Nothing is more difficult than the "Cross court backhand smash"! It's so hard, few ever bother trying to play it.. or even practice the shot. It's a shot only hit in my dreams. Not sure whether even Taufik can hit it. Mind you, I'm not talking about some weak cross court drive that's going to get you killed.
Let me correct myself.. the hardest shot is not the cross court backhand smash.. it's JUMPING Cross Court Backhand smash! The more ridiculously difficult shot that no one has ever mastered! Not even the great Taufik... forgive me guys.. all the stress from work and the wife is making me go nuts..
I can see no situation where that shot would be useful - if you have the time to jump, you have the time to play a forehand
I would never use a backhand cross-court smash. My coach will go crazy on me ! it is the most pointless shot in badminton thats why no one hits it. Jackie , Back to the real topic , in singles when you hit a jump smash , you had to hit it perfectly otherwise , if your opponent hit clear to backline and your momentum is taking you forward , there is no time to recover. unless you are super-fast/flexible
No doubt your coach will go crazy. Most coaches would because they can't even hit the darn shot themselves! Conventional thinking in badminton rules out the shot simply because it's too outrageously difficult to hit. One only need to look back to the time when no one thought the jump smash was possible. If that's too far back, one can only need to look at Taufik. Before Taufik, no professorial even bothers to practice the backhand smash shot. If you tried it, your coach would go nuts. But Taufik went against the conventional thinking and awed everyone. Of course, the question is whether mastering such a shot is going to give you any advantage. Of course it does. 1. The opponent has to look out for one extra shot in your repertoire. 2. Since you don't have to jump backwards, you save stamina. 3. The ability to intercept and hit the shuttle earlier. Ah.. it's the stress..
I find the (forehand) reverse slice drop shot lets me down a lot. It's very useful and deceptive in singles, but i ask too much of it and usually hit the net. Keeping on par with previous comments then obviously the backhand version would be much harder.
You should watch the Zhao Jianhua video on the reverse slice. The trick to improving control is to have a flexible wrist and soft fingers to control the action.
Haha, it's quite difficult; I have tried. I'm not sure if the body mechanics work out efficiently though. That's a good point, I did forget to mention that. That's also why it's really hard to practice jump smashes without a partner, haha, the footwork and timing get messed up. The backhand clear is indeed pretty difficult. I think it's not so hard for a straight clear though. As for your points... -timing: I think this is important for a lot of shots, such as feint/double shots, drives, smashes, etc. -supination: I actually don't feel that the difficulties of a backhand clear come from the supination, but rather from the need to turn the body to an unusual positioning as well as the coordination required between the body and the arm/wrist. -correct angle of the racket: Somehow I feel this is more important for drops, although crucial to all shots. -quick swing: I will definitely agree on this one. It's more difficult (although very possible) to learn to get a quick swing on the backhand clear. I actually think supination is better than pronation for most shots besides the smash. I think it's an issue with body rotation and footwork. Facing backwards/to the side does make things quite different, you are right.
personally, having played for a few years i would say the drop is hard to do properly if not trained, simply because it requires touch and accuracy do it wrong and it gives the opponent a good chance to go for the kill . this , ofcourse, is just my opinion XD
For me it is smash. I have the correct arm and wrist movement but no matter how much I try, I cannot smash properly. Only the wrist flick smash which barely counts as a smash. A proper full on smash I can't do. I try judge the distance and then swing but I always swing to early and miss the shuttle. Any tips would be appreiciated.
i used to struggle with it too. i found that through concentrating more on timing (at what height you take the shuttle) and getting into a good position helped me a lot. if your feet and body aren't in the right position, you wont be able to generate power and you wont have control over where the shuttle goes. Forget hitting the shuttle hard, work on timing and positioning first. after that, everything will fall into place.
ty for the advice. Its just I struggle with angles and timing. I'm not too bothered about power atm, that will come with practice but I just struggle to hit the shuttle at the right moment and place on the racquet. I'll try what you have said.
Personally I'd say it's a toss up between the backhand cross court clear and the backhand cross court drop. I can do straight backhand and forehand drops consistently enough to use them regularly (so long as I am in the right position etc) but doing backhand drops cross court I find tough. It's a shot I've just started to add to my game. I find it's more effective in singles than in doubles as you have very slightly more margin for error in terms of height over the net. But it's the sheer number of things to think about in a short space of time that is challenging. However to be honest I find in badminton that it's best to play percentage shots if you know your stamina can keep up with the opponent. My biggest weakness is trying to end points too early. The other shot I find hard to master are effective clears. I can clear easily enough but it's getting a high enough arc that lands just inside the base line. Overall my game doesn't have much margin for error so when I am on I am on but when I am off I tend to haemorrhage points because of ineffective clears. I also don't clear enough.
i think the most difficult shot is clear , cause it's the most fundamental , the others skills evolve from clear , most of the motion are the same , just at the moment when you hit the shuttle is different, if you master clear then your opponent is really hard to judge which point you want to hit
Even though I agree with the clear being the most fundamental and important shot, I think actually mastering it is easier than others. It's the most important, not the most difficult. Smash&drop are a lot harder to master (especially a disguised drop is difficult, but incredibly useful if used occasionally). My personal nemesis is still the backhand clear, especially the crosscourt one. I can get a good length in my straight BH, but the cross shot is not only longer, but has a difficult angle. Second hardest shot is the BH crosscourt drop, which is still a whole lot easier for me if taken above net height.
Yep.. backhand crosscourt clear is hard indeed, but I think that hitting that behind the back (when under pressure) like what taufik does is insane. I mean this shot.. [video=youtube;hFShgILcy14]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFShgILcy14[/video]
Most of the netplay is a nogo for me most of the times. Drops are to high or to short, cross court only works when a rainbow unicorn passes.
Backhand clear is still hard for me. Smash is also damn hard. I can smash, but I can't smash well. Very weak >_<. Luckily I can smash with good angles. I'm still struggling with smashing it harder while maintaining my angle. Normally if I smash harder, my angle is not as steep, thus easier for them to pick up,
Unfortunately, just consistently hitting most shots is difficult for me. I would put my vote for clear or smash. It is true backhand clears/drops are probably more tricky but with doubles you should be getting around to play the forehand in most cases anyway. I really envy those with nice technique!
