Ive been watchin a lot of matches on youtube, been watchin 1 here between peter gade and Lin Dan at 2004 all england. I seen that wheneva either of them lifts the shuttle, they put there racket down by their side waiting for the return. I always thought it went down but infront of you in the middle. Whats right? I always put mines down & infront of me so if I got a smash, I could get it whether its to my right or left. These pros seem to put their racket down to their racket hand side. Why do they do this?
i've seen Lee chong wei training for defence ,n he blocks attack from 2 guys against him smashing hard down the lines, but he manages to retrieve each of them, so if their reflexsis are that much quicker , u can imagine why they don't need to keep the racquet in between when they lift .
I think to improve your level you must put the racquet in front of you at the middle. Those pros have very good reflexis and can anticipate the smashes.Moreover, they too have a very quality of smash and never make high-smashes, then the shuttle is always down when they have to return it => don't need to put the racquet high. To finish, the side of the racquet is determined because of LD and Gade are respectively left and right handed, then if they make a direct smash on their right (or left for LD), the shuttle goes on the hand side for the two.
You put your racket in the middle if you are playing double. But in single, very often you would have to turn your whole body to retrieve a shot, simply you have to cover a lot more ground than double. Imagine which swing is more convenience to you when you have to do a full stretch. If you leave your racket in the middle it would be very difficult to retrieve a forehand shot.
might just be a habits. they are so use to taking the shuttle in any kind of position with quick reflexes they dont need to do so. in double usually u have faster game therefore they tend to put the racket up in front and in the middle for tapping. either side of the body depending on where the shuttle on the opposite court. pros do high smashes too. a good combination of speed, height, power and angle would be deadly. smashing hard to the body can produce good bait for another kill.
