TACTICAL MATTERS: RETURNING THE BIRDIE

For most beginners, returning the birdie into the opponent's side of the court is the ultimate objective, rather than scoring a shot or putting the opponent out of position. But for a more rewarding play, however, it is important to return the birdie with an objective other than merely being able to bring it into the opponent's court: to win.

The following are some of the ways by which this can be achieved:

1. Bring the birdie to a spot that is not covered by the opponent or will be hard to reach. A lot makes the mistake of returning the birdie to the opponent himself which gives him/her the opportunity to return a winner or defensive shot. Wouldn't it make more sense to send the birdie to a spot away from the opponent?

2. Send your clear deep into the back line of the court. Never send a clear or lob shot (one that is high) to the forecourt (infront or close to the net) or midcourt only (between the forecourt and the back part of the court) as this will be easy for the opponent to kill it with a smash, which will be hard to defend against. So practice your clear by sending the birdie way to the back part of the court, taking care of course not to bring the birdie outside of the court. This clear can work both as a defensive and offensive move: it is defensive when your only objective is to return your opponent's attack; it is offensive when your opponent is infront and away from the back court. Also, if your clear is deep it would be much easier to defend even against a smash. The laws of physics will work on your side: the farther the biride the slower or lesser force it reaches you.

3. Try to bring the birdie to the corners on the back court. A deep clear shot to the corner of the back court is difficult to return, especially if it is the backhand side of the opponent (to the right if opponent is right handed; to the left if left handed).

THE JUMP SMASH

Who said only in basketball do we see players flying off the court? In this picture Lin Dan, 1997 Olympics gold medalist for men's singles event, executing a high jump smash. The jump smash is usually done when smashing from the rear part of the court to give a player more stiffness to the smash, which cannot normally be accomplished due to the distance from the net. Although I have seen beginners do jump smashes in midcourt or even in forecourt! To me this is waste of precious energy because a normal smash, given your proximity to the net, could accomplish the same thing, and with even greater accuracy as a jump smash requires perfect timing to do.

Anyway, if you have the strength to do this highly advanced shot, I suggest you check out this link involving a demonstration of the jump smash by Danish player Peter Rasmussen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12Xe5Qtrq90.

SMASHING IT! - PART 3

In the postings below, you will see a series of pictures from the ready stance to the smash shot, with brief explanations, for a further understanding and mastery of this very important and potent badminton shot.

THE READY STANCE

Always take a ready stance while waiting for the shots of your opponent. Remember to stand on the balls of your feet, which means the heels do not or barely touch the floor. This allows you to spring into action fast.

AIMING FOR THE SHOT

As the birdie arrives, position yourself for the shot by moving your right foot to the back and turning your hips and shoulders to the right so that you position yourself almost sideways to the net. At the same time, raise your arms with the raquet hand behind and the racquet held high above your shoulder, while the non-raquet hand infront pointing toward the direction of the birdie and acting as a balancer. Note the weight shifting to the right foot.

THE COCKING ACTION

Immediately before hitting the birdie the racquet is cocked by dropping it behind you or whipping it back to generate power for the smash shot. Other things to take note in this picture: (1) the weight of the body is shifted to the right foot; (2) the birdie is infront and above the player; and (3) along the path of the right shoulder - for the ideal hitting zone.

TAKING THE SHOT

For the shot, the forearm whips up toward the direction of the incoming birdie, thus straightening your arm with the locking of the elbow, followed by the snapping of the wrist that pushes the racquet downward. Note how high the outstretched arm is, which provides a sharp downward trajectory to the birdie.

THE FOLLOW-THROUGH

The stroke should not stop at the point of contact with the birdie, but must continue in one fluid motion to its downward and natural path. This is the follow-through which adds more power to your smash.