Don't think that's a new technique. TH has been doing that for quite a while after his marriage and I think he is doing that too much lately. It shows how desperate he is to win a point directly by tight netshots. One or two years ago he was satisfied if his netshots cause the opponents to lift a bit short, but nowadays he has to win points directly from netshots.
TH smashes actually skim across the court surfaces, any baddy player can recognize how hard those smashes are. When I smash, the birdie would stay exactly it lands on the court and not go one inch further...hehehe!!! Hauge: On the humour side of things, when you posted "...LD has lost to Simon also which is a baby of TH and Sony... Rumours have it that TH has a son prior to marrying Amy, now we know that Simon is the son of not only TH but Sony as well....hehehe!!!
it could also be TH's lifestyle like too much nightlife, smoking and drinking. (based from some sources).