If you look at videos of good players smashing when winding up (elbow in front, racket cocked back)most of their rackets will point outwards to the right. However, sometimes players will also cock their racket straight behind their shoulder. Which way should it be? I thought it could have been cross-court but a lot of the people who cock the racket to the right, smash straight.
The racket moves in various ways at different times during the movement, and in different shots, depending on where the player is relative to the shuttle. You should link to a video, specify the timeframe in the video that you are referring to, and include a screenshot showing exactly what you mean re racket position. In windows you can use snippy to get a screenshot in the clipboard and paste it onto imgur.com and link to it here.
In this position, you can see his racket wind up to the right of his body. I cannot snap an exact picture of anyone else (videos too fast), but their cock up position appears to be straight behind the shoulder. I do not know where I should wind up.
On youtube there is a button that looks like a star you can click that and choose playback speed and choose 0.25x So, 1/4 of speed so you see it in slow motion. This image shows where that button is. Also, I suggest you take demonstrations with a pinch of salt and look at actual games. In your search terms I suggest you include something like nice angle, or good angle, so you see a good view uploaded that dosen't have the camera swiveling all over the place. In this video he is actually hitting a shuttle rather than just saying what he thinks he does when he hits a shuttle.. Lots of Badminton coaches when they demonstrate things, often say one thing and do something else.. (For whatever reason!).. so you need to see them hitting a shuttle and preferably in a game but even outside of a game, at least hitting it. You can see a faint outline of his racket Also, always make clear which video you got your screenshot from, and the timeframe. You didn't in your last post. He does lift the elbow high here letting the racket point very downwards. In this one below, he says "high elbow! but he doesn't raise his elbow high and the racket doesn't point down.. That demonstration was probably not an accurate one. In these demonstrations he's intendeding to demonstrate an overhead smash. Sometimes on an overhead the elbow isn't brought high, that's when the shuttle is lower. This would normally be when the shuttle is wide. and then the arm is extended more outwards than upwards. And near the beginning of the video a video where he hits a shuttle. you see as his elbow points up to reach the shuttle high, his racket points down.
It does not matter actually, you don't consciously put your racket on way or another, you just throw your elbow while having a relaxed grip. Your forearm will supinate and your racket will point behind you, sometimes towards 'outside', sometimes towards the inside depending on your elbow movement, but it's not a conscious move
Well, what you are calling "throw your elbow", might not be a conscious move either. And having a grip at the correct range of relaxedness/tightness (which you call having a relaxed grip), might not be a conscious move either.
these are good screenshots of VA demonstrating that pictures also need to be taken in context. During the commentary, he will say keep the elbow up if he talking about taking the shuttle higher and emphasise that. In the picture with the elbow lower, it looks like he is more focussing his narration on the hip and body movement and he is looking horizontally forward to the camera.
