I've been noticing that a lot of players are cross court lifting instead of a straight lift most of the time? Should i be cross court lifting more often? I'll admit they work pretty well on me if i'm not expecting it.
Well it's not the specifically cross court lifting I think that people are doing, it's more so lifting to places where it will require the opposing player to cover more court to get to, thus making it harder for them to hit a more effective shot if they can't. That could mean either a cross court or a straight lift. Depends also if it's doubles or singles.
Where are you noticing this? Cross court lifts give you more recovery time than straight lifts. Opponents sneaking close against a possible drop have a more difficult time responding to the longer distance to travel from cross court lifts. Anything works well if the opponent isn't expecting it.
only if 1. your lifts are powerful enough to reach the baseline 2. there is an empty space there 3. it doesn't expose your partner to a straight smash that he is not expecting
Presuming that everyone can play every shot sufficiently well and you have to lift etc, some pros and cons of x-court lifts in doubles are: Pros: 1. More recovery time. 2. Easier to get the lift deep (i.e. tight to the rear baseline). 3. Requires opposition to move. 4. Transfers the 'pressure' onto your (stronger) partner. Cons. 1. More recovery time. 2. Harder to get the lift wide (i.e. tight to the side tramline). 3. Enables the opposition to rotate the strike (switch roles). 4. Transfers the 'pressure' onto your (weaker) partner. 5. Easier to hit the shuttle from where it came (i.e. straight). As I'm sure you've noticed, each pro lines up against a con. Whether you want more recovery time or not depends upon whether you or the opposition are more tired. Opposition with poor footwork and/or co-ordination will struggle to return a x-court. However, good opposition will have the slightly fresher player smash a x-court all day. The only tactic that is fairly constant depends upon whether you return smashes better than your partner. If you're significantly better, lift straight. If you're weaker, lift cross. If you're level, than either is fine based upon the other considerations listed above.
Just a quick note, if you are considering singles, then things are a little different. Cross lifting is fine from a tactical point of view, as long as you do not expose yourself by doing so - this means you must be quick to recover to a good base, and able to retrieve any possible shot from your opponent. You may catch them out, you may send them scrambling, or they may be standing there waiting to punish you. Every game is different. An interesting thought I heard recently is that a cross court shot in singles is "the hardest to get to, but the easiest to return", meaning that if you can get there (longer distance - harder to get to), then the simplest response (straight drop/block/smash) is the best response in this situation to put your opponent in trouble. Matt