During my smashes, i find that my smashes are not sharp. They are decently strong and 'heavy' but not explosive. The sharp sounds and pure acceleration that the top players get is lacking. (And yes, I know the effect the racket string has with the sound). My question is how does someone unable to generate power quickly like myself improve that. I am strong for my size but not powerful? Any work outs or drills I can do to fix that? on a related note how do I improve my flexibility and 'snap'
It's a little hard to tell without actually seeing a video of you smashing, but it either has to do with your technique or your contact with the shuttle. If you misshit, you'll never be able to achieve that explosive sound. On the other hand if you're swing speed is very slow even if your contact point is good, your smash will never be able to achieve that result either. Most likely it's a technique problem that we can't really pick out the problem unless we see you on video =(. As for drills working for contact point, one of the thing that I do to practice my smash is to have someone feed you a clear and you just do 50% smashes using just basically your forearm pronation (or wrist "snap" for some people) and your swing, but no body rotation. This way you focus on your technique and contact point until you are confident that your contact point and swing is able to produce fairly fast smashes with very little effort. From then you can work on adding in body rotation to get your weight behind the smash.
Generally when you contact the shuttle, it should be a little in front of you at the 11'o clock position. So you need to move back so that the birdie is falling in front of you, not directly above you. Otherwise your smash will not only be weak, it will be very high across the net.
I think you need to relax when you are about to smash then just before you make contact tighten your grip to make it more explosive
Please note that power and strength is not the same thing. Strength: your total output regardless of the time frame you use. They may be able to maintain a high percentage of their total strength output for a long period of time. Power: your maximum output in a specified time period. They may be able to exert a high percentage of their total strength output for a short burst but they cannot maintain the output for a long period of time. Here's the difference in a practical example: There are two persons; one is powerful and one is strong. Say there is a 300 lbs barbell. Both can lift it. The powerful person can lift it very quickly. The strong person can lift, but it takes them time to complete the lift. Increase the weight by 100lbs. The powerful person may not be able to lift it any more. The strong person can still lift it. Again, it takes them a long time to lift it. In badminton terms, power and explosiveness can be used interchangeably. Being able to lift lots of weights doesn't translate into success in badminton. But being able to do power lifting will translate well into badminton. If you really want to improve, send me a pm for something called the Vertical Jump Bible. It has a really good explanation and program to improve your explosiveness. Although it focuses on developing your vertical jump, a lot of the principles and methods described in the PDF can be modified to improve your explosiveness in general. Also, having more explosive lower body will always help with your footwork. ps. strength doesn't have that large of a contribution to the speed of your smashes (compared with power) as most people think although having a high base strength along with lots of power is always a good combination.
Hi thank you for your comments. I know they aren't the same thing which is why I was asking on ways to improve explosiveness/power not strength because I think I have a good base strength but am unable to access it quickly. About the jump bible, I have the jump manual, which is essentially the same type of program. I used to follow it for a while when I was into dunking.. but now badminton > basketball for me haha After doing some further research, i looked into http://www.speedchaintraining.com/ for developing explosiveness and practising throwing weighted balls to increase base strength more effectively. I obviously won't be purchasing the speed chain because it's a lot to pay for a simple contraption that I can make at home. I will be doing those workouts and then some more to develop my power. I will keep you guys updated with my progress Thanks everyone for their comments as well. I am aware of the loose grip technique, and I am working on it.
It's simple. Try improving ur technique and positioning. In regards to positioning, u need a stable core during smashing, meaning u have to prepare early to execute proper smashes. Technique wise, it involves supination/pronation of the forearm.
btw, do not smash the birde when your body had jumped to the highest point. Instead, smash the birdie when your body is declining from the highest point. That way, the most momentum is transferred from your body to the birdie.
The vertical jump bible is the most comprehensive manual that explains about explosiveness that I've come across aside from university/college textbooks. It explains all aspects of being explosive. Neurological, muscular, flexibility, balance etc. A thoroughly good read if you want to understand and learn more to find areas of improvement. I always tell people to learn more because you know your situation best (compared to others knowing your situation through posts on a forum) and you'll be able identify where to improve. Btw, from my experience and knowledge, there isn't one holy grail exercise you can do to improve. It's usually a whole program. I usually design my own programs from my research and knowledge, I never follow blindly a whole program without modifications/personal tweaking.
