got into a discussion with friends about the sweet spot for smashing. this is new to me bc I thought there was just one sweet spot and it's in the centre of the racket, but he claims the smashing spot should be slightly higher than the centre of the racket for best result. so then, are there different sweet spots depending on your shot? say between clears, smashes, drives, and drops?
Interesting topic. If you don't want to post it, you can always pm me! . But my guess would be midway between top and middle of the frame for smashing, middle to lower frame for touch shots like fore court and net play, edge of the frame closest to the bird during serve.
Isometric heads have a wider sweet spot, not necessarily a higher sweet spot, compared to an oval frame. Why? Because more of the main strings are "full length". In my opinion, the sweetspot overhead is just above (maybe an inch or two above) the centre of the racket. Why? Because this gives a good combination of the best action off the strings (which would come from the centre of the racket) but with additional "leverage" as you are making the "lever" you use a bit longer. Shots that do not require as much power, do not require as much precision in terms of contact point, with the serve being the least necessary as visor said. For a backhand serve, I will strike the shuttle close to the frame, for consistency (being able to take it directly out of the fingers, not letting it drop etc etc). However, I think the concept of thinking about the sweet spot a weird one. If the shuttle feels crisp coming off the strings, you are probably hitting it correctly. Does anyone actually "think about" their sweet spot? I only really care where I hit the shuttle with relation to my body, rather than which part of the racket I use to hit the shuttle, and even when learning I don't remember thinking about the sweet spot, just trying to hit it sooner or later?
The more physics-enabled would likely tell us that the location of the sweet spot is more complex than simply the middle of the racket. But that definition is good enough in practice. Also it is likely that all areas outside the ss are not equally "dull". (thinking of various harmonic areas on guitar frets). My definition of th ss is that elusive area of supreme power that is found when you are attempting a crucial push to the back corner, thus carrying the bird out and losing the match.P.S. I wonder if there is lively debate on sweet spots on competitive trampolining forums.
I think that every area near the center is a sweetspot and the ones in the corner are not because at those sides, there is a difference in the tightness of the string which means that it is imbalanced plus it is usually tighter in the sides which means less power and it also has a higher chance to hit the racquet frame.