Smashing after 4 years

Discussion in 'Techniques / Training' started by Wurmer, Dec 20, 2006.

  1. Wurmer

    Wurmer Regular Member

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    OK, I took up badminton 4 years ago and been playing 2 or 3 times a week since then. I am playing at a recreational club and we play about 9 months a year. I don't know if I lack patience or talent but it seems that my smash is not so great after that much playing time. I am able to smash alright but I don't hear that loud clack when I hit the birdy. You would thought that after 4 years I should be able to set that damn birdy on fire with my smash, well it's just not happening. I have been playing all sort of sports through out my life and I know that I have the required athletic skills to get a better smash then what I have know. Ok there is the technical side for sure has badminton requires a good amount of it but well I don't know...........

    Am I being unrealistic ?

    Anyone know of simple drills or basic step that I can follow ? I have watched some video on the internet as well as observing good players at our club, I have an idea how I should do it and I try to smash the birdy as much as the situation allows but I am not seeing much improvement.
     
  2. westwood_13

    westwood_13 Regular Member

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    One thing to note... if you use a plastic bird, or have very loose strings, you're not going to get that sound no matter what.

    So I can ascertain what the problem is, I'm going to ask you the following questions.

    1) Can you clear baseline to baseline?
    2) Does your clear give a loud 'boom' sound?
    3) Where are you compared to the bird when you smash/clear/drop?
    4) Do your drops involve a lot of slicing?
    5) How would you rate the accuracy of your smash?
     
  3. Surreal

    Surreal Regular Member

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    Did you use your bodyweight effectively ? ;)
     
  4. Wurmer

    Wurmer Regular Member

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    1) Yes have a decent clear, I pretty much can clear baseline to baseline but I do miss sometimes.

    2) My clears sometimes emits that boom but most often they don't

    3) When I smash the bird, It's in front of me up high. I don't hit it at noon but a bit sooner than that.

    4) I don't do much slicing on my drops, I have tried a few times but don't master the technic well.

    5) The accuracy is not excellent but it's not so bad either. It depends where I smash it. For instance, when people try to take advantage of my backhand, I am able to run to the bird and smash it right or very near the sideline. This I can pretty much do on demand. It's not done powerfully all the time though.

    I use 20 lbs of tension when getting my racket new strings. Shaft is normal medium to flexible. I read that using lower tension and flexible shaft could help achieve greater power for someone who isn't producing high force impact.

    I am trying to use my body weight by transfering it with my follow through. I am not always able to do it properly.

    I have observed many good players and I seem not to be able to reproduce that whip power they use when hitting the bird. I feel like I am smashing to much with my shoulder and not enough with my arm-wrist.
     
    #4 Wurmer, Dec 20, 2006
    Last edited: Dec 20, 2006
  5. chickenpoodle

    chickenpoodle Regular Member

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    all it has to do is tension and guage of the string, and your ability to hit the sweetspot.
    technique has very little to do with "making sounds".
    of course having technique helps in every aspect of allowing you to make the sounds, but basically comes down to if you can flex the strings, you can make the sounds. because we've all seen the individuals with very poor technique, but suprisingly still crank out some real big hits.

    higher tenson, higher guage (thinner) strings have the biggest sound potential. generally speaking.

    lowering tension will allow an individual to generate more power, to an extent.
    theres a usable "range" of course.
    i think the lowest usable tension is generally around 16lbs or 18lbs? but i've never really heard anything resembling any "big" sounds until atleast 21lbs.

    from all the strings i've used, usually between 0.65 to 0.70 made the biggest sounds for me.
    and tensions between 23lbs to 28lbs?
    higher the better of course.

    but then thats because i'm weak. i'm sure some of the big hitters around here, and all the pros have proven that theres much more big sounds to be heard past 28lbs.
     
  6. westwood_13

    westwood_13 Regular Member

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    Okay, from what I've gleaned, this likely isn't a problem with power but with hitting the stroke clean (this mostly picked up from the inconsistancies in your smash/clear/drop).

    So there are two possibilities here, or a combination of both. Your footwork is not getting you into place in time to execute a full stroke, or your stroke is somehow not functioning perfectly.

    It's very hard for us to help you with only textual descriptions over the internet, of course. The best thing I can suggest is to consult the player at your club whose form looks the best, and ask them to have a look at your form in a shadow formatting, where you're just practicing the footwork to the back and the stroke, and then hit standing clears with you. It'll only take a few minutes, and I'm sure they wont mind.
     
  7. egb16a

    egb16a Regular Member

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    I agree what Westwood 13 said!
    Right foot work affect your stroke! Maybe u haven't got the right position when u hit the shuttle! the impact point is a bit forward off your head!

    when u try to smash! open your body! try to write a big circle on your right hand! ( assume your are right hand) same as over head clear! your hand should be stright when u hit the shuttle!

    Second - Relax grip! that is very important, tight your grip when the moment u hit the shuttle, that's make the sudden power and there's where the load sound comming from!

    Third - follow through - this step should be doing as this is a body movement for smash!
    try to move your body weight ( your right hand sholder ) from back to front and a bit down to the ground! that's help the shuttle to go shape and add additional power to the shuttle!
     
