Tony Gunawan smash in slow motion - perfect technique

***kwun*** · 04-29-2011, 03:10 AM

want to share this with you. i took this 240fps slow motion of Tony practicing smash against Howard Bach during the 2011 US Adult National Championship.

look at how Tony prepare, rotate, and the pronate his forearm. all completely perfect.

***kwun*** · 04-29-2011, 03:39 AM

notice his use of core/abs strength and body rotation even for a simple smash like this. it looks so relaxed and graceful yet powerful at the same time.

**icecoldcoke** · 04-29-2011, 05:31 AM

he didnt receive the smash!! was it very very fast?

**MSeeley** · 04-29-2011, 07:27 AM

Great video. Just some things to look out for when watching this video - a few points that may help people who struggle with their smashes:
Notice how he doesn't over rotate. It is not necessary for power. Notice how his body (hips, shoulders, chest, stomach) all finish pointing towards where the shuttle will go - this is a great tip for anyone who struggles for accuracy! The shuttle will go in the direction your stomach (hips/shoulders/chest) is pointing AT CONTACT.
Notice that his racket doesn't drop "too far" behind him - he uses supination followed by pronation, whilst rotating his body - simple.
Notice how his contact point (0.08ish) is IN FRONT, to HIS RIGHT, and not overly stretched up high. I feel too many players try to reach up "too high" making it awkward for themselves. A little bit lower and further to the side (and in front) and everything can relax and really start to flow.

Good to see a doubles great in action - arguably one of the best doubles players to have played the game (3 WC with three different partners? Madness!)

**jilin74** · 04-29-2011, 10:13 AM

I guess I am not sure what you mean by this. Which part of the hips and shoulders, chest and stomach pointing towards the direction of the shuttle? Do you mean consider the shoulder/chest/hips/stomach as a flat area, it is perpendicular to the direction of the shuttle?

Just trying to understand the finer points, thanks.

Originally Posted by MSeeley

Notice how his body (hips, shoulders, chest, stomach) all finish pointing towards where the shuttle will go - this is a great tip for anyone who struggles for accuracy! The shuttle will go in the direction your stomach (hips/shoulders/chest) is pointing AT CONTACT.

**staiger** · 04-29-2011, 11:25 AM

between 7-8 secs in the video ...thats the different between a normal club player smash compared with the professional. The supination on the racket is unbeliveable ---> as ms said on here he did not need to exaggerate the pronation afterward to generate the power required...Thats how you hit a 120mph+ smash.

***cobalt*** · 04-29-2011, 11:42 AM

Nice video, Kwun!

Somehow had the feeling that he "held back" a little at just about the time of contact; he didn't fully "lean into" or "fully commit" the stroke. Check out the freeze at 0:08 to know what I mean. You see guys like TH, LD etc do that (lean into the stroke) more often. I also had the feeling that if he rotated his shoulder a tad more at about that time, he might have obtained a lot more power. It looks like he got so much of his power from the pronation and wrist snap. Fantastic timing, though!! Awesome!

**jilin74** · 04-29-2011, 11:43 AM

Not too surprising that he did not go full-power though. From the video, it looks like that he was doing pre-game warming up.

Originally Posted by cobalt

Nice video, Kwun!

Somehow had the feeling that he "held back" a little at just about the time of contact; he didn't fully "lean into" or "fully commit" the stroke. Check out the freeze at 0:08 to know what I mean. You see guys like TH, LD etc do that (lean into the stroke) more often. I also had the feeling that if he rotated his shoulder a tad more at about that time, he might have obtained a lot more power. It looks like he got so much of his power from the pronation and wrist snap. Fantastic timing, though!! Awesome!

**MSeeley** · 04-29-2011, 11:48 AM

jilin74:

Do you mean consider the shoulder/chest/hips/stomach as a flat area, it is perpendicular to the direction of the shuttle?

