receiving smashes

Dun let him smash or dun let him smash easily

 

practise left right footwork using 2 steps instead of 1 step. Practise 1 step also just in case.

Hit the wall or do some exercise to train reflect and accuracy of receiving the smash

 

Practice footwork and your reflex

 

1. When your opponent is smashing from the back corner, don't stand right in the middle, move across a little towards the opponent's side.

2. Make sure you're doing a split step just before they hit the smash. If you're not sure what a split step is, look on badmintonbible.com (I think they call it a "split drop" but it's the same idea).

 

Hi there varunsuresh,

1.

This is an issue about the length of your reach.

2.

This is an issue about the speed of your footwork movement

The issue of speed and length of reach are basically CAN NOT be separated. They are one continous process that bond closely together while you are playing badminton that the earlier influences the later. When we discuss about the theory of badminton footwork , if you start late, most likely you will end up late retrieving that incoming birdie, be it a sideline smash,net play etc.

A player might think that if he is out of reach to address certain birdie position, it is because that his arm is not able to extend far enough to cover that gap, however, rather than focussing the inadequate length of your extended arm as one specific unit as the cause, it is actually because your whole physical structure as 1 moving unit is unable to position itself optimally to facilitate the extension of his arm to cover that gap.

Therefore generally, it is very vital for you to train your footwork regularly in order to improve the speed of your footwork movements to both side of the court hence able for you to quickly move and position optimally your whole physical structure to any side of the court that eventually can improve the distance of your arm's reach. The speed of your footwork can be improve either by:

- Improving the distance of steps. The more distance your footwork can cover,the further your body and arm can go to reach that incoming birdie. As mention here earlier, this can be done by practicing and improving your "split drop".
- Improving the speed of your footwork. I posted and you can read the lengthly discussion about this at http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php/100021-Better-Badminton-Footwork-–-Improve-your-Speed?highlight=
- Improving the frequency of your steps. As also mention earlier here, if moving sideways with 1 steps would not cover your reach than train to do a fast 2 steps movements.

However besides the above, the other approach that you can adapt while playing to improve that reach are:

a. As mention earlier here, adjust the position of your stance of readiness while preparing to receive the smash accordingly:
- If the position of the birdie is towards the corner of your opponent back court, then move and lean slighlty to the same side where your opponent is positioned in order to increase your awarness and movements if a straight smash is delivered to the sideline at same half side of the court.
- Unless if the position of the birdie is at your opponent centre back court, your stance of readiness can be at the centre of your court.

b. Held your racket level high so that you can initiate a fast reflexes to address the smash earlier, slightly in front of you prefabably not align or behind your shoulder. By doing this, your response will be a attacking defence rather than a defensive defence.

c. Always fix your view of the trajectory of the birdie so that your level of awarness if such smash is coming can be quickly replied.

 

i agree with alexh, split step to get that extra burst to lunge towards the sides. also take small steps before your big lunge. also try to remember to return to the centre

you can improve on your speed by doing some jump rope. even 10 mins a day helps enormously

 

The advice above is good but lets take it real simple.

Your prob not far enough to the side. Watch lin dan play singles. When he hits the shuttle up the right side of the court, he will stand on that side with 1 of his feet on the middle line. He will face his opponent and when the shuttle is hit, he wil split step and move.

With a smash down the sides, this will be very fast, so split and step with an outreached arm. There is no major steps here cause there isnt the time. At most, its split and 1 step to the side with the same side leg making the step out.
For example: - U have lifted to his forehand court. You are facing him, with your right leg on the centre line so your body is more to the left court (his forehand side). When he smashes, its split and step out with your left leg hitting at the same time as the step. This wil all be very fast!!

 

To train, get 6 shuttles and put them side-by-side on the outside line of the side tramline. Then stand on the other side of the court outside the tramline. Using only 2 strides and a lunge you must get to the shuttles and pick one up, then take a step and a lunge to *place* the shuttle on the tram you originally came from. Move all shuttles to one side within a minute. You have the rest of that minute to recover, repeat as many times as you want. And try it on your other leg too just to keep things even.
Eventually you can start doing 8/10/12 shuttles per set as your speed improves.
It hurts like hell but it helps you move quickly and get low and be controlled.

 

I don't suppose you have a vid of this exercise do you?

 

I have seen mentions in the replies about practising reflexes - what would be a good way to do this? I have a similar issue when trying to defend smashes, but my main problem right now in that area is that by the time my mind registers where the smash is going it's too late, unless I can reach it without stepping out.

 

In my opinion, the best thing people can do to improve their reflexes, is to improve their posture. If you have excellent technique, then you can get away with pretty much anything. However, if you struggle with returning smashes (as an example) because you feel you don't have enough time, then try lowering you stance a little, bend more at the knees, get the racket further out in front of you so that you are reaching forwards. Now, instead of seeing the shuttle in front of you, you should be almost looking up at the shuttle.

What does this do?