  8. Crazypeetee246

    Crazypeetee246 Regular Member

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    You should consider taping a practice session of yourself. I've always been told that you've never seen yourself play unless you see yourself play :D . It could be that you THINK your doing something, but your actually not. I hope that made sense?
     
  9. Wurmer

    Wurmer Regular Member

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    Ya well I thought about that, I could probably ask my son to use the video cam an try to film me while I am trying to smash, this could be helpful.
     
  10. XtC-604

    XtC-604 Regular Member

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    .70!:eek: thats hella thick
     
  11. Smichz

    Smichz Regular Member

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    i guess the most popular string,BG65 is 0.70.I dont think it's suprising huh?The thicker the more durability it'll have.Btw..for the topic..i guess it's the timing n the position of the birdie.That's why ppl may delay their smash if these things isnt good enough to do so.
     
  12. slam_w2k

    slam_w2k Regular Member

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    I need help too!

    I broke my goto racket two weeks ago, now I am playing with a 9000S, BG85 at around 20lbs.

    I was never able to hear "the" sound like most of other people. But I can clear, smash pretty much anywhere on the court (backhand excluded:(). I am a good C+ player and I know most other C+ player can produce better sound than myself, but I usually beat them in their game.

    After playing last night. I am thinking now than my old rackets was at lower tension(like 18-19lbs, BG-65) and I hit most my shots at near the top of the string bed. When I playing with my new 9000S, If I hit at the center, BOOM.

    The problem or question is, should I switch back to lower tension? Because I am so used to hitting the bird the way i did, when I try to hit the bird at the center of the racket, most the time they ended up on the top of the net.
     
  13. westwood_13

    westwood_13 Regular Member

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    You will find that the higher tension will likely give you more precision. I suggest you keep playing with it, there will be an adjustment period, but once you have overcome it you will likely find that your accuracy improves. If you're still uncomfortable, of course, feel free to switch back.
     
  14. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    Technique must be a big factor here. Sure there is the technical factors such as strings and tension but I think the the main difficulty must be a) technique of gripping the racquet, b) grip size and c) too much use of arm strength to compensate for lack of racquet skills.

    That's why we can see Wurmer able to play clears (because of arm strength) but not do slices well (wrong grip technique) despite already being in the correct position (hitting the shuttle at not quite noon position).
     
  15. DivingBirdie

    DivingBirdie Regular Member

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    20lbs probably can't give u the boom sound. since you've played for so many years your technique can't be too bad...so why not up your tension? makes lots of difference in smashing :D
     
  16. Wurmer

    Wurmer Regular Member

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    My wife bought me a new racket for Xmas and that exactly what I did, I got it strung at 22 lbs. I'll try it tonight and see what comes out of this....
     
  17. coachgary

    coachgary Regular Member

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    ensure that at contact, the string bed is square to the shuttle and not slicing left/right. If you're getting the sound on clears then this would suggest that your basic technique isn't too far off as the contact point for the clear is more above the racket arm shoulder. A smash is slightly further forward of this point which may suggest that as you lean forward to this contact point that your racket has slightly turned to slice.

    Rally with a partner who can feed consistantly to the mid court with short clears, so that you dont have to move too much, dont try to hit them too hard to start with, concentrate on keeping the string bed square on contact and on target with your partner opposite you. Build it up from there.

    Not really alot of point going into footwork just yet. Squeeze the grip when contacting the shuttle to give more power, square stringbed, should see an improvement with better timing also. Then add in more areas such as work on footwork and movement.
     
  18. bcteh

    bcteh Regular Member

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    I also had problem listening to the boom sound.

    I can be hard hitter, and when I notice I hit hard, and the shuttle go quite fast, but I still couldn't hear from boom sound.

    When I got feedback from friend that the smash sound was quite good, I started to suspect the ability of my brain to hear when I was busy doing the smashing.

    Just wonder :rolleyes: :D
     
  19. taneepak

    taneepak Regular Member

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    If all else fails you can try another way of smashing, which does not require as much strength. A full-blooded smash has too many complicated elements to time it right. Just try to smash in a relaxed style, starting with the racquet touching your back like a knife (edgewise)-this is the backswing. Then move your racquet hand to meet the shuttle-your arm will automatically pronate, otherwise you are cutting into the shuttle like cutting into butter-and as you near the shuttle, snap your wrist sharply to hit the shuttle. There should be no follow through for your arm, which must stop at about the same level as your shoulder in front after the smash. This wrist snap smash should be taken high up and slightly in front of your shoulder. It uses only about 10% of the energy of the full-blooded smash, but if you do it right you will be surprised at what it can do-in speed, power, steepness, and your body's fluidity!;)
    And, another thing, you will actually know if you have got it right when you hear a crisper sound.
     
  20. Wurmer

    Wurmer Regular Member

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    OK, I pretty much get what you're saying here. I'll give it a go. It's going to need some discipline and practice but I got strictly nothing to lose by trying it.

    Thanks for your tips
     

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