Length of Smashes

well, good luck. and remember the most important thing. don't rush

 

its probably your contact point.

 

Could you upload it onto Youtube or something where I can view it directly? It would be easier to view it that wat.. thanks.

 

I think that you are hitting a bit late when you want to hit the shuttle down. You need to find the right timing. Practice is the only way to get this right. Concentrate on hitting the shuttle at the right height at the right time with a lot of wrist action just before contact with the birdie. Mastering this or consistently executing it requires a lot of hard work, even though I have put this in just few words.

You should practice first to get the feel of the right timing, height and power. Once you are able to get the depth and power you like with some degree to consistency, try to practice smashing when you have to move to position yourself. This happens most of the time in the game and you would train yourself to smash with least preparation time.

 

i think i know why your problem. one, your smashes are actually not bad, not that flat either. i think you've watched too many pros, and think their smash is of normal steepness. their smashes are super steep.

your main problem, other than footwork, is that your relying too much pronation on generating too much power. i think you may have become so into pronation, that you expect to just pronate and get a massive smash. what you were doing in that game is called either a snap smash or stick smash. that's usually reserved for when jumping into the forehand corner, late. you can clear by using pronation mainly, but a clear uses much less power than a full powered smash. for a really good smash, you need to involve your hips, legs, upper arm, and a proper, well set up swing. not just a quick snap of the wrist.

so, you're expecting too much out of stick smashing (smash by pronation mainly). you can get some really big stick smashes, but they are for advanced players. when you're not getting the power out of that stick smash, you get annoyed, so go harder, and so, damage your shoulder (you did have a sore shoulder right?)

find some pro games. and watch how they take the shot when they're not completely rushed. watch how they set up, racquet held up, left hand pointing to shuttle. watch the raqcuet movement before the contact. it's almost never racquet up and bang down. peter gade is very good in this.

finally, keep working on your foot work. especially to your backhand corner. Xiao Jie had some good instructional videos on footwork. good stuff though.

 

A quick a word about weights: be very, very cautious. Strapping weights to your arm is likely to result in injury. There are much safer methods, such as using a squash racket or a heavy badminton racket; the pros use these, but I've never heard of a pro strapping 2-3 kgs to his arm!

You can even use a tennis racket, but obviously this presents a greater risk of injury and should not be attempted unless you are already experienced with lighter training rackets. I don't recommend using a tennis racket.

Exercising with a resistance band is a good alternative: just make fast half-smash motions while holding the band (recommended by Yvette Yun Luo for developing racket head speed).

If you're recovering from a shoulder injury, then you need to consider whether it's yet safe for you to perform these kinds of training.

 

I don't think it's because he's using too much pronation, but rather that he's not timing his stroke properly. In particular, he looks rushed when he gets to the back, and is then forced to take a quick swipe for his shot as opposed to a proper stroke.

Kazecloud: I'd work on practising the timing of the scissor kick. First, make sure you feel that moving smoothly transfering your weight as appropriate, then work at maintaining that technique as you move more quickly.

 

stumblingfeet, i'm not saying he's using too much pornation. i'm saying he's expecting too much power from pronation only. maybe i worded it wrongly, because i was in a rush then. but no, i don't think he's pronating too much. he's just got to realise there's a limit to how big your smash gets with only pronation, without proper setup, using your legs to push off etc. etc.

but i do agree that he's not doing the proper setup. whether it's becaused he's rushed or simply not doing it, i'm not too sure about. so KazeCloud, i'd work on getting a proper, full set up before the smash. and work on your footwork as well. you can never get enough of that.

 

watched your video and i think your shoulders are hurting because you don't follow through with your swing. your body should rotate more. pronation or not, you should still have a "swing" (unless you are doing drives or at the net). and as i noted in your other thread, you need to relax, more fluid. your shots are too stiff/mechanical

 

I think you should also seek medical advice if your shoulders are hurting.

 

Yes, you should relax and tighten up on impact. You want fluid movement and explosive power. You can't get either if your body is too tense.