Hi everyone =) The problem, as the title suggests, is that none of my smashes seem effective. I play at a club level, I guess, and am improving slowly. My smashes are not exactly slow, but today everything came back - I couldn't put anything on the floor. I know in doubles to aim for a weak reply, so as to set up my partner for a net kill or a mid-court smash, but I still get 2 or 3 winning smashes normally. The contact today sounded pretty crisp, no hint of slicing and the course was on target - at their feet and racket shoulder/hip. Yet still, all of them came back and I couldn't get the weak reply. Now the question is, in the attempt to stop me from thinking the only way to succeed is to gain a faster smash - any tips for which I would welcome nonetheless, am I not mixing up my strategy enough? am I aiming for the wrong place? or are my smashes just not good enough? Alternatively, is this normal when playing people who are on a similar level, if not higher than you (Maybe I should have mentioned this first?). I'm just feeling a bit of frustration, because I love smashing and have always strove - unnecessarily - for a faster and more powerful smash, because it's fun! Thank you =)
You should definitely mix it up a bit. Since your playing at a club, I'm assuming that you play with the same group of people occasionally. Although you improve as you play, your club mates will learn your style of play and will become better at predicting what shot you will play. If you always smash, they will be prepared for it and will most probably return it. If you stick in a few drops and half smashes just to vary the pace, this can pull them out of position before you unleash your fury at them! When playing higher level people, you definitely do not want to smash all the time. If they are good, and you give an average smash they'll most likely give a good return and be able to switch from defence to offence. Waiting for a good chance to smash is better than wasting your energy smashing all the shots to have them come back at you.
Good advice above. An occasional drop or fake smash drop mixed in will make your smash more effective, especially at the higher level of play when most players can defend very well.
Consider hitting some slices to confuse them as well I couldn't help but notice you said placement was at their feet/at their racket hip. These are good places, but only if you are also hitting : directly between the two defenders REGULARLY - this is an excellent smash, and occasionally down the tramlines. The two you describe are body smashes, and they need to be mixed up with truly straight smashes every now and then, and lots of centre smashes to bring in your partner into the rally, and to create confusion in your opposition. Great advice above.
Cheers guys, thanks for the advice and I'll keep it in mind. The hard part is putting it into practice >_< I need to get it through my thick skull that I need to mix things up a bit/ a lot more and sit down and work on shot placement! I was playing today and the same thing happened, so it's a matter of fair urgency. The salt in the wounds today was the realisation that I have a pretty poor smash. It's above the club average, but it's not something that stands out - it just sounds loud because of my strings and because I'm the closest person to hear it XD. So shot placement work first and somehow adding extra power from torso rotation is next on the list. Although, I was watching a few old videos of my idols and it occurred to me that I would probably have a mental breakdown if I were to play at international level (not that I could) - nothing gets on the floor until one side *really* messes up. Fu Haifeng smashing and it all coming back at him.....
Smashing isn't impressive unfortunately what I find really impressive are the defensive capabilities and the movement of the professionals. For anyone out there who has got a massive smash, from the backline your smash means nothing against a world class defense
This is also something I came across. My smash isn't that strong too and can be returned quite easily if I smash from the backline. So don't be too disheartened. I think smashes from the backline can't break a defense that is truly ready, no matter how hard it is. another problem is the angle that is often too flat, not steep enough So I take another route by playing weak smashes and dropshots repeatedly with good placement and if there's a weak return to the middle court, that's when I smash hard. Another thing that should be worked on is your partner. If you smash from the backline, your partner should be further back, almost in the middle, so he can hit the smashes return. There are many occasions I see the front player only standing there and doing nothing to intercept the replies, some even have their racket down
Some very good points made above by others. I’ll just add a few of my own hopefully they will help. As you probably know by now, badminton is immensely technical and you will benefit from being really observant of both yourself and your opponents. Clearly with smashing, having good power does help but I would say accuracy with good placement is more effective. You will probably have noticed that most players will defend with a backhand. So the worst place to aim for is the area around their backhand side. Other than that, anywhere else will generally be less easy for them. As you already know, smashing to the hip/elbow area is usually the area to aim for on the body, but depending on where your opponent is positioned, try flattening your smash and aim for the racquet shoulder/chest area too. JJS used to do this a lot which often generates weak returns. Some have mentioned changing the pace of the rally by mixing a few dropshots in, but don’t just dropshot anywhere. It is worth noting how your opponents position their feet. If you draw a line between your opponent’s feet and then a perpendicular line from that line to the net, try to aim for somewhere on that line close to the net. This is the line that they will generally find most difficult to move to quickest. Some players defend by standing quite deep in their court, the Koreans nationals are renowned for this. It does have some benefits in that it makes aiming for the hip/elbow difficult and also slows down the shuttle at the point of contact. But clearly this is where mixing a few disguised drops are very effective. However if your opponents like to stand closer to the midcourt area, then occasionally you can surprise them by actually clearing it to the back behind them when you have the opportunity to smash. This is most effective closer to the net and although it can be a risky shot, particularly if your opponents are strong, the element of surprise can generate a weak return. Again look at the position of the feet, if they are side by side, lift it directly behind them (ideally slightly on the backhand side) and deep. If you are like me and like to smash all day long, try alternating your smashes from forehand to backhand side. This is a very common and effective tactic in XD against the lady as they generally have a weaker backhand. So to expose this, smash to the forehand then to the backhand in quick succession. Doing it the other way around is less effective. If you run out of ideas, it is useful to throw in some smashes down the middle, but you must know where the “middle” is, as your opponents will be moving around depending on where the shuttle is. I tend not to put everything into my smashes against good defenders, holding back on 100% full power smashes in case I’m in for a long rally. Instead focus on placement and preventing them playing a counterattack/winner.
