another way to think about it: when you are preparing to hit the shuttle, the outside edge of your racket frame should be slightly nearer the net than the inside edge. When you contact the shuttle, the racket should be square-on to the net.

(The outside edge is the edge nearer the side tramlines; the inside edge is the edge nearer the middle of the court.)

The technical, precise explanation

For backhands, pronate your forearm on the backswing and supinate it on the forwards swing (twist inwards, then twist outwards).

For foreands, supinate on the backswing and pronate on the forwards swing (twist outwards, then twist inwards).

When the shuttle is wide of you

When you are are reaching out sideways for a net kill, it’s harder to get the power. The problem here is that your elbow and wrist can’t help you as much, as they are pointing in the wrong direction (sideways, not forwards).

To compensate for this, you will need to use more forearm rotation. You’ll also need to adjust the angle of your grip, so that the racket faces forwards on impact (rather than out the side).

Hitting flat — a common error

If you don’t use forearm rotation, then you will be hitting with a flat racket face throughout the stroke. This will cause you to lose power.

Hitting flat is often connected with using your grip incorrectly. This is a very subtle point, but important.

Making your grip too extreme

I said earlier that you should move towards a panhandle grip for forehands, and a thumb grip for backhands. I chose those words carefully!

Notice what I didn’t say. I didn’t say you should use a panhandle or thumb grip. Why not?

When playing net kills, a common error is to prepare for the shot using a full thumb or panhandle grip — going all the way to these extremes. For example, a full thumb grip has the thumb placed directly along the back of the racket handle.

On the backhand side, for example, preparing with a full thumb grip restricts the rotation of the racket, and also restricts the interaction of thumb and fingers on the racket handle. As a result, you will use a flat bat hit, which is less powerful.

Establishing the final grip too early in the stroke

It’s quite likely that you will finish the stroke with a panhandle or thumb grip. But that doesn’t mean you should start with one.

The grip should change during the stroke, as you tighten your fingers and snap the racket handle into your palm. Done correctly, this action will help you use forearm rotation effectively.

On the forehand side, for example, players commonly establish a full panhandle grip early in the stroke, preventing them from using forearm rotation effectively. As a result, they rely too much on the wrist movement, which is weaker.