Here is the typical scenario: Doubles game; the smasher is slightly behind the centre of his side of the court. case 1: I get to the centre of my side of the court. He smashes to my armpits (not kidding!) I can't return it as it's too close to my body. case 2: I stand 2 or 3 feet further back than in case 1. He smashes to the front. I have trouble leaning forward fast enough to catch it. After playing a few strong attackers, I've come to the conclusion that smashes are very very hard to return... if not impossible, if they can aim. How are you supposed defend against strong attacks? (besides not lifting of course)
Case 1: if it's on the non-racket side armpit, it'll b ez to get, if it's on the racket side, what I tend to do is: A: yank my racket straight up, it will produce a slice kid of shot, and if ur standing close enuff to the net it will go over. Guaranteed B: have your racket armpit height, move your whole body sideways(or tilt sideways) with racket face not at 90 degree angle, bird will most likely bounce off and go bak over the net(if opponent smashes are hard enuff) Case2: DIVE!!! the idea is to jus tip the bird over the net, then get the opponents to lift Of course, I'm no expert, my tips are jus what I conclude works best for me!
Thx Jchen99. People seem to mostly use technique B but I havent had much success with it. Guess i'll have to get smashed at some more to learn it
Case 1: Crouch down (after your opponent has struck the shuttle) and hold your racquet in a vertical orientation with the head up (forehand grip). This will allow you to drive the shuttle back. If it's slightly too low, then react with the racquet in a vertical orientation with the head down using a backhand grip (pull upwards) should allow you to drop the shuttle back. Case 2: It's a state of mind that causes people to stand further back when expecting a smash. Try to make it a habit to wait for a smash one step closer to the net than usual. "Lose your balance" forward and using only your wrist, slice the bird to send it just over the net.
I think in returning smashes, one needs to anticipate and also needs quick reflexes. My trainer advice me also to do walling exercises Soemtimes I can return smashes but the return is weak, more like a block. Walling will help returning the shot with a little snap.
How is your stance? I have a similar problem when returning smashes, I'm sometimes too far back. You should be on the ball of your feet with your knees bent a little over 90 degrees and leaning forward with your racquet forward. I can do all that but the ball of the feet! My coach said if you're on the ball of your feet you can move easily especially with your racquet infront rather than being on the heel where you'll most likely pull a matrix.
gerry, I've attached a pic! Sorry if I wasn't clear. I meant in case two, I would be standing 2 or 3 feet further back than where I was standing in case 1, so that's behind centre court by a couple feet. If I'm standing over here, I have enough time to return the body shot, but he would smash in front of me slightly shorter than centre court, out of reach of my racquet. It's definetly not at the service line but it's close enough to it to give me trouble I don't have enough time to move up. You mentioned something interesting... that is reading where he is going to smash. If I can read if he's going smash ahead of time, then I would have a good shot a returning it. The thing is, I don't think he decides where to smash until the last second, since he always seem to smash in the place I can't get. Yodums, My stance is similar to what you described. Do you lean slightly forward or exactly on centre balance? I find that i'm balanced, It takes longer to lean forward because I have to change my balance to lean forward first. If i'm leaning forward already, it's harder to return bodyshots because I have to centre my balance first before I can hop up and hit the bird under my arm as JChen99 said in case 1 B. btw, do you guys think it's possible to return every smash? This is presuming the smash comes from behind the service line, it's doibles so you only have to worry about your side of the court, and you have all the time you need to get into position.
BRL, not every smash can be returned! When u say "behine the service line" it can be everywhere from the back alley of the court to just rite behind the service line If it is just right heind the service line, and the smasher jumps high enuff, he can actually land the bird 1 or 2 inches in front of your service line, which would b hard to reach(most likely you'd be standing almost to the end of the court) and at the same time too fast Just a thought
Whilst this is obviously true, pretty much any smash except for net kills can be returned if the anticipation is good enough. One of the more "fun" singles drills we did was the coach standing on a chair with the back of the chair a little forward of the service line and about on the tram line, banging shuttles down at both lines. Okay he (yes he) could only really use his wrist to generate power, but from that range, and with the height and position, he was making the point (and trying to teach us) how to get really difficult smashes. It's mainly in the body position, it helps to really bend your knees and have a low body position when the smash is coming at such a sharp angle. Normally my smash defence is slightly bent knees and quite upright and relaxed, however this is quite different.
Hmmm Never had that to happen to me before...........but what can I say? I usually just LIFT the shuttles when I can think of nothing else. lol.
Re: Hmmm Well if you're in a defending stance (Read above), you should be able to drive back the bird whenever it is higher than your waist or in that area.
Good thread this one. The basic thing is if you have to lift high, make sure it goes to the back of the court ie good quality lift. Then there is less chance of the problems BRL has, even if the smash is very strong. One additional problem is if you are using plastic shuttles, the skirt reforms quite slowly, so the shuttle doesn't start to lose speed until it nearly crosses the net. One should take that as more motivation to play better lifts.
hmmm, practice makes perfect as my coach always says i would imagine things that need to be improved here are - 1. the length and height of ur lifts 2. Reflexes, reactions the two obvious solutions are not to let them smash from just behind mid court - lift it higher and longer if you still find urself in this situations forget that u are defending and attach the smash if it is armpit heigt you won't have to bend ur knees a lot to be able to drive/push it back. this will take practice but get ur coach to practice it with you - we usually have a drill which is lift, smash, drive/push, net return, lift..... as many circuits as possible. Neil
Yeh, definitely lift it high. I had to find this the hard ways and in singles recently. The senior singles person intercepted the bird when I basically drove it to the back!
cant you just drop it back to the opposite side they are on??? it would be much easier and you wouldnt use that much energy, anyways when you clear it back up, you risk a chance of another smash by your opponent.
If just talking about doubles, yes, a block is possible. You have to be careful the block isn't too high that it allows opposite net player to rush and kill the shuttle. If your reply is a nice one, you also have to work out with your partner who will approach the net since opponent will likely do a net shot. The guy not running to the net will edge towards the back of the court just in case a lift is played instead.
Other people have already beaten to death the importance of a high/deep defensive lift. This could be the solution to the root cause of your problem. Secondly, mid-court defence (i.e. standing more or less doesn't always work. If you opponent's smash is fast, you'd need to stand deeper, in order to slow the shots down and be able to see them coming. Of course that would open up your front court. That's the beauty of having a combination of a very hard smash and a hughly contrast drop shots. And while block returns may be used sparingly as a surprise shots, it generally is not a good idea against well positions opponents. The front player, knowing the power of his partner's smashes, would be standing more or less in front of you, waiting for your block returns.
