Let me elaborate opposition lifts from the net to near the tramlines. Would you do a straight smash down the tramline? And the rationale?
Well you haven't said whether it's lifted to your forehand or backhand side and whether you can reach it easily. Making the assumption that you can reach it easily and it's on your forehand side, if you choose to smash straight and the opponent hits it hard and fastish with a lift to your backhand corner, then it's the net player's shot usually*. If the reverse situation applies, then it's your shot. Would I do this? Assuming I have a smash that's good enough to give them some trouble, and have a well drilled partner, yes. Simply put, if you have the advantage, and the opponent isn't really dumb enough to fall for a fast drive, you only really have two alternatives, smash or drop. Against good players, cross courts for either of these shots aren't really recommended, so I either go for the middle of the court, or the tramline. In my case I prefer to go for the middle since it can cause confusion in the opponents as to who's shot it is, and there's a much higher safety margin, though I do go down the line a lot too for variety as much as anything else. Okay so assuming I've smashed down the line on my forehand side and I'm deep in the back of the forehand court. The opponent clears high to the backhand side, why is it my partner's? Simply because he is closer to where the shuttle will land, and it's easier for them to hit on the forehand side with good form. Actually as players become better I notice that it becomes much easier to move to backhand side than forehand when the shuttle is over your head. For me (assuming a good lift) since I'd be running almost straight sideways I'd have to take it on my backhand it'd be really difficult to take on forehand with good form. All this being said, this is pretty much standard Asian doubles rotation, I'm sure you'd have been taught this? *Obviously assuming you both have a reasonably high skill level.
f/hand side or b/hand side, no differentiation. To be honest, how easy is it for the opponent to play a cross court lift if receiving a smash down the tramlines - steep or horizontal for that matter? The principle being, the further the shuttle is to the side, the harder it is to play crosscourt returns..... hence a smash down the middle would be more susceptible to a cross court return....... (BTW, I don't do much doubles training but this is something different to what I thought previously)
Who takes the reply to the smash depends on you and your partner's attack formation, and whatever you've agreed: Sides Attack Straight replies are yours Cross court replies are your partners Channel Attack rearcourt replies are yours fore and mid-court replies are your partners Wedge Attack Straight mid and rear-court replies are yours Centre rearcourt replies are yours Net replies are your partners Centre midcourt and cross mid-court are you partners Cross rearcourt is .... up to you. A drive would be picked off by your partner, but a clear should give either of you time to get to it Cross court replies being harder is the main idea behind the channel attack, where both attacking players are on the same side of the court. I have reasonable success replying to smashes down the sides with crosscourt drives (not lifts). If it gets past the net player it's usually a winner or gets a weak reply. More often, I straight block, straight lift or straight drive
If I'm hitting from the back near a sideline, then the nearest side alley is my first choice for a target. First, it's the most direct route to get the shuttle to the floor, and, second, even in a side-by-side formation, most players will be stretched out to return it. My partner at the net, knowing that the lift is near the side, should shift in that direction to anticipate the most likely return: a straight-ahead block drop or a push block intended to pass my partner into the alley. He/she should still be in a pretty good position to handle a crosscourt block. Any kind of deep crosscourt return would be up to me to handle. Of course, in anticipating my smash direction, the defending team could shift their position towards the alley, making it easier to return this smash effectively. To be truly effective, the smash must have as steep a downward angle as possible.
If I do a lift from the net to the rear corner, I would expect (a) a smash if the opponent is able to get into position to do so or (b) a clear or (c) a cross court drop If given the opportunity, I would probably do a smash down the tramlines and expect a reply of a block to the net at the front to be taken by my partner. Anything else past midcourt is mine. (As Neil indicated the Wedge attack formation - net partner will cheat slightly to my side). Please note that I am assuming that your opponents would have adopted the side-side defense formation after lifting. If not, and they are still front/back, then you have a wide open channel down the tramlines for a winner
haw haw yes. i recommend..it.. smashing the sides...... anyway your partner is there.. so after you smash ur partner drops the net. Easy kill...
