Hey i have a question regarding smashing and how to make it decieving. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0busSiBjS4&feature=related ^in the video (to me) it looks as if lin dan smashed the birdie directly above his head if im correct. I believe that to a portion of us, that is supposed to be the point of contact for a clear. Although theres no side view of him smashing, i was wondering: how does he adjust himself and execute it so that instead of playing a smash noticably infront of him(as i do), to do so slightly infront if not directly above him? Ive tried recently and i could not create a steep angle or generate enough power after making contact with the sweetspot. Do i need to use more pronation and snap my wrist more? Thank you all, cheers
yep, he's practically whipping his racket into the bird, not much follow thru lots of pronation, technique and core muscle power
the shuttle is in front of him.. coz the angle of the camera is from the centre of the court, u'll see the birdie is above him
I personally believe the shuttle IS slightly in front of him. It also looks as if he is taking the smash from quite far back in the court. In my opinion, you will not get MUCH of an angle from so far back in the court. It is deceiving in my opinion - because we don't know how much of an angle he got. I would say that the way to make all your smashes deceiving, is not to take the smash from a defensive clear contact point - which is directly above the racket shoulder, (although an attacking clear contact is very similar to that of a smash) but to play all of your shots from a smashing contact point - being so far behind the shuttle and threatening to play a powerful smash, before using your other shots, is what will make YOU deceptive. The best angles can only come from taking the shuttle IN FRONT of your body, and this is also where we get the best view of your opponents court. The only shot you will struggle to play from a "smash contact point" is a defensive high clear, which you probably wouldn't use if you were so far behind the shuttle and in such a good attacking position. Just my opinion Matt
He did not adjust his position to execute the smash since the birdie is slightly in front of him if you observe closely the point of contact when he smashed. Technically, executing a powerfull and steep smash above the head requires a lot of upper arm and wrist strength to manoever a energetic cocking of the wrist to do a "snap" action when smashing since the swings is very short and the position of the birdie is not at the optimal angle for smashing. Regardless how majestic LD does it, and in any way if the birdie is located above the head also, it is indeed not an advicable way to perform the correct approach and technique to smash for you to follow. It is more important to concentrate on the correct foootwork so that you can smash with the correct approach and technique.
A good way to think about it is pulling the bird down out of the air instead of just swinging to make contact
