Smashing

[Oriental]

ok so i've been playing about half a year, decent foot work, endurance, and so on. but i was playing with my other friend, he play for like 3 years. anyways he tells me that when i smash or drop, i'm bending my elbow. i wasn't sure what this mean. can anyone tell me what he meant?

[Tsumaranai]

Could you provide a picture of your arm when you're about to smash? I think I know. Are you more waving the racket vertically, than swinging it with a follow through and pronating? (look at threads about pronation for reference)

[GunBlade008]

It means you're not extending your elbow when you smash which takes away the power of the smash.

[killersmash]

ok so i've been playing about half a year, decent foot work, endurance, and so on. but i was playing with my other friend, he play for like 3 years. anyways he tells me that when i smash or drop, i'm bending my elbow. i wasn't sure what this mean. can anyone tell me what he meant?
i get whatcha mean... u are taking the shuttle too low that is why you are bending your elbow.. like a fortune cat :D. take it from the highest point

[Mark A]

The best way I've found to improve any of my shots is to watch games on TV, find a particularly good example of the shot in question, and play them back in slow motion (or, better yet, watch the super slo-mo replay).

Thanks to this, both my smash and backhand drives have become noticeably better. Try and find a Fu Haifeng or Lin Dan smash and watch it frame by frame.

[UncleFester]

Where does your storke action stop? Left side, right side?

If your stroke ends at the same side as your racket arm, try to hit the shuttle over your head and as high as possible, then end the storke at the opposite side.

If you do this, just try to hit the shuttle higher.

[Monster]

With your current problem, do you have shots ended up on the nets when you smash ?

[DivingBirdie]

really, do a SEARCH! look out for smash/pronation/supination

[SystemicAnomaly]

... anyways he tells me that when i smash or drop, i'm bending my elbow. i wasn't sure what this mean. can anyone tell me what he meant?

You actually should be bending your elbow -- when you draw your racket back to set up for an overhead stroke. As you are ready to hit the shuttle, the racket head drops (behind your shoulder) and then reaches up to make contact -- with the arm full extended (no longer bent).

I come across the very same problem with my tennis students. I employ several progressive steps to rectify the problem. On step is to have the student perform the overhead motion without a ball (or shuttle). The motion if first done in slow motion in order to ensure that it is performed correctly (with a full extension at the contact point). The motion is then performed at a medium speed & progressively faster speeds.

Another step is to have the student perform an overhead stroke without a follow-thru -- the racket is stopped at the contact point to make sure that the arm is fully extended. I will ofen hold my own racket up to provide a stationary target -- the student performs the overhead motion and reaches up to touch the side (edge) of my racket. I hold my racket (target) up high enough so that they are forced extend their arm to make contact.

The next step is to have the student hit easy lifts with an overhead motion -- still w/o a follow-thru. Once this is mastered, then a short follow-thru can be added. If the student can consistenly hit propoer overhead shots in this manner, then they are allowed to use a fuller follow-thru if it is warranted.

I will alway preface a hitting or training session with warm-up strokes (without a ball or shuttle) -- first slow, then medium & fast swings. These are preformed to warm up the arm & body and also to make sure that proper techniques (biomechanics) are employed in stroke production.

Hopefully, such a regimen can correct your probelm -- it might take a while & a lot of practice to replace an old habit with a new one. If you try to correct it just by playing, it may never happen -- you really need to practice it in a non-game situation. Usually when we play, we tend to fall back on our old habits if the new ones have not yet become 2nd nature.

[Gollum]

Even at the moment of hitting, a slight bend in the elbow is good; we call this hitting at full relaxed reach (as opposed to a completely straight arm).

[Monster]

I agree with Gollum on the slight bend of the elbow. I feel weaker when I try too much to fully extend my arm and then swing. It's like I am trying to throw a punch to the floor with my arm fully extended compared to punching the floor with my elbow bent slightly. I think this is because we have to have our racket following through as opposed to stopping at point of contact. Stopping at pt of contact will be more powerful if your arms are all fully stretched out just like throwing a stone as far as possible. But because we want to throw the stone down (the bird has to be steep), bending elbow slightly seems more comfortable, at least to me.

Oriental,

I suspect you may have your smash shots getting into the net if you bend too much especially if your upper arm is not extended but appears to be lying along the axis of your shoulder. If you are tall, I guess it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

[SystemicAnomaly]

Even at the moment of hitting, a slight bend in the elbow is good; we call this hitting at full relaxed reach (as opposed to a completely straight arm).

I'll go along with this as well. You want your arm nearly fully-extended (almost straight) -- you do not want to lock out your elbow by hyper-extending the arm. (This holds true for tennis as well as badminton).