Is muscle power everything that matters??

Discussion in 'Techniques / Training' started by milham, May 28, 2008.

  1. milham

    milham Regular Member

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    I have seen a thin and lean body young boy that does jumping smash with so much power like there is no tomorrow.

    Is it technique? Or is it raw muscle power.

    As it turns out, the boy is part of Selangor (Malaysia) state under-18 player.

    hmmm....
     
  2. rajmussen

    rajmussen Regular Member

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    Considering most of the international stars are from East/South East Asian countries, I'm sure you'll agree it's technique. Your body needs to be agile and nimble for badminton, if you're too muscley you could have issues with your flexibility, manoeverability etc. The only stocky very high level players I can think of are the Danes (Kenneth Jonassen etc.).
     
  3. Gollum

    Gollum Regular Member

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    Mainly technique, but strength plays an important part too.

    Don't forget that muscle power is not entirely about size. Muscles size forms the basis for your strength, but it's essential to condition your muscles to perform the activities you need. Badminton requires a mixture of performance elements, but the emphasis is on fast, explosive movements.

    Although top badminton players do not have the build of an Olympic weightlifter, they are hardly scrawny. ;) They all have a solid foundation of muscle.

    Technique comes first; but the condition of your muscles also makes a big difference. Don't forget that you need strong legs too so that you can get in position for the smash!
     
    #3 Gollum, May 28, 2008
    Last edited: May 28, 2008
  4. nSmash

    nSmash Regular Member

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    Just want to elaborate that muscle type and quality are more important than raw strength... and also that one would tend to rely more on raw strength (and hence bear a greater risk of injury) when out of position.
     
  5. milham

    milham Regular Member

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    Well said guys...

    Now, there must be some kind of recipe that these players adopt to deliver powerful smash.

    And the recipe consist of technique and proper body exercise, or is there anymore??

    The problem is, I can do smashing training all month and at the same time exercise my bicep and upper body but achieve nothing close to a good smash.

    The big Q is, what is the proper technique (smashing) and proper exercise (upper or lower body) to improve one's smash. The keyword here is improve, because power can be gradually increased as the technique has been corrected.
     
    #5 milham, May 28, 2008
    Last edited: May 28, 2008
  6. nSmash

    nSmash Regular Member

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    The element of surprise can rob your opponents of reaction time and make them perceive your smash to be faster than it is. This translates into pressure for them.

    Also, placement can increase effectiveness of your smash.

    When you do your drills, aim to reach a point when your smash timing feels so natural that you can take your eye off the bird and watch your opponents e.g. if they lower their racquet, smash to their shoulder, if they raise their racquet, smash to their hip. Of course, smashing to unreachable open areas is always preferable, though you need to master other shots than the smash to pull them off position in order to create the empty areas. You may find that in some cases, the better your smash, the less you have to smash because e.g. when your opponents fear your smash, they tend to stand further back then if you can deliver a fast drop that comes down very close to the net, they will be in trouble.
     
  7. taneepak

    taneepak Regular Member

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    Proper stroke-making or technique is almost everything. You don't have to have massive muscles. The required muscles will come as you play the game more competitively. Remember, stroke technique is the end result of almost everything that contribute to a perfect shot-footwork, grip, balance, fitness, and the leverage cycle from the swing to the body movement.
     
  8. Gollum

    Gollum Regular Member

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    I wouldn't categorise fitness as part of stroke technique. Yes, fitness contributes towards your ability to play a shot; but technique and fitness are such different skills that they are best kept in separate categories.

    Shot technique is about learning motor skills; fitness is about improving your physical capabilities. Essentially, technique is about training your brain, whereas fitness is about training your body.

    You do gain relevant badminton fitness from practising and playing badminton; but for the best results, some form of dedicated fitness training is also necessary.
     
  9. taneepak

    taneepak Regular Member

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    While fitness may not be relevant in stroke making or technique per se, once you are too tired in in the course of a game, your stroke making technique will deteriorate simply because a return shot from your opponent is just a mm or two too fat for you to be in balance to reply well.
     
  10. milham

    milham Regular Member

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    OK, back to my original Q, what are the techniques and physical exercise needed?

    The reason for asking is that most videos (Badminton.tv, YouTube) will show basic movement to perform smash shot. Even after watching it countless times, I still can't quite get it.

    During an entire badminton match, I would smash 2 or 3 times max. Most of the time I'd do drop shot.

    Or should I now get the Sure Fire Badminton Drills e-book?
     
  11. Gollum

    Gollum Regular Member

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    You've hit the nail on the head there!

    Many coaching resources are of limited usefulness, because they just show good players hitting good shots. They seem to hope that weaker players will absorb the technique by osmosis. ;)

    I'm putting together a resource that, I hope, will do a better job. But teaching these things well is not easy. :(
     
  12. milham

    milham Regular Member

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    Thanks Gollum and you are right, with Rasmussen on YouTube video teaching jumping smash, I feel so inferior but who wouldn't?

    This resource you were saying, is it a book? video? e-book? online coaching stuff?

    By the way, has anyone used or happened to know someone who use the Sure Fire badminton Drills e-book? Is it any good or so so?
     
  13. Gollum

    Gollum Regular Member

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    To be fair to Peter, that video is really intended for players who already have a good smash and are looking to improve their jump smash.

    He does give interesting coaching points for this advanced technique, but it's not intended as a basic video.

    <plug>

    The Badminton Bible :D

    Currently it's a collection of articles. But I have several interesting ideas for the future...

    It's early days yet, and so far there's nothing about smash technique.

    </plug>
     
  14. milham

    milham Regular Member

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  15. KazeCloud

    KazeCloud Regular Member

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    Milham you seem to be inclined on an answer that tells you to lift these kind of weights for these sort of muscles for a faster smash. Everybody wants this answer because lifting weights is easy, you can do it for hours and hours. But lifting weights will not give you a fast smash. If you are smashing horribly where you only do two smashes in a game, no sort of training on muscle is going to help you that much.

    Instead practice and continue to watch those videos until you know you've got your technique down. I have recorded myself and looked at myself for countless hours trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong, and finally starting to improve on smashing.

    So focus now on hitting it right, instead of which muscles you have too little of and how can you buff it up for a better smash. I am way buffer in my arms than people that can smash faster than me. Muscle is needed in order to smash, but there is no direct correlation between a fast smash and a strong armed player.
     
  16. milham

    milham Regular Member

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    Thanks Kaze, but I mentioned in post #5 that I'm not too eager for power, my main concern is technique.

    I stumbled upon that link so I posted it, just to share with others who are reading this thread, who have already the technique but not power.

    Anyway, it is interesting suggestion you put forward, to record oneself. I never thought of that!! I'll try to get a digicam/videocam, record myself and see how I fare against the basic smash shot videos and make necessary improvement/adjustment.
     
  17. Gollum

    Gollum Regular Member

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    It's created by me. And thank you. :)
     
  18. darkyboy

    darkyboy Regular Member

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    not muscel power its the explosiveness you have
     
  19. limsy

    limsy Regular Member

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    to me...there was two kind of condition...

    1st: hand strengh(muscle or something like that) was not good...then u will require to put your body weight on the shutter to smash...in other word...when doing smash...your body was move forward...this will help u have a faster smash...

    2nd: have good strengh...this wis more easier as you just need to aim and blasting the shutter to opposite court...

    but...u need a good angle and sense of drift...a good angle by judging the position u jump up...and the height between the shutter and the net...the just u can launch a effective smash...^^...

    that my experience of playing...^^...
     

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