Refer to the picture below. Would you jump straight up to jump smash or like the second picture, jump alittle bit towards the shuttlecock.
Usually I will do straight up jump smash for half court clear. or backward jump(jump from base position or 3 quarter of court to the rear court) smash while trying to intercept a punch clear or a somewhat weak push(shuttle going slightly upward) to the rear court.
Given the chance, i would opt for the second as the forward momentum would give the smash just a little more power.
Given the choice I would go for the first, more control in my opinion. Moving towards a moving shuttle makes it that little bit harder to judge everything, making it more likely you'd miss hit. After all you want to be in position when hitting a normal shot, so why would you want to be moving in mid air and trying to hit a shuttle. Sounds like a recipe for ending up on the floor to me! It looks as though Peter Rasmussen is going straight up in this instructional video: [video=youtube;HIbGK0-iQGA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIbGK0-iQGA[/video] And here is another one also by Peter Rasmussen to examine: [video=youtube;MyadwjS9HdI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyadwjS9HdI&feature=fvw[/video] Hope that helps. Personally I am still trying to learn the correct jump smash technique from these two videos.
Ideally, you should jump slightly forwards into the shuttle - if you have the time. Most of the time, as kwun said, you have to go where you need to go, however, ideally jump forwards into the shot. Watch the first video again. Watch his jump smashes when he starts further back in the court at 4:50. You will see a LOT of his smashes at this point are going forwards into the court, whereas some of them are only going upwards. If you are not able to jump forwards into the shot, you must make sure as peter said in the video, that you are leaning forwards as and after you hit. Even if you are jumping backwards, you can still lean your body forwards. Hope that helps Matt
Forwards momentum going into the shuttle adding SOME power to the stroke. It CAN give a better view of the shuttle and your opponents court by being further behind the shuttle, allowing you to look forwards more, and see more in your peripheral vision. Being further behind the shuttle and moving forwards, also means you will land further into the court, allowing you to cover the next shot more effectively, rather than being stranded at the back. In singles, jumping forwards sets you up to rush forwards to the net to look for the net kill. I must stress, that it is RARE that you get the chance to move forwards into the jump smash, and you will see MANY professionals who do NOT jump that way. This is not because they choose NOT to, but because they must do anything they can to take the shuttle as early as possible, against opponents whoa re unimaginably quick and strong. Therefore, they don't always have the TIME to jump forwards. Look at this video of lin dan and lee chong wei. Look at the rally starting at 2:58. It ends with a lin dan jump smash where he has plenty of time. He jumps forwards into the shuttle. Not FAR forwards, but forwards nonetheless. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00EO-cBr6CU Does that answer your question?
both can be used, it depends on situations and most of the time we have no choice! more important is get the bird down fast. straight one normally sharper smash unless you cover court fast enough. if you have time and the bird is too straight on top of you, all you need to do is have your right foot one step backward (right hander) and you should have a clearer view where to smash and a more powerful one! i think the last 2 lines is what you are looking for!
My fav position is i moved back to the baseline , the shutter is high up above me. I time myself and jump up hit the shutter. [video=youtube;cIYbsGYT4m4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIYbsGYT4m4[/video]
Taufik Hidayat fires a 305kph jump smash [video=youtube;5r590F7mRTw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r590F7mRTw[/video]