I been please with power of my smashes for over haft a year but recently I can't smash. I feel like someone stole it. The whole technique of smashing is gone, and I have to learn to smash from scratch. I am not talking about good day and bad day, or good smashing day or bad smashing day. I haven't been able to smash for almost a week, there is no weight behind my smash, no velocity, no angle, what happen? My arm feel fine. It all started when my cab21 racquet with BG65Ti cracks but I replace with the exact same model, the weight is the same, the grip size is the same, and the only slice difference is the string is BG65. Without the smash, playing competitive double is out of the question and my single is going to hell, can't even kill when is a perfect setup. I am not burning out, I still enjoy the game but lately it getting pretty frustrated. Anyone of you guy or gal have similar incident?
Oh yes...this is happening to me right now!! there's no power nor angle to any of my smashes, except for the ones that're very high and close to the net ones. Most of my smashes look like they're drives, with just a little angle..especially the ones from back court. I keep on thinking if it's I'm using too much arm or something like that. It really is frustrating when you know you can do something before but now you can't do it anymore... I think I need to watch more good people smash with perfect posture, so I can get back the feel of it. Maybe it's just our minds that the racquet is different than it used to be...i'm really not sure... but I just restrung my racquet, same old ISO 800 with BG-80 at 22 pounds. Can anybody help us out?
take a break. for odd reason, that worked for me. at the beginning of the summer, i hit the same wall as you guys. i took a month or so break and went cycling instead. when i went back to badminton, i find that my shots are sharper, and so was my mind. very strange. another suggestion is instead of playing games, just do drills, do lots and lots of drills.
been there, done that. I've taken a break for about a month...and it got worst....all my smashes are all over the place, the only thing that's still okay is my power! I get what u meant by taking a break..sometimes it works for me too...but it's quite hard to play the game back it used to be after a while without touching the racquet..it just feels like you're not as strong as before. I think what I need to do is to ask my coach and have her teach me how to smash again.... BTW, are there any machines out there that will just pop the birdie right out to you, like tennis, instead of having a person standing there feeding u?
There are probably others, but here's a link to a Swedish company that has developed a shuttle machine for badminton: http://www.sport-teknik.se/
Drills are a good idea. I go through periods of losing certain shots unless I practice them. I worked out how to return balls in the alley on my forehand side, good footwork and everything, and could make hard flat drives or good deep clears with accuracy. Then I said "OK, I've got those shots down, now I'll learn..." and before long I lost the shots I'd just learned :-( If you've learned from a good coach, try reviewing the steps he/she taught you at first, and retrain yourself, with the help of a good practice partner. Shots I've had to learn at least twice: Clear from back court Drop from back court Forehand smash Low backhand from midcourt Low forehand from midcourt High singles serve ( deserted me one hour before a tournament. Nightmare!) I'm too embarassed to list any more. marshall
Taking a break or doing drill is very good suggestion. Thank you. I think I will take a break, maybe 2 or 3 days break. I play too much, even my badminton buddy(s) said I play too much.
Try a different sport like squash. I lost my groove, so I started playing squash, now I've go huge forearms from squash and an effortless backhand in badminton. It worked for me, who knows, it might work for you.
I try squash once, it was fun, I don't know why I didn't continue. If playing squash does improve your backhand, I definitely will give it a try. Thanks.