I notice that most of the advanced players smash, the racquet is about 45 degree when contacting the bird. Instead of going cross court, the bird went stragiht down the line. I noticed some prof like Lin Dan are doing the same thing. I tried it myself, and the smash ends up very weak. Is there any special technique to do? And are there any advantages of doing the slice smash.
Do you also take note of where the shuttle lands? Also another thing is that you're probably holding back your strength because if you don't it'll land deeper into the court. Whereas these professionals jumps so high that they can give a lot of power into the slice and still make the shuttle land just a few cm away from the service line. Because the professionals don't have to hold back their strength, their shuttles also lands earlier than ours.
Thats what my coach calls a cut There are 2 proposes of this 1. It looks like you're going to make a very hard smash, but it is very weak so your opponent might get caught on the wrong leg. 2. Looks like a cross court hit.
The racket face angle should move through almost 180 degrees for a powerful smash. This turning is carried out just as the player hits the shuttle, so what you see is the preparation angle, not the hitting angle. The hitting angle is straight, but only for an instant.
I think that's where forearm rotation comes in. It only looks like you're going to hit the shuttle with the racket at a slice angle (some players even approach the shuttle looking as if they are going to hit it with the edge of the racket) but at the moment of impact, the forearm rotates so that the racket head is straight when it hits the shuttle. THe motion is so quick you can't really notice it. I used to smash with the wrist snap method but for some reason my elbows would become so painful that I'd only be able to play 2 games before I'd have to rest and ice it. When I saw some of the more advanced players at our gym use the forearm technique I tried it out and now I don't get 'tennis elbow' anymore.
Also a variation of this shot would be the actual slice cross court drop. You use the same motion and force but you keep the head at the slice angle at the moment of impact instead of rotating your forearm and you end up weakly slicing the shuttle cross court. Very deceptive because you don't vary your swing speed. To your opponent it still looks like your going to power smash the shuttle.
Even Phu (owner of Bintang) said the racquet should be 180 degree to create the most powerful smash. But if you look at some pro like Lin Dan, the bird didn't go on a straight line, it curves a little bit. I look at super slow motion Lin Dan did slice the bird, and his smash is so powerful.
A player like Lin Dan will employ a full range of stroke variations. He will use both power smashes and sliced smashes. To us, the sliced smashes look extremely powerful, but believe me his normal smashes will be faster still!
