When you watch top players strike the shuttle it just seems to ping off the racquet with a completely different sound to when I hit it. Why is this? - Is it just down to timing and if so how can you improve it.
Is this on television or real life? On t.v. I've noticed that the sound is a bit different, because its a combination of the sound reception and the stadium they're playing in. Most of the time they play in big stadiums filled with people where the sound is absorbed more, and echoes less. If you're a newb to intermediate, you'll notice that better players get a "pop" out of their shots. Timing is important, placement is very important (that is, hitting the sweet spot), and the force on the shuttle make a big difference too. Actually I have some really hard-smashing buddies that can create the "pop" with crappy basic series rackets and with little badminton experience.
Don't play with plastic shuttles! The rest is a question of technique, and there are no short cuts I'm afraid...
Yes, I concur with Mag. PRACTICE . PRACTICE. PRACTICE. There are no short cuts. Only with sufficient practice will you hope to get it correct. It took me some months to get it correct when I first started training at this game years ago. Till now, I would say I'm still improving bit by bit.
Slicing? it could be that you are imparting too much spin to the shuttle by cutting or slicing it rather than hitting it squarely. also, if you hit the stringbed too far off-centre then you'll get a different sound.
