Deciding whether to clear or smash I've been wondering about this lately. If your opponent sends the shuttle high and far, will you clear it or smash it? I'll use drop-shots sometimes, but sometimes I get confused whether to clear or smash. Any tips? BTW, Sorry if this has been discussed before.
Do both of the following 1. Check the position of your opponent - if he/she is close to 'ready position', it should be wise to return it high if you play singles. Otherwise, doubles, try to go on the offensive. 2. Check your own position. Don't drop if your opponent is ready for your reply, do a only smash if he/she is out of position. Rule of thumb is that you don't make things difficult for yourself. You should only smash when the opportunity arises, not all the time when the shuttle is high. I often play against one student who does that and I catch him on the counter perhaps 90% of the time because he didn't do it when I am vulnerable. If it's high to the baseline, I'd suggest returning high to his/her backhand baseline. If it's mid-court, get ready to leap and kill the bird! To summarize : check your opponent's position, check your own. Don't create trouble for yourself by putting in shots that could make your chase around too much. At least that's what a good player in my 'kaki' taught me...
simple answers and complex answers. Assume it is a very good clear that forces you to the backlines. A smash will lose its power over such a distance, therefore difficult to beat opponent on sheer power alone. Also a smash from baseline will be flatter, you opponent can receive this as well. therefore consider a smash as a move to create a surprise for the opponent - to vary the gameplay. Be aware that used often, the opponent will simply wait for you to smash and take advantage of it. Drops I often think of 5 areas to aim to, sides before and past the service line to the sides, and to the middle. Why two different points at the side? Because it makes the opponent sometimes run a bit more, or run a bit less. Makes the opponent keep changing length of stride and sometimes puts them off. why middle? some singles players practice playing and running to the corners so much, they are not used to a shot in the middle. they may then make a mistake on the return! Clears - good option. should be straightforward to play a good shot. Some opponents make more mistakes when made to wait for a clear to drop. These may be the 'fast' tyoe player. At least, you should aim for the clear to be of good quality to the back of the court. The further back it goes, the more chance of putting the opponent under pressure. An excellent player of this sort is Susi Susanti. Extremely good clears - looks boring but highly effective. In general, in the situation stated, i would usually reply with a clear. Perhaps a ratio of 2 or 3 clears to one dropshot. Once there is a short clear played by the opponent, this is the time to attack.
depends on how far back, where the opponent is, etc. in singles, it's usually a rally of clears back and forth and try to unbalance your opponent so I guess I usually clear instead and only smash when I am absolutely confident that the opponent will not be able to make a good return.
Thanks for your replies. Actually I may be a little like Wilfred's student, I usually smash a lot. Which is why I started this thread (duh!). But when I do clear, it's usually from baseline to baseline, but sometimes I make the mistake of smashing it. I've noticed that if my opponent is good, he/she will usually do net-play, which is how they usually score a few points in a row. If my opponent and I clear a few times, what will happen if I suddenly do a drop-shot? Good or bad move? And lately I've been doing more clears, sometimes my opponents just swing... and MISS it! Is it because he/she is under pressure? Or just plain no good? I've never ever made such a mistake before, whenever my opponent clears I'll usually be able to hit it back without much trouble. Even with the racquet cover, I'll be able to hit clears, though from the middle of the court to the baseline, not from baseline to baseline. Is it because I'm not feeling pressured? Or something else?
That depends. If he/she is in a good position to return your offensive, I'd say you better watch out or you'd be running from one end of the court to the other (or worst still, cross court). Check out their position first. Ahh... a bad day I gues...
with every rally of the clear, you keep your opponent guessing and if you ever see him or her staying back a little instead of getting back to position, drop them and test their speed. same thing, if you see your opponent cheating off one side more than the other, smash down the line and see how they react.
haw ahw for me? if doubles i will lob back to him again and continue until he changes direction or drops. For singles if i cant reach in time a drop is only realistic rather then a half court lob. Try a fast drop to the centre of the side court. ~ * Remember..... Don't Smash when you're out of position.
haha yes. that kind of shot is hard to take as it requires u to go all the way back to take it. my club has this ex national player who has string wrist work.. move a little and he will hit all the way back.. stay there and he will drop. i suggest u have to smash or hit to the centre side line to keep him off balance but. nonetheless.... constantly presssuring him.
Also a good one : an accurate down the sideline drive. This is a most understated shot in doubles - understated as in often forgotten or least thought about. But since that it is often used to take advantage of that 30cm or so extra 'in area' at the sides which people always ignore (out for singles), I don't know if it helps in singles. But you can try though, I remember this being Zhao Jian Hua's (or was it Ardy Wiranata?) favourite target zone. The only catch is that you have to be very accurate - a minute targetting error will almost always be off. But if you can do it well, it can be a potent weapon! (the sideline drives, I mean). I have to admit that I haven't seen many singles players (the non IBF players...) who can do this well.
I do it sometimes but of course not on the lines. Just nearby, only do it when the person is on the other side of the court.
