Alright well ive read up on the topic, however let me just confirm that I got the facts straight. So when you do a slice smash/drop you contact it when its beside you and basically swing across the bird rather than through it, to give it the slice right? When I practice the shot the bird ends up as a sliced clear to the mid court or soemthing :S I cant get it going down. I feel once I get the smash technique, dropping will basically be the same thing except less speed in the swing and arm not as tense. But yeah any tips in general how to improve this shot? Thanks.
Try to hit the shuttle while it is still in front of you. That way, your sliced-drops won't become a sliced half-court clear. Basicly, the best thing for you to do is to keep on practising it, try doing slicing drills with a coach to improve your consistency. Most beginners tend to slice the shot even if they are not intending to. As long as the shuttle is not hit straight, it is probably sliced to some degree.
If you hit forward into it, with the slice, you will get the slice effect and the bird will be placed lower to the net, so it doesn't float up high. A disadvantage is that the slice effect will be slightly negated because of the extra force, so they won't be as tight. Slice is mostly used to get extreme shot angles, deceptive dropshots, and steeper smashes.
The shot is very versatile thats why I want to learn it Yeah so basically to get it tighter to the net you hit in front of you (like a regular smash) and to get more slice you hit when its beside you...Theres no special grip needed for this right?
You may want to vary your grip. Gollum has suggested to me for crosscourt forehand drops, a bevel grip may help. For straight reverse slice dropshots, Zhao jianhua suggests a shift towards panhandle.
No, the point of contact should not change: you should still try to hit the shuttle when it is approximately above your head and slightly in front of you. The slicing is not created by the direction of arm swing, but rather by the angle of the racket face: instead of facing forwards at the moment of impact, the racket is angled -- you hit with a "glancing blow", in contrast to a normal "flat hit". The arm swing suggests one direction, but changing the angle of the racket face sends the shuttle elsewhere. I don't recommend learning in this way. The slicing action for the smash is more subtle than for the drop; start with the sliced drop shot, so that you can get the feeling for slice. I recommend that you start with a cross-court sliced drop from your forehand corner, because the cross-court angle is more dramatic, making the effects of slice more obvious.
Hey.. Lets see if this helps.. Your lobs, drops, slice (Chop), or smashes should always be taken on the top of your forehead at the highest point of reach. You should not take it at the side of ya. Once you take it above your forehead, you should not have a problem putting the shuttle down however if you have a problem placing it to the corners, then there could be a problem with how you hold the racquet. when you do this stroke, its important to have a similar motion for all of the strokes above to deceive your opponents and so that they cannot read/anticipate your strokes when you hit em. ciao da mao smashingmark
