Chen Changjie was a good player with a powerful smash. Liem Swie King had also a great smash - however in HK 1978 Invitational, Yu Yaodong beat him by 'out-smashing' Liem. Many singles players had great smashes, but for best, I would go for Harianto Arby. He could deliver a powerful smash from anywhere in the court. Still remember the way he beat Ardy in HK Open 94(?) with his smashes from the baseline, in the third set.
chen changjie a power smasher no doubt but he wasn't as fast as liem swee king or harianto arby in the net or front court. i saw harianto arby lost to ardy winarata in malaysian open 93. boy, harianto really wacked the damn slow shuttle and had to be changed several times, every players complained. but that match ardy was the hero, saved uncountable smashes from harianto
Everybody has his/her favorite best smasher...I just looked at 2004-2005 years and I would vote for Lin Dan...those 3 steps back and jump, anticipating a smash coming (compare to setting up for a smash, position yourself and smash with almighty power), and then smash from corner to corner with the power to send the bird skimming of the court...those jump smashes Lin Dan did it so effortlessly, as if floating on air. Try do it yourself and see how difficult to do that. It takes coordination, fitness and power, surprisingly Lin Dan does not get hurt and even more surprising, I seldom see him has braces, bandage up like a mummy which a lot of players, especially the women players did. Lin Dan for me, the best smasher in my book.
Wish you a Happy New Year (2011-Jan-01 = 1111 ) Chen Changjie was a very good player and known, as you well pointed, his powerful smash. Another great player those days, and in my opinion with better all-around skills and also possessed a great smash was Chen Tianlong. Unfortunately he lost to Prakash in the finals of HK Open'80 (?) and with it, the confidence from the Chinese coaches. My choice for Haryanto for best smasher was mostly for his reliance for his powerful smash and the on-court speed to win matches. My memories of his matches were almost a spin net shot and smash only!
Hard to decide, but I go with Lin Dan - he played the most offensive game I've seen, and has an incredible jump smash. Not only is the power amazing, he also has awesome angles thanks to his high jump, good anticipation and quick movement. The placement is also very effective - it would've been hard for any of the other candidates to outplace LCW like he did so often (although Zhao Jianhua would have enjoyed much success with his deception). Taufik is second imop, but what really made him so good were net play and exceptional backhand skills. He didn't rely on the smash as much and was slower to get behind the shuttle.
I say the best is Lin Dan now. I hope IBF can organise a million dollar match between Lin Dan & Heriyanto Abri .. I believe a lot of fans are hoping to see this clash of the best! Maybe Heriyanto Arbi can match Lin Dan .. who knows!
the best now : Lin Dan. the best ever : Heryanto arbi The best euro : Thomas Stuer Lauridson the best malaysia : Lee Chong Wei
Well actually. Depends on how we define a good smash. Impressive effective smashes all depend on other things. How short the clear was, what angle the lift was, whether the defender has time to prepare. From what I've seen, excluding older players, the best smash happens to be Taufik. He can hit harder than Lin Dan or Lee Chong Wei and from right at the back of the court, he enjoys far higher success than them. But if we are talking about smashes that win points, LD and LCW have the advantage seeing as they are fitter and faster and able to set up the points better. In conclusion, LD and LCW don't compare to Taufik for pure smashes but their game is better in other areas to more than make up for it.
Lin Dan actually smashes as hard as him most of the time - and his deception with the smash (where he's gonna place it) is better imop. If you compare how they penetrate, say, LCW's defense, LD has a higher rate of success.
my opinion, the euro player has advantage to produce powerful smash coz their fizical are more tough and taller than asian player. e.g : morten frost, peter gade, TSL and peter rassmusen.
In theory, yes. But from Morten to Peter to the current European youngsters Im yet to see something extraordrinary smash from them. Perhaps its got something to do with the training, technique and ferosity on how they approach the game.
I think most European players are too heavy to follow the shuttle quickly enough to the net and get behind it fast enough. LD is/was able to pull off his amazing style of play because he got the speed of movement AND stamina to position himself properly and recover quickly. European players might have a slight advantage due to their (generally) bigger frame, but most lack either the speed or the stamina to play aggressively against world class players. Thus they tend to use their bigger reach to minimize their movement around the court and play quite tactically (Ouseph being a prime example here). When they're smaller, they often lack the power to penetrate a world class defense (e.g. Marc Zwiebler).
Not to come off as racist or anything, but isn't Lin Dan more likely to win such a poll just by virtue of China's larger population and thus larger number of potential supporters? Now Lin Dan may very well be the best smasher, but I'm just posing a question here. I'm not a keen enough follower of the sport to know better myself unfortunately.