Wow, I'm surprised only Matt was the only one that asked for "doubles or singles?" Joanne, I'm not sure how advanced you are but the answer varies for singles and doubles and it may even vary depending on your height, endurance, power, etc. Also, take into account: a) the opponent's defense if you choose to smash it b) the opponent's offense if you choose to clear it c) the opponent's positioning if you choose to smash or clear 1) Probably the general rule in both singles and doubles is to refrain from a "full power" smash if the shuttle gets behind your body. There may be a few exceptions to this though, depending on your ability and the opponent's positioning, but this is probably a good rule of thumb to follow in general. However, assuming you can hit the shuttle in front of your body and your smash has decent power, this is my opinion from 2) to 7): 2) In doubles, assuming that your partner is adept at covering the net and is capable of cutting off shots (ie. is a more advanced doubles player), you may want to attempt a smash it in an attempt to set your partner up. 3) In doubles, if at least one of the opponent has very poor defense and you can earn points off this opponent, smash at him/her to take advantage of the situation. 4) In doubles, think twice about smashing if the opponent clears it deep to the very corner. The reason is, if they defend it and clear/drive it back to the opposite corner over/past your partner, you are in trouble. In advance badminton, the net player may sometime cover the 3rd corner for you; thus, your choice of smashing it when they clear it to a corner should take into account the way your partner moves. In this case, perhaps you may want to attempt a drop shot or half smash to retain the offensive and to give yourself time to move back into position. 5) In doubles, if one of your opponent's base is abnormally too far forward, you may want to attempt an attack clear at him/her to get the shuttle behind their body. If your attack clear is done correctly and the shuttle gets behind their body, your opponent will probably be forced to clear it back and you maintain the offensive. If they drop it, watch for the drop and go for the kill if possible. 6) In singles, a popular rule that many singles players follow is to refrain from a "full power" smash when the shuttle is cleared to the back rectangular box area (the area between the doubles and singles service line). I think of this as a generality and in general, it is a good rule to follow but there are good reasons to break it depending on the circumstance. If you are tall, have good endurance, have a steep and powerful smash, and your opponent doesn't have good defense, then you may want to break this rule. Similarly, if your opponent is off balance, you may want to break this rule. There are other circumstances where it is logical to break this rule. 7) Finally, above all, get your smash as steep as possible. Although sometimes, you can catch the opponent off guard with a flatter smash, most opponents with good defense will make mince meat out of you if you smash it flat.
Whether it is singles or doubles, never do the same thing all the time. The more predictable you are the easier you are to beat. But, this does not mean always do something different. A little variety is all it needs. So maybe clear, clear, clear, drop, clear, clear, smash, clear, clear, clear... NOT clear, smash, drop, clear, smash, drop enough variety so that your opponent knows that you have the capability to play different shots and will always be wondering which shot it will be.
As i was taught, it also depends on the persons stature ( im talking about singles) Logically, if the opponent is tall, he will be able to cover the sides very well, but not as well with front and back. As for the shorter, he can get front and back better than sides. Thats how i determine when to use drop and clear method, or drive and smash to sides method. I know that ther will be instances where they may be good at different things, and not what i expect, but i just adapt. Also, i try to minimize the amount of smashing to be a terminating or winning shot, and less of placement
clear/smash A while ago a mate of mine who's also a coach played me at singles. I got reasonable scores (8 ish in most games)...but afterwards he showed me I should be playing more attacking clears (that go to the back but with as little height as possible). I've now pretty much adopted his game of blocking and attacking clears, smashing only when I have a half court (and I mean literally half the court length) lift. It's not an attacking style in the sense of hitting down a lot but it's extremely effective. So I'd say if you're on balance try an attacking clear if it's a decent length, and only smash if it's really short. T
Re: Deciding whether to clear or smash In my games I usually don't clear that much cause I have a weak, high, short clear. So I suggest you try to keep smashing then you suddenly use a clear but with the same stroke. Getting deceptive can turn to your advantage you know.
imho, if you are in trouble then you must clear, as any other shot would be of lower quality, therfore potentially put you in greater trouble, although i see peoples point of predictabilty, example in top singles matches when playes are under pressure on their backhand, the natural thing to do is to clear, but occasionally you see them drop, now although may not be as good a drop as if they hit it from higher point, the element of surprise from opponent usually involves the rally to be extented. if you do this all the timne however your opponent will wait at net and kill, so variation is key. if not in trouble most of time i believe you should do some form of attacking shot, drop, smash or drive. as this will at least keep you on the attack if good stroke. this is true in doubles almost unequivocally (basically all the time) in singles however i think a varation is good, as if the clear is indeed to the back you should buy time and wait for weaker shot, to work the rally. if you are fit you can wear the opponent out in that way. if you are attacking or not that fit you may want to go for a winner to shorten the game. classic defensive player is budi santosa of indonesia, have seen him wear down opponents on many occasions good game was against lin dan 2002 all england (qf?) lin was very attacking but budi wore him down into trying for more extreme shots, until he eventually won. gopichand also tends to extends rallies even when it seems he has chance to win rally, have watched him and been twitching for a smash when he brings up another clear or drop.
this depends a lot on the speed, accuracy, angle, and consistancy of your smash. Although a more relevent consideration is what is the ability of your opponent? ie. Previously when you've smashed at her have you gotten weak replies, or have they used the shot to pressure you and pull you out of position? Also consider: how tired are you? Smashing tends to drain energy more significantly more than any other shot. If your smash that has fairly consistantly gained you points so far in the game, smash about 50% of the time off a good lift, and more on short lifts. Being beaten by a smash is demoralizing, although we all know having someone easily steer your smash into the open court is worse. So if its not working simply don't do it very often and keep it as a tool to end rallies when they're hopelessly out of position.
depending on your level of play i will say alway smash when you can. A good smash alway put the other in defense. but the most important thing is to be imprevisible. You got such a lots of possibility when you recieve a clear. smash half-smash drop shot clear even faking the out (fake to let i fall and return a drop or a clear) but you must ask yourself would you prefer to receive a smash or a drop (if you clear) or to recieve a smash return that will maybe come back before your in position to take it me, i Smash to the side this way the opponent could hardly make good a lifted return and i try to come back to the net to get the most predictable shot, the return to the net. but one thing is sure, don't smash if you out of position cause the smash will be innefective and you will be more out of position