I think you have understood what I mean.
Just to clarify: If you consider, for example, the front of his torso (chest/shoulders/abs) as a flat area, and you draw an arrow doing forwards at roughly 90 degrees to this flat surface (i.e. pointing away from the camera) then this is close to the direction the shuttle is going to go for a "clean" - i.e. non sliced - contact.

Many players, when they are off balance or hit a smash that doesn't go where they want it to go, will, at contact, have their body facing the wrong direction, hence the smash is inaccurate.

And staiger: it is beautiful to watch isn't it

***kwun*** · 04-29-2011, 02:56 PM

Originally Posted by MSeeley

And staiger: it is beautiful to watch isn't it

it is indeed beautiful. i just wish i had taken more esp during the game.

i have a few more including ones of Halim as well. will post them once i have them processed. ETA next week or so. i have a huge backlog of stuff right now.

**MSeeley** · 04-29-2011, 04:33 PM

Originally Posted by kwun

i have a few more including ones of Halim as well. will post them once i have them processed. ETA next week or so. i have a huge backlog of stuff right now.

Halim Haryanto? Tony's original MD partner? The one with a MONSTER smash? Good work

***kwun*** · 04-29-2011, 04:40 PM

Originally Posted by MSeeley

Halim Haryanto? Tony's original MD partner? The one with a MONSTER smash? Good work

yes. but unfortunately only leisure drilling ones. should've taken some during a match.

**staiger** · 04-30-2011, 09:35 AM

Originally Posted by MSeeley

jilin74:

I think you have understood what I mean.
Just to clarify: If you consider, for example, the front of his torso (chest/shoulders/abs) as a flat area, and you draw an arrow doing forwards at roughly 90 degrees to this flat surface (i.e. pointing away from the camera) then this is close to the direction the shuttle is going to go for a "clean" - i.e. non sliced - contact.

Many players, when they are off balance or hit a smash that doesn't go where they want it to go, will, at contact, have their body facing the wrong direction, hence the smash is inaccurate.

And staiger: it is beautiful to watch isn't it

Nice to see someone getting technical, it is indeed beautiful to watch. the work of act . people does not know how technical a smash is when they see them on tv in normal mode, they think is just hitting it as hard as possible by swing the racket . Thank you Kwun for the video , and if possible could you please upload one with a high backhand smash or clear , that in itself would help many forumer in practicing their backhand (including myself)

***kwun*** · 04-30-2011, 02:15 PM

also noticed (and have been noted before) that this is just a leisure-ish smash he did during warmup. while most of us would love to have such a smash at our hardest level.

***kwun*** · 04-30-2011, 02:16 PM

Originally Posted by staiger

Nice to see someone getting technical, it is indeed beautiful to watch. the work of act . people does not know how technical a smash is when they see them on tv in normal mode, they think is just hitting it as hard as possible by swing the racket . Thank you Kwun for the video , and if possible could you please upload one with a high backhand smash or clear , that in itself would help many forumer in practicing their backhand (including myself)

i am afraid i didn't record any backhand. next time i get the chance i will.

**raymond** · 04-30-2011, 03:28 PM

Originally Posted by staiger

between 7-8 secs in the video ...thats the different between a normal club player smash compared with the professional. The supination on the racket is unbeliveable ---> as ms said on here he did not need to exaggerate the pronation afterward to generate the power required...Thats how you hit a 120mph+ smash.

I don't understand this point. Can anyone in-the-know elaborate?

I googled a little, and found an old thread on body kinetics for power stroke:
http://www.badmintoncentral.com/foru...ll=1#post97208

No luck there either.

**staiger** · 04-30-2011, 04:11 PM

Yes , most standard players would only use pronation for their smash. But advanced players + to generate greater power would supinate their wrist before turning their wrist (pronate) when impact with the shuttle .
Unless you got a really strong wrist and play high standard of badminton I wouldnt recommend it if you current smash is good enough. Most teaching manual would not show this by the way.

P.S. it is reverse of the high backhand when pronate before supinate.

These are the key concepts of badminton , I will try to find a good youtube video t demonstrate this techiques