When a smash comes down between me and my partner to the middle of the court, the one who can forehand or backhand? A lot of people say forehand should take it but it kind of feels right if backhand takes it. Obviously, we intend to lift it, not block to the net.
Its all about communication between you & your partner. The more you play with him & the more you would know who should take it. As for me as im playing in a club with alot of player where i wont partner with the same player all the time, i had few habbit. 1. If my partner is the type of broken radar & brake mechanism, i mean have low awareness about his surounding & unable to cancel order that already given from brain. I would choose to let him take most of the shuttle to avoid clash unless im sure & clear he wont makes it in time. A bad experience i had, being slapped by my partner racket right at my face. 2. If im partnered with some unknown but with ok radar. Well, i still let him take the most but i will be ready for miss hit or if he holding back to let me take it. So i just set my preparation to hit & wait to execute. 3. If i play with a known, many times play with him, & kinda like my best partner. With him im able to judge, should i take it or let him take it. We know each other skill & habbit. But for this we both need to suppress our ego & understand whos position is better to take the shuttle.
1) If your opponent is in a corner when he smashes it into the middle, the crosscourt defender takes it. This is because the straight defender must protect the straight smash down the sideline. 2) If your opponent is near the centreline when he smashes it into the middle, then it is partner preference - each pair is unique. Some people are stronger on forehand than backhand and vice-versa. You can have some pairs where one player takes everything down the middle, some where it's always a backhand defence, some where it's always a forehand defence, some where it's whoever is standing further back in the court, and then there are classes of players where it even depends where the opponents front player is standing! If you are playing with an unknown, random player, then the only way to know is to ask them at the start of the games what they prefer (or you can feel free to default to what you prefer - a lift down the middle of the court should be a rare occurrence after all).
Thank you. This is what I wanted to hear. #1 is good. #2 is a problematic situation which should be avoided. When it happens, both players just leave it. For Pros, they position correctly and the rally just goes on ans on..
