If you want to improve the power of your smash should you use a racquet with a stiff or flexible shaft?
Work on your technique and generate the power from your body. BTW, don't think stiff shaft will give you more power, it is the flex. Stiff shaft provides more control. Power is nice to have in smashes but what is crucial is your ability to generate steep angles and be smart in your smashes.
The maximum power a racquet can give out is what you put into it. It can't create something from nothing. If you're not strong enough to make a stiff racquet bend beyond a certain threshold on impact, it will not return the power you put into it. For most people, a medium flex racquet offers the best balance between power and accuracy.
In a long run, do strengthen training on ur arm, shoulder and wrist. Bascially, those are the "resource" where the power actually coming from. Also, working on smash timing, sharp angels, good combo of strategies can cover up the lack of power. In a short run, a med flex racket will help more than a stiff one. With the little extra "bent" in shaft, flex racket can generate more power than stiff racket. However, might sacrifies certain level of accuracy.
