Smashes

wear a helmet, shoulder and chest pads. lol.

you and your partner must practice to hit the shots accurately to the back and if possible, keep the shots lower than net height. slowly.

 

if hit by the bird, the only part that hurts is the face,
so if you're up front and it looks like the other side is about to smash, just keep your racket in front of your face!

 

If you see that the other guy is about to smash, then you need to move back. The further away you are, the less scary it is!

(Your partner might tell you that you're supposed to stay at the front in mixed. But your partner is also supposed to play shots that make it difficult for the opponent to smash. If your partner plays perfectly, then you can safely stay at the front! But realistically, when they make mistakes then you have to look after yourself.)

If it happens too quickly and you can't move back in time, then stay close to the net and duck. If your head is below net height then the net will protect you. (And hold your racket up above the net--you might just get lucky and hit a winning shot!)

And yes, as extremenanopowe says, as your standard of play gets higher you'll have less to be afraid of.

 

First thing about smash defence is that prevention is better than cure. Where is the opponent standing when they smash? If it isn't in their back tram-lines, you/your partner need to put more height and/or length on your lifts to push the opponent further away.

I agree with alexh. If possible, you should be covering crosscourt & approximately a rackets-length behind the service line. Not only will you have a little more time to play a good shot, it'll hurt slightly less if one gets through. If you tend to lift cross-court and your man lifts straight, you will tend to be cross-court and he will cover down the line.

Visor also makes a good point. You hands should be out in front of you and your racket should be up. I find it helps to have the racket head just below my eye-line to the shuttle. If a smash then comes at you, only a small back swing is needed to get behind it.

Final thing you may wish to try is to grip the racket slightly up the shaft. Shortening the distance between strings and grip makes the racket more maneouverable. You don't need power, the person smashing will give you plenty to work with!

Hope that helps.

 

Yes, and no. If he doesn't play a good enough shot, then he might be in difficulties. If you go back, more than likely you will be at a disadvantage. I would suggest you stay in the front, just get down more and put your racquet up in front of you - protect your face, yes, but if he hits your racquet, chances are that the rebound will cause the shuttle to go over. I always tell my lady partner to keep out of it, if the other side gets a chance to smash, as it is my job to return it - I am standing further back and have more time.

 

The racquet was too high - I mean hunch down then put the racquet in front, between your face and the top of the net - that way, if they smash down at you, they could hit the racquet. I was playing on Saturday, and my partner had her racquet up to avoid a smash and my cross court return hit his racquet and bounced back, so yes, this does happen.

 

hit her racquet I mean - she was looking down at the time.

 

my parents always said, if you wants to guard against smash (I mean real guard, not to return it)
put the frame in front of your face because face is the one that you need to protect, the rest is not as hurt as when the smash hit your face

 

Try wearing goggles when playing

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If you have a phobia of being hit at your face/eyes, do try wearing goggles when playing.

Goggles are worn by many players (of whom many are Squash players).
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If you get too close, protect your face with your racquet. I remember many years ago at UNSW, during a competition, one player was hit in the eye with a shuttle - smash close to the net, I think he had just played a net shot that was too high, and looked up just as his opponent whacked it. I had to take him to emergency at the local hospital only 1 km away, but fortunately he was checked and found not to have sustained any permanent damage. The moral of the story, if someone is going to smash and you are too close to the net, get down and protect your face. If you don't know what is going on, you should have your racquet in front of you before you look up. I also saw someone with his racquet close to his nose, the rebound of the shuttle caused the racquet to smack into his face, so don't get the racquet too close - ok?

 

...and that is one of the biggest problems with club-level mixed.

The man should not be defending on his own. The woman should move back into a cross-court defensive position. It is far more effective to have both players defending than just one.

Mixed doubles is not about parking the woman at the net and telling her to stay out of the way. Watch what the pros do!

Nobody -- I mean nobody -- is capable of defending the entire width of the doubles court against well-placed, powerful smashes.

 

For new players, this is still the best way, until they start to get better skills, then they can come back. We are not playing at pro level here (at least not all of us). Agree, if both players are of similar skill, then there playing square, or side-by-side is fine - and often this is the case. For players of differing skill levels, the weaker player generally is better at the front. Coming back though, can interfere with the player at the back - we often encounter this at our skill levels.

Consider the question that Dorythefish is at the net, and the opponents are about to smash - should she come back or should she stay...

