Return Smash!!pls help

practice and arm strengthening. Do some wrist curls at home when you're watching tv.

 

Timing and speed of your backhand supination flick is critical.

Plus, take the shot further away in front of your body, for better leverage and angles of reply.

 

Reaction is one thing . Mostly it's about timing it right , more to timing than strength . Usually a simple flick does the job well if timed correctly .

 

Timing is right, but reaction is quite necessary too. I have a weak defense too, after some exploration i found that my reaction is too slow. I am working on my defense but it takes along time. Doesn't improve much, so if my opponent like to smash a lot than it is hard to win.

 

Play more video games!

Plus with more experience, you'll be able to tell where the smash will go, how hard, angle etc by looking at the opponent's arm/racket angle, body position etc.

 

Take half a step back and follow visor's advise to return the shot at least half an arms length in front of you. That will give you a lot more power and control. No additional requirement on reaction time for that.

 

Oh.. a way to "improve your reaction time" is hold your racket in front of you with a fairly neutral grip. This cuts down the time needed to prep your racket for the return shot.

 

Also important:
Use a head lighter racket than what you're using now, and grip your racket closer to the cone. Your swing speed and reaction time will be faster than if you hold it by the butt.

 

An alternative to using a head light racket as visor suggests, is to use a much heavier one (e.g. squash racket in training), and then you will be able to wield your current racket as if it were headlight Just a thought!

I found this video quite a simple first look at defending, maybe it will help you?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWgXLhMVAok

It helps to remember how little effort is needed as the video shows

For reaction times: crouching more will help you see the shuttle in your main field of vision (not peripheral vision) for longer, as you are now looking more upwards at the shuttle and it will be coming down towards you. This may help you pick up the place where the shuttle is coming, and so may help you time your shots.

 

hitting the wall (I assume you mean hitting a shuttle against a wall ) is a very good way of training your reactions. You can, if you want to make it harder, add some weight to the top of your racket (i.e. put a head cover over the racket/ put some tape around the head) to make it heavier whilst you do your wall exercise to make it harder (and then take the weights off and see how easy it is). You don't have to add much, but may be worth a go.

 

The video is quite good. How do you avoid getting your smash, whipped cross court, by your opponents? When opposite player does that to my smash, I lose confidance at smashing at his forhand side, when smashing from rear court courner.

 

dont smash off balance, dont smash straight at him. smashing off balance has a high chance (relatively speaking) of being a bad smash, either in placement on power. If you are smashing at the wrong time, it often gives an easy counter attacking chance for the other player.

 

London_player:
Amleto gave you some great advice that will help you deal with a whipped cross court defensive shot - by being on balance you will hit a better smash as mentioned (power and placement) meaning it is less likely to be countered, AND you will be ready to move if they do hit a good shot. Something else to bear in mind, is that this type of return can actually be limited by where you place your smash.

Smashing towards the outside of the court makes it easier for your opponent to whip the shuttle cross court:
e.g. you are standing on the right, about to smash straight at the opposing defender. You can aim either just outside the defender (towards the tramlines) or inside the defender (towards the centre). By hitting towards the outside, you make it easier for the defender to play his defense (backhand if he is right handed) across court, because this is where the natural swing of a backhand will go (from his left to his right - cross court for you!). However, if you aimed it onto the inside - onto his forehand, and more in the centre of the court, it is very VERY awkward for him to hit any kind of cross court shot, because the natural swing of his forehand is from right to left, which would take the shuttle straight - which is right back at you.

If you were on the left, you would aim, once again, at the inside of the defender (except this would be his backhand now). This is, in my opinion, something that some people don't take into account when smashing - aiming just a little more into the centre of the court (still straight) can be very effective (1) it brings your partner into the game, and (2) it makes it much harder for the defender to get the shuttle cross court.

Aiming down the tramlines is great if you hit a clean winner, but if your opponent reaches the shuttle, they can either hit straight or cross court very easily, which is not good for you if you are the one smashing.

Matt

 

Thanks Matt for in depth reply. I sometimes do that but then I see people smashing straight at opposite player's hips, from left of the court and getting winners. Maybe I should try soft smash from left of the court, at their hips, so if they manage to hit cross court shot, it may be weak, as they have to generate their own pace, rather than use my pace, to whip it cross court. Yes, I need to be balanced, so need more footwork, especially for round the head rear court shot.

 

Thumb grip and basic grip never worked for me in backhand defense,

The grip I preferred is the bevel grip for backhand smash defense... works for me. I could flick it crosscourt and add angles and direction from a straight smash with a bevel grip. the only downside is when changing from backhand defense to forehand defense when you need to change grip

 

staiger: a lot of people prefer a bevel type of grip over a full thumb grip in backhand defense! If it works for you then its ok! I personally think that there is a grip that is a variant of the basic/bevel grips that means I can defend easily on both sides with one grip (obviously a slight adjustment on each side, but not much) so there you go I think its important though - for backhand defensive shots, use your thumb to stabilise/add power to the shot. It sounds as if you have good variety and strength in your smash returns, and this is truly desirable