Well, a smash comes downards right. If you are looking upwards more, then the smash is going to be coming slightly more "towards" you, in that the shuttle will REMAIN in your central vision for longer. If you stood upright, then the shuttle quickly goes into your peripheral vision - you had to watch the shuttle as you opponent hit it overhead (quite high) and all of a sudden you need to move your eyesight to find a shuttle that is quite low on either your left or right (or at your feet!). It is highly likely that you will lose track of that shuttle, as it passes into your peripheral vision (around the sides). You will still "see it", but you will not really be processing it.

95% of our eyesight processing power is in the middle (within a 5 degree cone). Lowering ourselves, helps keep the shuttle in the middle of our sight where we have most of our processing power. Now, all of a sudden, those shuttle are easy to see coming, and easy to deal with.

The idea of good posture is something taught heavily by Lee Jae Bok, and the stuff about visual processing is something I learnt on my degree.

Hope that gives those of you who are struggling with fast paced rallies something to practice. Stay lower in your posture. The crazy thing is, that this doesn't require more skill, just a little bit of discipline, but the results can be huge. If anyone gives it a go, let me know how it goes for you.

If anyone is still struggling, let me know and I will tell you some drills and practices you can do to help you out.

Cheers

Matt

 

I've started doing this just in the last few weeks, after watching the LBJ videos. I thought it was more to do with getting the knees bent and the centre of gravity lower, ready for quick movements, rather than the eyesight issue. But regardless of why it works, I can say it's made a big difference in my defensive ability. Thanks for the reminder!

 

A silly question w.r.t. lower stance - would it make a player more susceptible to punch clear? When the stance is low (is there such a thing as too low), your stance could become too "stable" and thus hard to move up or move anywhere.

 

punch clear maybe not, but a disguised drop will be a challenge to retrieve if you're too "set" in your low stance

 

Well, yes, a little bit. But which are you more afraid of, the clear or the smash?

 

Alexh: in his roots of badminton dvd, LJB actually says that a better posture will give you a better view. You are correct though, that everything about it with knees bent and heels off the floor helps you to move.

raymond: an excellent question. Getting low is not in itself enough. If you try reaching your racket forwards, what you will find is that you will crouch a bit lower, but your weight will shift forwards slightly, onto the balls of your feet, so that your heels come off the floor. In this way, you will never be too "set" in your stance (which would be a problem!) but are actually ready to use your leg muscles properly to explode in any different direction. Remember, you want your racket foot slightly forwards, this will give you a platform from which you can push both forwards and backwards, as well as side to side.

I imagine there is such a thing as "too low" a posture - what you want is slightly lowered, rather than upright or a full on crouch. Here LJB presents his idea of posture:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDoZ2HB4mr4&feature=feedu

In the more expensive videos, he comments that good posture helps to give a better view of the shuttle too (for the reasons I explained, probably).

Good luck to you all!

 

Hi Varun,

What I find in that situation is that the reaction speed and leg strength do not accommodate, so even if you can see the shuttle or predict it flying that direction, your body may not respond in time to retrieve the shot.

For reaction speed, I suggest driving and defence practices with a fast player. For leg strength, go for fitness exercises such as lunges, invisible chair and skipping will be of some help.

Remember to try take the shuttle in front of your body whenever possible. Once you take the smash that has gone past your body, it is difficult to control it and return it over the net. That's where your reaction speed will be depended on so you can take the shuttle as early as possible.

Sometimes as well, depending on your height, you might even need to take two smaller steps to retrieve the shuttle. A lot of players use only one long lunge; while this is effective in reach, you will be off-balanced and it will be difficult to return in time for the follow-up shot. Again, this also involves reaction time and how fast your feet can move in co-ordination with the shuttle. So fitness exercises such as skipping here will be of some benefit for the calf muscles to facilitate the body movement.

Of course though, the steeper the smash, the more difficult to retrieve on the side. Sometimes you will find it's uncomfortable blocking these standing upright. In general, one must bend very low and shift backwards slightly to prepare for a smash. Perhaps this is one of the reason why. Bending your knees lower can also help your thigh muscles generate energy to attract and release, making your movements to the side much faster. Some players even feel bending low allows them to see the shuttle better and read the angles; but theoretically is only a psychological factor that depends on personal experience. The same goes for flatter smashes as well. If you've watched Bao Chunlai, he does bend very low and it's very noticeable because he's a tall athlete. So it is important that once you know you've played a very passive shot, you are always ready and bending down low to prepare.

Easy to say, but of course difficult to put in practice.

 

if you die die want to improve you reaction, you'll need a friend to help you here. ask him to smash at the same spot for a few times and try to get it.

another method is to cover the net with a cloth and ask a friend to drop the shuttle across the net and you try to reach for it. this is more for net play rather than smash though

or even simpler, ask a friend to hold a long ruler with you hovering your fingers just below his then measure how fast your reaction time by the length of the ruler when he randomly lets go in relation to your starting point.

you can do it youself but you'll know when you're dropping it and you'll look weird playing with yourself

long enough practise and you'll be a ninja but in general improving your speed would be more beneficial in the long run.