My smashes are very inconsistent. How do I make them faster?

I actualy face the similar problem. My coach told me there are a few things to remember:

1. Timing: Dont rush the smash, just relax. This will increase the chance of hitting the sweet spot
2. Smash has exactly the same stroke as clear, beside that you need to positioned your self a bit behind
3. Concentrate power in arms and wrist, and less in body/chest movement (this is the biggest problem i have, but may not be applied for everyone)

Thats just what i have been told but Im sure there are more of them.

 

In any real life scenario, perfect result require perfect execution. Similarly also while performing a smash, why some player can develop a consistent powerfull smash is because they do it through a well executed technique.

In the pursuit to deliver such smash , one has to have the correct knowledge about how to do it and a sound technique on how to perform it, and to do this is simply complying the 3 important phase in executing a smash which are ideal timing, optimal contact and fluent follow through. Preparing the ideal timing is the most important phase in delivering a well executed smash because without it, the other sequence of smashing phase cannot be performed correctly.

By having the ideal timing, you can position your legs, upper torso and arm optimally and most vitally, a clear vision at an optimal angle in refer to the shuttlecock prior to the execution of a smash. By doing this, the swing performed will end with an optimal contact ( correctly hitting the racket sweetpot ) thus producing a solid hit and by guiding it with a fluent follow through action, it translated into a powerfull smash. The key to do this, there are no other way other than to have a proper footwork movement for smash. This is because, for every smash you do, it requires you to make several steps of footwork FIRST. Therefore, to continously maintain the consistently of delivering such a smash is also to consistently able to situated yourself correctly in the correct time...and again there are no other way to do this other than by again doing the proper footwork also.

 

I agree with shooting stroke that you should make sure you are definitely in the right place to do the smash - footwork is the key. However, i also realise that you may be struggling even though you are in the right place and think you have enough time, but for some reason its just not coming off.

When I coach, if any shot breaks down, then I teach the same thing every time: make the shot more compact - less things happening, less can go wrong! This, for smashing involves not over rotating your body before OR during the hit. Remember, you want to have your stomach (hips and shoulders) facing the direction you want to smash. If you are struggling with timing, rotating too much will only hinder your practice. notice, I am not saying there are NO benefits to rotating, using your body for power. What I AM saying is that you must make sure you are doing everything else right, before you go putting your whole body into the stroke, because it is all for nothing if you don't put the energy into the shuttle!

So, when you have plenty of time, there is a tendency for most people to "wind up" for the shot, trying to draw strength to unleash. This of course goes against the idea of being completed relaxed when you play the shot, which is so important. Make sure you are making a good CLEAN contact with the shuttle and that you are taking the shuttle in front of your body. Make sure you don't waste energy trying to make the swing bigger or more powerful, this will lead to mis-hits most likely and will likely do little to benefit your power output, instead focus on relaxation and speed.

My final point is to make sure you REACH UP for the shuttle. This really is key in getting the most efficient action from your arm. We are not looking to reach up as high as possible, but to reach up high with all our joints slightly bent. I find that people with good technique (which is a requirement!!!) tend to produce MUCH less power and the shape of their shots really suffers, simply by not taking the shuttle a little bit higher. This would be the first thing I would try.

Hope some of that helps!

 

I find many players tend to emphasize too much on arm movement while doing the smashes. They tend to smack down with their whole arm(power generated mostly from shoulder rotation and arm downward movement) while a good smash requires less movement than that. First, like many said you need to move to a good position to place your smash. Preferably have the shuttle 30 degree in front of you head while striking the smash.

Check how Lin Dan did his smashes in slow motion at 0:35-0:40 of the clip

[video=youtube;FpKMSgLl2iI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpKMSgLl2iI[/video]

He only uses his shoulder to supinate his arm to the back(before smashing) and do some forearm rotation(shoulder just rotate following his forearm rotation without wild movement), also know as pronation, to smash the birdie down. Most of his power comes from forearm rotation and grip tightening rather than all those wild arm swinging motion I see in club players.

This small movements(supination and pronation) have few advantages over our typical wild-badboy-shaking-his-body-all-over-smash.

1) It conserve evergy- Yes you do get tired after doing all those wild arm swinging for a few times.
2) Power efficiency-Believe it or not, this technique actually transfer more power into the shuttle as opposed to the wild arm swinging, and you feel less sore on your shoulder because it doesn't required as much momentum change to stop/finish the forearm rotation compared to swinging your entire shoulder & arm. Thus, you can actually hit an equally fast smash with supination and pronation when using less effort.
3) less uncertainty- What I meant is, since you reduce your shot to simple forearm rotation(rather than moving your whole arm). You have more time to execute your shot(less time needed to get into ready position since you don't need alot of time to rotate your forearm as compare to swinging your whole arm). Also note that your movement is much simpler and give you less room to commit an error. This also gives you better control of shot.

Try what Lin Dan is doing and you will find your smash is alot more effective. If you want the smash to be faster. simply relax your grip more(before smash) when supinating and tighten your grip at the point of impact with shuttle(while pronating). You will be amazed by how fast the shuttle go even though is done by non-professonal players. All you need is some practice to getting your technique and timing right. Once you get this right, adding your body rotation into it will further improve your smash.

If you have done all these right, you will be probably hitting an average of 260km/h smashes during your games as opposed to decent hardcore players who have their smashes clock at 150km/h.

 

A coach once said to increase the speed of the racquet just before it contacts the bird, then let up and let the racquet head follow thru. That works for me. Nothing fancy. If the situation is not ideal for smashing, then just drop and cause another lift, repeat until the situation becomes more ideal. Most recreational players try to get the point right away, thereby very short rallies. Just my 2 cents