If you feel like you can handle the smash, by all means come back - but keep your racquet up. Once you get hit a few times, smashes won't worry you. To help with getting used to it, you can practice with receiving a smash - get your partner to smash, then return, then eventually lift again, and receive a smash - keep doing this and you will probably find that it is not that bad. We usually don't smash directly at the woman though, just aim past or middle court.

 

I agree with Gollum - the lady definitely needs to move back and be prepared to return a smash. Exactly how far back depends on the speed and steepness of the opponent's smash (if the smash is very hard or flat you can defend further back), and how good she is at defending, but certainly behind the short service line.

The only time she should stay forward is when there's no time to move back - eg. If her partner plays a bad drop shot, or if she herself plays a very loose net shot - and then it's a case of ducking below net height for self-preservation (don't expect to actually return the shuttle, and don't turn your back).

Anyway, I'd have a word with your partner about clearing less to begin with (encourage him to play more drives/pushes/drops instead), and also try some smash defense drills - starting with relatively gentle shots (aimed away from your face), and then working up to full blown smashes after. And don't close your eyes. XD

 

That's back-to-front. Players do not develop skills unless they get opportunities to use them. By telling (ordering?) your partner to "stay out the way", you are harming her skill development.

When I coach beginners, I teach them how to play properly. It's extremely difficult to unlearn wrong techniques or tactics that are well-established through repetition. We should be teaching beginners solid methods of play right from the start.

In other words, you're not really playing doubles; you're playing men's singles with interference from the women. Why not just play singles?

Ask yourself why you are there -- and why is your partner there? Is this a serious competition, or are you playing for the fun of badminton? In either case, you're going about it wrong:

• Serious competition? Get yourself a better partner. Really.
• Playing for fun? Then don't spoil the fun of your partner, who deserves more shots and court space.

I'm sorry to come over all "heavy" about this. It's just that, as a coach, I find it incredibly frustrating to see how badly mixed is played at the "average" club level, and how these attitudes cripple the women's skill development. I actually find it rather chauvinistic.

She should immediately move backwards as soon as she realises you are playing a lift or clear. You should be playing these straight and not cross-court, so that it's easier for her to take a cross-court defensive position.

If the opponent is already at the point of hitting, then she is stranded at the net. She has become a target and must protect her eyes.

 

Even with a beginner, I would still encourage my lady to defend the cross-court. The 'singles with obstacles' approach is too vulnerable to smashes and push-drops to either set of tramlines. If a decent lift or clear has been played, there is ample time for the lady to take a couple of steps back and cross-court.

I also share Gollum's frustration with the 'net ornament culture'. I've played with countless women who are technically solid, but have little to no concept of any position other than the 'T'.

 

Yeah I certainly agree with gollum and line, from seeing the lower levels of the local league play it seems like the women stand at the front, often too far forward, while the men play singles.

I think one of the reasons might be not just sexism but the fact there is slightly less females play or who are super keen. Therefore there is a shortage of females.

For example I play with my friend and I would say she is not as good as me yet (not played as long), and thats taking into account male physical advantage. but if we both joined clubs I have no doubt she would play in a higher team.

Me and my friend play various people, we just play levels as I dont want to stunt her development or fun.

Personally I think at lower levels they should scrap the idea of 'mixed' and just pick teams on ability its not as if its a contact sport. The male advantage at lower levels is lessoned by the fact a female maybe technically better (the main reason), younger and/or fitter. At higher levels the 'being male advantage' comes more into where both players are technically good. But even at the highest level I was watching the european mixed finals and both teams females would move into the back aswell I think variation in attack is very effective bit like throwing a slower ball in cricket.

 

Playing at the front court requires special skills

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One thing for sure: Playing at the front court requires special skills different from playing at the back court. Very few ladies have mastered front court quick skills. And when they have, they would be in high demand for a front-and-back Mixed Doubles partnership (from men players).

I noticed that many men do not understand how much less time there is for their lady partners playing at the net. Men players often complain that their ladies are too slow.

When coaching Mixed Doubles players, I sometimes get men trainees to play at the front and ladies trainees at the back. This allows players to understand the difficulties facing each partner.

Regarding 'Returning Smashes', if one is stuck at the net, unable to move back to get into a side-by-side defensive formation, it is best to have one's face below the net height (to avoid being hit) and have the racket-head above the net height (to intercept/block the smash).

Usually, when the racket-head above the net height manages to block the smash, the smashing side will not be able to return that blocked shot.

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