Reverse Slice Smash

[Tactim]

I was just randomly watching the match between Xia Xuanze vs Bao Chunlai in the semis of the WC 2003. I came across a shot I never really considered nor seen before

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFCSZ_G0iEE&feature=related

See shots at 4:47 and 7:30 from Bao Chunlai

Some would call the first shot a fast drop, though the shot at 7:30 is a very clear smash.

I've always known about the reverse slice straight and cross drop, though I never really considered using that same technique for a straight smash as well. It seems to be quite deceptive though I've never seen any other pro use it except in this video. It must require an immense amount of racket head speed to brush the shuttle fast enough to make it into a smash because it's much easier to slice it regularly than doing a reverse slice when trying to put pace on the shuttle. I already have trouble enough doing a reverse slice drop haha, I can't imagine doing a smash with it just yet. I was quite impressed with the shot and I'm really curious why none of the pros use it more often when trying to change up their game.

Any thoughts from others on why this is? Have you seen another pro player do this besides BCL? Have you tried it yourself or seen another club player do this?

 

[JukUx]

This is what I do unintentionally -_- When I go up for a smash, i have the tendency to brush/slice the crap out of my smash because that's how I hit a fast drop. And its become a habit for me. A lot of times I don't get the shuttle cleanly @_@ To me, its so weird at times because I go for that one power smash and I end up hitting one of those sliced smashes done my BCL and then my opponents go WTF. I think a lot of pros do use it, I mean it helps vary the pace a lot, but then again I don't recall any pros hitting that kind of smash that fast l: