Anyone has a powerful backhand smash? In all the badminton that i have played in my life... i'm the only one that i know that can hit a powerful backhand smash just as much as a forehand smash (and my forehand smash is quite powerful). I must admit that i haven't really watched the international competition on tv. Just wondering if anyone else has powerful backhand smash? I'd be willing to share how to achieve this... if anyone is interested.
I am interested in knowing how to provide a better backhand smash. I have trouble doing backhand clears, let alone doing backhand smashes. Help greatly appriciated.
The most amazing backhand smash I've ever seen is Rexy Mainaky. He came to Canada for the Revolution Cup and played an exhibition against Ardy. Ardy cleared to Rexy's backhand side. Rexy twisted and jumped smashing backhand and won the point ... against Ardy Wiranata former world champion who was known for his defense! Rexy jumped not too high probably around 2 feet and snapped his back and arm delivering a killer jumping backhand smash. Of course it was mostly for show... but it worked
IMO you dont reaaaly nneed to know how to baack hand smash from the rearcourt, a deceptive around the head smash/drop woorks just as well.if you positovely need to hit it backhand, just drop it or cross court clear it. If you actually CAN get equal amout of power in a backhand smash as a forehand though, i suppose it be good for deception. otherwise ill just do a overthehead forehand smash. knowing how to smash from the midcourt and netkill backhanded however, is a lot more important
Eurasian do you have the video to share? Im very interested in watching the jumping backhand. Taufik I think has the most beautiful backhand in the modern games
The first thing that you need to know how to do a good backhand smash is to know how to do a backhand clear... read the following thread... many comments are relevant... in particular read the comment that i added within that thread (ggagnon) http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34756 Hopefully, my explanation was clear enough. Once you have learned and mastered the technique explained in that thread you can pretty much apply the same concept to smash. When you smash with the forehand you can get more angle than that using the backhand (using the technique that i explained). As a result, the backhand smash will tend to go further in the back of the court which is a bit easier to hit. Notheless because this backhand smash is powerful, it will suprise the opponent not expecting it. So if you master this you will have learned how to clear and smash with your backhand.... essentially your backhand is not a weakness anymore. Badminton suddenly becomes much easier and you become a more ferocious opponent. To answer the comment of t3tsubo... smashing is not necessary but wouldn't you want to know how if you could? There are situation where you don't have much of a choice to use your backhand or the alternative puts you in a bad position or uses too much energy. So hitting a powerful shot (clearing and smashing) can get you out of trouble.
ggagnon: I've read your reply on the other thread. Quite clear explanation on the fingers positioning but I got lost at the racket and body positionining bit. Could you elaborate further? Say if the bird is between you and the net and you are forced to do a backhand clear at the left rear side of your court. How do you position yourself and the racket once you hve the fingers positioned such as you explained earlier ?
In response to STARX, you are probably right because i never seen this shot done other than myself. I am not sure why this shot is not used more frequently... maybe because people rely more on the forehand (the backhand doesn't have to be a weakness... if you practice enough it can become a strength) or maybe this shot is just hard enough to do that people never bothered but it has worked wonderfully with me, although i only use this shot a few times in a game. I am curious about EURASIAN's comment. So this shot may have been used before, i'm kind of curious to see a video. In reply to Monster's question: There are a few reasons for your body to be sideways (one foot is closer to the net...) instead of facing the net with both feet side by side. First of all, let say you are facing the net (feet side by side) and you hold your racquet ready to do a backhand shot in the standard way. Now let say you are right handed. Your arm will extend slightly towards the left of your body with the face of the racquet aligned maybe a bit higher than your face or as low as the chest area (assuming you are doing a high shot). There are potentially three problems with this configuration in terms of having a powerful shot. Based on your position and your arm's position, you can't rotate your wrist (such as that to unlock a door with a key) IF you are going to do a FORWARD shot (actually you could rotate your wrist to lock a door but this would swing the racquet sideways which is undesirable in a forward shot). The second problem is that your swing is a bit limited in motion (you need enough motion to accelerate the racket significantly to get a powerful shot)... in this configuration, if you swing, you will tend to break your wrist and as a matter of fact, the wrist cannot bend really far forward. Also the racquet is in front of your body... but your wrist could technically bend backward even more... but it can't because your body is there preventing the racquet from going further back. Last but not least, the way that your hand is positionned, i beleive prevents you to use your hand muscle effectively. With the suggested technique along with your body sideways relative to the net and your arm extending fully to the left side of your body, the racquet is now fully on the left side of your body. The face is probably around the height of your face (or higher for a better angle of a smash) but it is also well of the left side of your body. This has a few consequence, in this position you are able to rotate your wrist (sush as to lock a door with a key) to hit a shot FORWARD. Secondly, because your racquet is completely to the left side of your body, your body does not interfere with the racquets motion and therefore you can fully use the range of rotation of your wrist. Finally, your thumb is in a more natural position to use your hand and arm muscles (arm muscle for rotation of wrist) more efficiently. This is why i don't think your really need to train your wrist if you have the proper technique. I just played today a game of badminton for the first time in two years (didn't do any sports in two years) and i was able to clear and smash decently with my backhand. With this technique, you need a greater range or rotation to achieve the shot, but you need less range of arm linear motion to achieve a shot... so you probably use less energy. All in all, i beleive your total motion of your arm + wrist has decreased... this is why you might see people that can clear well with their backhand to have a smaller total motion with a whip effect on the racquet. I hope this clarified things. Please send me feedback if you tried it and failed or tried it and succeeded. I think it is definitely something worth learning. It takes a bit of practice.
It is not possible to have a backhand smash as powerful as a forehand smash. The reason is simply that you cannot generate as much leverage with a backhand smash as you could for a forehand smash. Since there can be little fast arm movement or body weight put into this shot, you are just relying on a strong wrist (not fingers or forearm, strictly speaking) for the smash; it is this last-second uncocking of the wrist that imparts the speed and angle. This backhand smash should not be used from the back of the court, because it will present little trouble, though even from there you can sustain an attack. It is however a very useful point-winner if a loose return is intercepted about half court. From there it is fast enough, if played crisply, and steeply enough angled to be a winner.
ggagnon: Let me consolidate what I think I understand. When a shot is returned by the opponent to the left rear court over your side, and you are forced to a backhand clear (let's ignore the smashing bit for now). So, instead of standing such that your back faces the net SQUARE, you have your body positioned sideways (perpendicular) to the net. In other words, your eyes are now facing the left sidelines (reference direction: Up is where you see your opponent and down is where you face your own baseline). Assuming that I got the body position understood correctly, to return the backhand bird, I will just need to do the "unlocking door with a key" motion of the wrist (clockwise). Hence, this is not so a backhand shot anymore. Am I right wrt the body and hand motions?
Ggagnon, With all due respect, are you certain that your backhand smash is "as powerful" as your forehand smash? I mean, physically it is quite impossible as a forehand smash allow more angle, swing of the arm and wrist, plus the aids of pushing your main leg, which cannot be 100% mirrored in a backhand situation. My perception of backhand smash is it would win you point because of its element of surprise, not because of its power. Certainly I have never come across or seen a player (either in my social play or watching competitive matches) who has an equal powerful smashes from both forehand and backhand.
off-topic, but I can't help it I must apologise. I burst out in laughter when I see your moniker and your posting next to DinkAlot's. Ha Ha Ha Ha....sorry folks.
Backhand smash doing only with hand, forehand smash doing with all body. For smash must have speed and long way on racket. On bachand size you have only strenght.
It is possible for a player's backhand smash to be as strong as (or stronger than) his forehand smash -- it just requires that his backhand technique is very good and his forehand technique is poor In principle, a backhand smash could be as powerful as a "forearm only" forehand smash or "stick smash" (the Danish term). In practice, this rarely happens. The backhand is limited by two factors: Biomechanics Position Because of the way our shoulders and elbows work, it is physically impossible to make an effective full swing for a backhand. The elbow and shoulder "lock" and will not permit any farther movement. So biomechanics limits the swing that we can make on the backhand. Backhands are only played when we cannot play an effective round-the-head forehand. They are played with the shuttle well out to the side and often behind the body. So we only play backhands in disadvantageous positions; obviously, our power and angle will be limited by this. In the position that ggagnon describes, with the body sideways on for a backhand smash from the rearcourt, the player should use a round-the-head forehand smash instead. In the midcourt and forecourt, the position for a backhand may be more sideways-on, but again consider using a round-the-head instead. Backhand smashes are rarely seen at international level, although I'm sure most international players could smash on their backhands a lot better than I can on my forehand! Backhand smashing from the back of the rearcourt is a poor tactical choice, whether in singles or doubles. Backhand smashes are more useful for cutting out attacking lifts in the midcourt.
