haha as long as people do it then we're ok! Just watch the videos, copy EXACTLY, job done Easy right?
Latest update. I tried to imitate the move (I used to have a quite strong smash but seems to have some problems lately with the new racket), tried to relax, and now my timing is completely screwed up and I don't seem to know how to smash any more.
It takes time , maybe 2-3 weeks, TBH it is not much different from a normal smash apart from the supination of the wrist during the backswing , but it is worthy in the end.
So when people "over rotate" their body for a smash, does this mean that they have their right leg forward, instead of flat (with the rest of the body) during the point of contact? How should they correct this? When doing a scissor should they just briefly stop flat (where everything is aligned body/hips/legs) in mid air during smash contact point (birdie slightly in front of you) then continue moving right leg forward while midair? Or should they just start their stroke earlier so that when they hit the birdie for a smash, it will happen before their right leg reaches too far forward thus hitting the birdie when your body/hips/legs is aligned. Also if you hit the birdie when your body/shoulder/legs flat and aligned but the smash contact point in front of you, does this mean that you will be crunching your body a little bit during the contact point?
Good question I will do my best to explain. I do not think its too much of a problem if the right leg is slightly forwards during the hit, as long as the hips are pointing roughly forwards (aligned with the rest of the body). If the hips have turned as well, I would say they have probably over rotated. Ultimately, if someone is very accurate with their smashes, they probably don't need to worry too much. I think its normal to expect that the upper and lower bodies may actually rotate by different amounts by the end of a scissor kick. Your upper body will rotate roughly 90 degrees (from side on, to pointing roughly straight forwards). Your lower body (hips and legs) are much more likely to rotate somewhere between 90 and 180 degrees (feet almost swap places). This is fine. I would personally expect to see everything pointing forwards at contact, and then afterwards, the lower body continues to turn (as the upper body continues to lean forwards), landing with the non racket leg further behind to aid recovery. I think this is what you said about starting a little earlier - at contact, things should be aligned, however, afterwards, the rotation could continue if it feels natural to do so. For the last point, i'm not entirely sure what you mean :s To me, it sounds like you are leaning slightly forwards as you smash, which is probably fine (as long as you are not leaning backwards, then you should be ok). I hope that has answered some of your questions.
I have been having a lot of inconsistencies with my smashes and I will try and keep my upper body and hips aligned during the contact point and see what happens today during badminton! Yes what I meant was that your body would be leaning forward slightly because during the contact, your body and hips and aligned forward, but the contact point is also slightly in front of you. If you reach out for that contact point in front of you, you would either: rotate forward more (right arm/hips/body forward). Or keep everything aligned, but lean forward a bit. I'll let you know how things work for me =)
Do you think that coach Lee Jae's grip for smash and for clear, is unorthodox and that most pro players don't change their overhead grip for smashing to 'adjusted grip' that Lee advocates. I mean to say, is he unique in saying about this grip style, in smahsing or is it widely used in top level Badminton?
Good question that. I can't say I know a definitive answer, the reason being that the alteration (if any) is very small. I am of the opinion, that most players at a professional standard have not been taught a "smash grip" but probably change their grip slightly in some way to make the contact "in front" of the body easier. This comes naturally as it will with the tiny alterations required by pretty much every other stroke. Most strokes require slight variations on "standard" grips - it is a natural thing to do. For a smash: If the contact point and swing is correct, and the grip is nearly a basic grip (i am purposefully being vague about "nearly" - panhandling/slight panhandling is a bad way to go in my opinion), and the quality of the shot is good (power, accuracy, angle), then its ok in my book. I personally feel that the grip lee teaches is a little extreme. However, I like to bear in mind that he has been at the top of the game, and so have the people he has coached. Therefore, I think it wise to consider what he teaches carefully before disregarding it - be especially careful of making generalisations about what he teaches when only considering 2 minute videos. I have not had the pleasure of being his student, and unless I do I will not assume I know the whole story about what he teaches. So, I think the answer to your question is: I think they do make slight grip alterations for smashes (as they do for most strokes), but I am not sure that the grip is as extreme as Lee suggests, or whether they were explicitly "taught" to use that particular grip.
W.r.t to the Tony G video, look how far the racket head lags behind before he snaps the head through - you can see his grip is almost completely loose until the hitting point. Great technique.
very informing, thanks guys. I've been playing badminton for a year now while browsing this forum as anonymous so i could produce energy in my swing. After reading some of the information posted by fellow user, i went and put it test, i even recorded my self to see what was wrong with my smashes. Below is the few thing i was doing wrong: 1. Low contact point (i finally understand why ppl say my contact point is low) 2. Not turning my body/ rotating my upper arm and turning/ pulling my waist/hips. 3. Timing After practicing today i finally got to do a full power smash. I was surprised that i could generate a lot of power from rotating body. The smash should be one smooth motion. I even tried a stick smash/half smash and wow i felt like Lin dan (just jk) but seriously i produce a lot power. Even my jump smash are faster, by applying the same technique but additionally flicking my leg during the smash. Even without flicking , it's good. So thank you guys
played today and I didnt over supinate when preparing for the smash and just relax and let the racket drop down my back and then full pronation, my word it was hit with so much more venom than when I tried and over-force the supination stage. so thanks to a few of you who pointed that out to me on here ......
Yes I think when you load up for that full pronation from a relaxed state that last bit of supination comes naturally and loading up is not just bringing your racket up and in position. As described by Mark A the racket head lags behind because of the relaxation ... not because of "active" supination .
To complete the power issue within the smash, my question is: Is grip tightening recommended at the point of shuttle contact? Or a not so tight grip throughout the motion allowing the racket to swing in the palms? or a tight grip all throughout? This part is still confusing.
It's not an on/off switch. Just like rapid acceleration in the final half of the swing is required for a powerful smash, so you need an accelerated grip tightening starting from relaxed grip at the beginning of the swing to a tight solid grip at strike, which will maximally transfer power from your body and arm into the bird.
