If you’ve read the previous post, you should be quite familiar with the backhand drive in badminton. Drives are flat strokes and usually directed from the midcourt to the opponent’s midcourt area or from midcourt to rear court area. These can be played either straight or diagonally.

We’ll now explore the forehand drive, a stroke that can help you return a smash by moving from a defensive position to an offensive position. While the technique is similar to the backhand drive, there are some key differences that you need to pay attention to. Read on to know more.

Grip and Technique

To learn how to execute this drive, start with the grip on the racquet. Use a basic grip if the shuttle is to one side of your body. Adjust to a pan-handle grip if you’re hitting the shuttle in front of the body. Start with a backswing. Raise and bend your elbow, rotate the upper and lower arm outwards and bend your wrist. For the forward swing, straighten your elbow while rotating your upper and lower arm inwards. Hit the shuttle, follow-through and get back to the ready position.

Perfecting Your Drive

The only way to improve your drive and technique is of course to practise, practise, and then practise some more. There are three exercises that can help you in this. The first involves hitting a suspended shuttle with the forehand drive action. Next, try hitting the shuttle continuously against a wall with the same forehand drive action. And for the final exercise, find a sparring partner and drive the shuttle to each other.

Even professional badminton players spend hours in practice, fine tuning every movement and honing their skills to perfection. As you continue on this journey to learn badminton, you’ll find your game steadily improving with time. Coming up next is the forehand net lift. Keep reading and learning.