What the is best way to defend/counter attack an upper body smash. Is it a matter of timing? I am not sure if i am in the right postion/body stance either. Can someone help, thanks.
Depends on how high, how fast and on which side of your body the shuttle is coming at you! And what about your own build and reaction time? Are you tall, medium or short and does your weight hinder your movement? If the shuttle is smashed at your shoulder level and you are not tall, you may bend at the knees and adjust to a suitable height to counter the shuttle with an overhead block, drive or clear. Many ladies adopt this defence stance as their build is more suitable for such a return. If you are tall and quite agile, you may just move your body quickly away from the shuttle either by stepping away or just turning your shoulders to give you enough room and time to hit the shuttle back. In other words you must be fast in anticipation to give yourself enough room to react and execute your stroke. A shuttle coming too close to your body will make it very difficult for you to respond in a way you would have liked. So try to be ahead in time. Most times the shuttle comes so close and so fast that you hardly have the luxury of moving, so you have to act on 'instinct'. You will do whatever it takes to return the shuttle and it may just be limited to your forearm, wrist and upper body movements (turning and twisting at the hips and shoulders and bending to avoid being hit by the shuttle) and you may even be forced to return the shuttle that had gone slightly past you! Therefore smashes away from your body but still within reach is much easier to deal with.
Easy... keep your racquet up all the time. Holding the racquet chest level and slightly pointing towards the shuttle, relax your grip so that you can maximise your reaction.
Another choice is to "take away" opponent's smashing oppotunities. Make ur strokes to be either point downward (i.e. ur own smash, drop) or flat (i.e. drive).
