when it comes to power. there is always more and more and more. haha. the fella was at the gym last night but was too engrossed into his games and didn't get much time to train. i will take more videos of him next time.
At the places I play, its no mercy out there... we have power and aim specifically at the chest, racket shoulder and hip, or between the two opponents.
In Southern California it's completely the opposite. If you're more skilled than your opponents, you run them until they cramp, you don't smash much at all.
my guess is this player is playing a casual game n doesnt want push more.. its his choice...no rite or wrong..
Yes , in singles . But in doubles especially MD it is all about getting that attacking play and winning the point , You need sufficient power in the smash , but placement and angle are as vital . Also after hitting the smash , it is important to get into good position for the next shot . Therefore , most players would only hit a smash with sufficient power to trouble the opponent and moving readily for next shot .
His motion is not that of a whip, but more like a stick hitting a fly. He needs to relax his whole upper body and think of it more like a whip. He needs to hit the shuttle more infront of him than right above him. He needs to raise his non racquet arm in a straight line to the racquet arm when hitting. He needs to work on his timing of the flexion of his pronation.
kwun, this is an excellent thread!!! i hope there is a video thread on front court (for double) as well.
The beginning of stroke carry the most power, he has some nice stroke at the beginning, but lack of power. The power is transfer using the wrist movement (snap action) at the highest point. Then comes the leg. So here is what I suggest: 1. Train the shoulder and triceps muscle. Start by shoulder press. You be amazed how much it helps just after 3-5 sessions. 2. Flex the wrist. Snap action is not thorough, as it doesn't snap all the way. Technique is very critical here to avoid injury. 3. Instead of using the right leg to push the body upward to catch the bird; try not to jump, but stand firm with more weight on the left leg, like 60-70% of body weight. Consciously remind yourself before hitting the shuttle. Use a bit of body rotation if necessary. Small jump is good to add momentum using body weight. But it would be a waste of energy if it cannot be fully utilise. Imagine this: try stand with one foot (another in the air), and use that foot to jump and rotate the body at the same time. It is just too difficult! I know because I have the same problem. I find the first two steps easier for me, and still playing to improve my stroke in that area. I do jump,but just to gain better angle of attack than power.
I doubt that would make any different , and unless you can smash over 140mph , I would just hit those smashes at 80% , otherwise you will lose positioning on the next shot
When I said 140mph+ , I meant. Advance club players (max) 130 mph County players (premier standard) 140+ mph National players 150+ mph International 160+ mph
I agree with most advice people have already given - hip rotation, contact point, relaxation etc. Looking back at the slow-mo part I think that perhaps the 'stiff' look he has through his hitting stroke could be because he tightens his grip/uses finger power slightly too early? Look at the 2nd smash in the slow-mo bit (starting around 1min30) - You can see his grip tightening before the elbow throws forward to start the stroke - I think if this tightening happened slightly later, just before contact, it might make the stroke looser, allow more pronation and get more of that 'whip' effect.
I read somewhere here in BC that you are not supposed to use the shoulder muscle to generate power. Otherwise it might cause injury. Am I correct?
^^ The smashing action is very similar to throwing a baseball. You can't do either without using the shoulder. But the most critical concept is that the power doesn't just start with the shoulder. It starts with hip/trunk rotation, which gets transferred sequentially and gradually distally to the shoulder, elbow, wrist, fingers and ultimately to the racket and bird.
Bad technique, needed to flick the wrist. TO generate insane power, it's all about the wrist snapping and using the body weight together at the same time at the point of contact.
he needs to set his elbow. and his elbow rotation is too wide causing him to hit a weak one. he can try using elbow rotation generate the energy from his legs and abdominal to create a fast and powerfull smash. Be warn this can cause shoudler injuries especially using a Head Heavy 3U Racket if its not done properly.
I have revisited this thread after an interesting session on the courts. Occasionally, I will get a coach to work with and brush up on routines, work on consistency of shots. Let's face it - sometimes little bad habits on technique can work itself into your own game unwittingly. Note that my training before worked on singles play and I didnt really concentrate on doubles. Now, I stick mainly to doubles. Yesterday, I worked with a coach who is specifically a doubles player at a professional level. Normally I have the same problem as the OP in wondering why I can't get that really nice smash technique. The coach tells me a few small things that make a big difference to my smash. Preparation: a) he tells me to keep my elbow higher nearly to the level of my shoulder. My Dropping the elbow low means the windup needs to be bigger and greater chance of things going wrong - I.e. mistiming. I notice the OP's elbow is really quite low. b) tells me my racquet head preparation is too closed - he wants me to prepare the racquet face more open (I.e. facing towards net). This puzzled me because the pronation movement is less. Again, shorter technique means less things go wrong. He tells me to think about how Jung Jae Sung prepares his racquet for the smash and then I immediately understand. Striking the shuttle: a) he tells me my contact point is a bit low. Something I always need to remind myself. Follow through: a) my shoulder is not rotating forward after hitting the shuttle. This is similar to the OP. The coach gets me to really rotate my shoulder much more after hitting the shuttle and to end up leaning forward at the end of the stroke. b) lastly, I don't rotate my hips enough. Actually I used to do it a lot more in singles but sorta dropped out of doing it for doubles. Bad habits and laziness creeping in. We get the rotation going so my right leg and hip are forward after the stroke. You can see the OP doesn't really turn his lower body either so his right leg isn't forward after the shuttle is hit. Results? Totally different sound. I get that nice huge explosive sound and have a nice big smile on my face The shuttle travels much faster - my other training partners testified to this. Contact point is a bit low - this will probably be the hardest part for me to change. Very satisfied with the result. I did around 130-150 smashes in sets of ten. Couldn't do more because I had some elbow tendinitis earlier this year so was being careful about protecting the elbow.