^ No kidding... I already have trouble with aiming at the hip/elbow or down the middle, and now you want me to aim at an imaginary line that is perpendicular to another imaginary line?
I know how that feels You smash as hard as you can and get that feeling it's not going to be returned and the opponent just easily returns it slightly over the net and you're just staring at the opponent thinking he used some kind of magic trick. There are 3 ways of improving smashes 1) Power 2) steepness 3) accuracy Ways for 1) 1. Do some fitness 2. Get a head heavier racket(Some fitness would be needed to use it though) 3. Get a stiffer racket(Also would need fitness to handle the stiff shaft) Stiffer shafts will give you better energy transfer. If you have a weak wrist, arm you might be better off with a flexier shaft. 4. make sure you hit the sweetspot of your racket and make sure your racket face is flat when on impact with the shuttle. If your racket face is slightly tilted while on impact it won't give full power and it certainly won't smash where you intended to. 5. Smash ready position is important too. You need the right ready position to make your swing full potential. Let's say someone has his arms down before smashing and swings it from that position right before smashing. His swing speed won't be the same as when he has his arm up ready with the right position. Ways for 2) 1. Jump higher(fitness would help). The higher the impact point, the easier it is to make it go over the net and the steeper it will be. Now some might say steep smashes aren't useful because it's easier than returning smashes to the body. The steeeeeeep smash i'm talking about is the SUPER steep smash. The ones that hit the ground in front of the opponent. 2. Flat smashes would help if the opponent isn't comfortable returning smashes that come to the level of their body. But this would need some time for you to watch and learn the opponent. Not really an effective way if the opponent is someone you've never met before. Ways for 3) 1. Placement. Just like someone said above, "Average Shot with Good Placement > Good Shot with bad placement" One of my badminton buddies is really weak but he has superb placement(He literally sees my empty spot of the court all the time) and I can't even reach his smashes to receive it although his smashes aren't that fast. 2) Use a stiffer shaft for more accuracy Stiffer shafts give you more control. Another way but not really smashing. Just like people above said, surprise your opponent with some tricks such as jumping dropshots(Not sure what it's called), sliced dropshots etc I'm not a heavy smasher either but I go for the steep smash and dropshots to make the opponent off balance. ( Which works well) Honestly, smashing is never an effective way to get points unless you're a professional player that can easily make 200mph smashes from the back court. Even if you can pull off fast smashes, you're going to be tired after making 6-7 points unless you have fitness training like the pros do.
That's really hard, usually the line between the opponents feet is always pointed to the middle, so doing dropshots must be aimed to the very side, it risks for an "out" if we don't have enough accuracy. the middle is the safest way, mix dropshots with smashes (or even clears to beginners) to the middle to generate a weak return and confusion and then finish them off.
Is it? I think it's pretty variable. Most defenders have a preference for one foot (slightly) in front. So depending on which side they are defending, that line will either be pointing into court or out of court. But in practical terms, I think you're right. This tactic is intellectually appealing because I like applying geometry to badminton. But it's probably too fiddly to be practical. I would suggest simpler tactics that require less acute observation: Drop to the "middle", between the two players -- creates confusion Drop directly in front of your partner -- easiest for your partner to cover Straight drop towards the tramline -- pressures one player, but careful not to hit out ...and for the most part, avoid the cross-court drop. Except for fun.
