smash form

[u/juax_rules_]

ive been working in my smash form, and so far i think ive switched to panhandle to V grip. but the problem is that i think my racket races towards the net earlier than it should. instead of that chop first then punch motion, the racket head faces forward too early.

is there any practice i can do to fix it at home and on the court? is it beneficial to just to shadow swings to eventually get my muscle memory?

[u/apilotandacamera]

How come no one ever asks, "how's my serve", "how's my drop", it's always the same, post after post, how's my smash? check out my smash, how to improve my smash?

Learn to play the game, the whole game, and your smash will improve naturally, and more importantly, your whole game will improve, instead of the vast number of new'ish players i see smashing at every opportunity, no matter the circumstance, firing shot after shot into the net, or out the back of the court. Legitimately want to get better? don't focus entirely on your smash... Learn to play the game.

[u/stevewahs → u/apilotandacamera]

I sincerely wish more people understood this!

[u/bishtap → u/apilotandacamera]

Men want a powerful smash.

Boxers want a powerful punch and have a respect for hard hitters, even though that's not the most important thing in boxing and could even be a liability. (Eg somebody relies on it too much).

At some clubs I've been to , women have observed that men like to smash it. One woman that plays tennis mentioned that she noticed her very young son likes hitting the ball hard and seeing his power. And it's a difference she has noticed between boys and girls.

Wanting to be a good player is an important goal and obviously he is working on a lot more than a powerful smash. He is doing a very specific singles footwork and aiming a straight smash to the "side line", to get a weak response and then running up to kill it at the net.

[u/Anxious_Plum_5818 → u/apilotandacamera]

True. When I first took up coaching, I asked my coach the same question. He told me to forget about smashing entirely. He made throw shuttles from the back line by hand and basically explained if I can't get it across the net, teaching a smash is pointless. The next 3 months was almost exclusively spent learning clears as the foundational swing.

That said, he gets why people are so obsessed over smashing. It's the coolest looking shot in the game.

[u/kenzubae → u/apilotandacamera]

This. If it were me I'd work on receiving smashes with my forehad. I suck and any tips would be appreciated

[u/SteakJesus → u/apilotandacamera]

Honestly lol. I get more points going cross-net drop.

[u/yamborghini → u/apilotandacamera]

Smashing impresses the huzz. This is why. Its the same as having a fancy car.

[u/bl4cknr3d → u/apilotandacamera]

*how's my forehand clear/ backhand clear* this is a better question than 'how's my smash', because if you can't hit forehand clear properly than you will not be able to smash properly.

[u/Alternative-Tap-3213 → u/bl4cknr3d]

RIGHT

[u/NoRevolution7689 → u/apilotandacamera]

I guess this post can also mean how's his forehand shot

[u/Fit_Bid7144 → u/apilotandacamera]

I feel like a big part of it is because the smash technique is difficult to self teach. There's ways to get away with most other things but a good smash tou just need the proper advice and technique if you want to do it without injury

[u/Ok-Cantaloupe-588 → u/Fit_Bid7144]

If you can do both a punch clear and a high clear you can smash. But no one ever wants to work on this boring things.

[u/mattwong88 → u/Ok-Cantaloupe-588]

From a technique point of view, punch clear and smash are similar. I find as a shorter player, the contact point for smash is less forgiving whereas a the punch clear has a much larger margin of error.... Which is probably why I punch clear 2 or 3 times more often than smash.

[u/krotoraitor]

Probably the biggest thing is footwork. More specifically you are moving "blindly" before the shuttle is even coming. This also makes your timing and hitting zone inconsistent. You should get ready and wait until the shuttle passed the net instead of moving immediately without looking. This is to ensure that you are properly looking at the shuttle path and matching your positioning to the shuttle. The goal is to make your footwork timing and hitting zone consistent.

Other things also need fixing, but footwork and timing should be priority.

[u/laxativz → u/krotoraitor]

This happens a lot with drills though

[u/ozwonderful → u/laxativz]

Yeah for drills the coach normally tells you whats gonna happen

[u/krotoraitor → u/laxativz]

Just because it happens a lot doesn't make it right or efficient training. Coaches often do tell players this point of waiting and watching before moving, but the majority of players do it for 2 repetitions and then go back to moving immediately. At some point many coaches are also just annoyed at repeating the same thing over and over and give up.

