in normal smash and clear you still do arch a little for the core muscle power, but not as much as you cannot offset the balance with your legs, normally you end up with a huge scissors kick if you try. if you bend back too far while on the ground you won't be getting any power from the core muscle group but instead lose balance and strain your back muscles to try maintain balance.
hahaha not really higher, u just need ur legs off the ground in such a way they can compensate the body bending. of course that means you need enough time to land on your feet again so higher would help
For those of you that have the badminton england DVD, they actually shows the smash with an animated line that the two shoulders should create an angle line, (the shoulders are not a the same level), so there must be a bend movement, although he looks pretty aligned still. I still believe that too much banana movement gives you an unbalanced situation.
i remember somewhere in these forum's that stumblingfeet said if your spine bends, energy is leaked. the strongest position for the core is when it's stable and straight. if you look at any good doubles player, especially Fu Haifeng when he jump smashes, you will notice his torso bending is very minimal. only when you are forced to stretch (which is every shot in singles ) will you bend your back.
For the smash, the back should be bent before the final swing. You should see Fuhaifeng again, he's a frequent flyer and his back bends quite much, . It's necessary, but just don't overdo it.
My coach says if you the bird goes behind you, don't make an effort to kill it, cause' your wasting energy and it won't guarantee a kill. That's for singles. In doubles he also said just clear it or try to half smash it so you can recover fast enough to get the next shot or so your partner can set you up decently.
oh really? is that when he's rushed or when he's got plenty of time. i seem to recall him keeping his back straight (well, almost straight) as often as possible, esp. when he had time. of course, he would bend his back once he'd hit the shuttle but i can't remember him doing it before. but you could be right. not too sure on this. all i know is that keeping your back straight is the strongest position your trunk can be in.
I noticed many singles pro players wears an orthopaedic waist band or waist trimmer. eg. Taufik in France Open, Xie Xingang, Zhou Mi to name a few. Is it a precaution to prevent injury or do they put it on to prevent 'banana movement' ?