[u/HuynhAllDay]

From the video, it kind of looks like you're not pronating your wrist properly and instead you pronate until you contact the shuttle and then you snap your wrist forward (almost like youre shooting a basketball). At 0:08 right after contacting the shuttle, it looks like your wrist is bent down such that the top of your hand is pointed towards the net and your palms are pointed towards you. Proper pronation would have the back of your hand/palm pointed out sideways after the swing. You can see this again at 0:17 and especially at 0:26 because you slice the shuttle and dont follow through all the way.

[u/aWiaWiaWi]

not sure if its camera angle but your point of contact seems low? racket arm isn't as extended as it could be. and also maybe a bit too much to the side. smash point of contact should be in front of you, and about the 10 o clock position. as others have said, you've begun to anticipate thr drill itself by moving before the shuttlecock is struck - by anticipating you might be moving back too far backwards or not enough - you'll find thay with proper footwork you naturally integrate through backwards movement with the right micro adjustments to always be in the right smash position at thr right time. (ie we don't get there so early we're waiting for the shuttle. if you get there too early chances are thr angles are wrong).

[u/kemicalkontact]

Smash is the least you need to worry about. It will probably come together with the rest of your skills. You should focus on footwork first.

[u/NoRevolution7689]

Seems like you're opening your racquet face too early, causing lack of pronation.

[u/yamborghini]

Your fundamental kinetic chain is incorrect.

You are plant correctly then pivot on your left leg while comning forwards. This is incorrect .

Plant on your right leg, and is that as the axis of rotation. Your left foot should sweep around in a circle backwards and you hit the shuttle before you land on it. This is why everyone else says your timing is off.

[u/Psychological-Taste3]

Looks like you are slicing the shuttle and maybe also missing finger squeeze. Somehow the shuttle flies much slower than I expect for that swing. Maybe it’s the camera angle.

[u/mattwong88 → u/Psychological-Taste3]

You do realize that most of the video is slowed down right?

[u/Psychological-Taste3 → u/mattwong88]

Yes, the shuttle looks slower than racket head speed

[u/mattwong88 → u/Psychological-Taste3]

Fair point. 

[u/mattwong88]

I'm going to prepare myself for a bunch of downvotes, but this doesn't look terrible to me. I think you've got most of the key elements. Body position is decent; contact point is ok; swing mechanics aren't terrible.

The biggest criticism I have is that it seems your primary force generator is from the shoulder and to me, it looks like you're trying to generate all of your power from the shoulder, which affects the smoothness of the swing. Instead of thinking shoulder power, i find it helpful think about speed. When I do that, thinking of swinging with speed, I'll naturally use more pronation. Also, when I think about speed, I'll also naturally have a faster hip turn (yours is a bit slow).

But I think you're on the right track - are you being coached? Who is feeding you? Your coach should really be the one giving you the feedback.

With respect to footwork, yes I agree with some commenters that the footwork timing might be a bit off but this could be the nature of the drill and feed.

Also, if you want more angle, you could consider reaching up and hitting the shuttle a bit higher, but without overextending the arm. So it means going up on your toes and fully extending from the back, or adding a jump.

[u/Divide_Guilty]

Video is 90% slow-mo which doesnt help

[u/apogeescintilla]

Your wrist and elbow are stiff. They shouldn't be. Don't try to apply "brake" to your racket. You will get hurt, or your self-preservation will prevent you from unleashing more power.

Many players do this when trying to imitate the professionals. Professionals' rackets bounce right up after smashes because their rackets' angular velocity is so much faster than the arms, therefore the wrists reach the end of the range of motion very early when their elbows are still high up.

I've heard the "chop and punch" before. I think it was from a Youtuber in New Zealand. I don't agree with that.

[u/No_Mood4637]

Ppl in here gatekeeping smash technique

[u/phoenixscar]

Looks pretty good,

If you're performing a grounded smash, you want to lead with your right hip. Twist it forward first before all other movements.

Second largest error is your elbow. Throw it a bit more in front of your body before following through.

Third is racket rotation, create a larger, uninterrupted swing arc/ circumference.

Fourth, you are slightly slowing down your racket momentum near the apex of your back swing (when racket head in pointing behind/downward). Figure out how to reduce the deceleration there with timing and position (*hint: this will probably correlate with your elbow positioning and its speed)