Being a player and now also coach, i've always been very interested in the mechanics and techniques of badminton strokes to improve players. In order to regain power in my own smashes, which i've lost after months (even years) of being lazy on court and play very passive using a defense/counter-attack style, i've been watching a lot of videos and analyzing pro's smash techniques against my own trying to figure out how i lost that much power in that specific stroke. In doing so I've managed to regain much of my own power and helped my players on their smashes.
I've come to the conclusion that Praveen Jordan, much like Fu Hai Feng, Goh V Shem, and Jung Jae Sung (RIP), are able to generate that much power because they are among the few that use perfect smashing techniques. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of heavy hitters out there that can generate power consistently like Muhammad Ahsan, Marcus Gideon, Zheng Siwei, etc. But some just have a little bit of an edge simply by having the perfect smashing techniques. Every player has their own style of play, their own way of swinging the racket so i'm aware that there are many factors that can vary the speed of a smash.
Leaving all the common things we all know like body rotation, snapping of the wrist, etc. The top smashers do several things that some other players don't consistently. We all know that in order to perform the best smash, one has to create the maximum racket speed at the point of contact like a whip. Here's are the difference i noticed in certain players...
1) Bring the elbow up to the side of the head: this is how they always manage to get some of the best angled smashes I've seen. Players like Marcus Gideon usually have a very strong smash but it is often flatter in trajectory simply due to the contact point of the shuttle. Yes, Marcus is shorter than Praveen, but so is Jung Jae Sung. By bringing the elbow up that close to the head gives the maximum height reached when hitting the shuttle.
2) Core crunch: Praveen does it less than Fu Hai Feng and Jung Jae Sung but it is still more noticeable than other players. The crunch of the ab provided an extra weight transfer snap that a lot of people ignore. I was able to improved my players' smashes simply by telling them to commit to the smash with an extra crunch of the ab on impact
3) Lighter grip: One can clearly see how Praveen consistently loosen his grip on the racket during the prep phase of his smash stroke. By having a looser grip on the handle, you are loosening up your forearm muscles and wrist allowing for a more natural and powerful pronation whip of the racket.
These are the 3 main things that I noticed my favourite smashers all have in common compared to other heavy hitters. Every players open up shoulder, rotate core, weight transfer from body to shoulder to arm to wrist, and finally snapping of the wrist to perform a smash. But in my opinion, these are the 3 things that give certain players consistent powerful smash with better angles. Let me know if you agree or not on certain things
I've come to the conclusion that Praveen Jordan, much like Fu Hai Feng, Goh V Shem, and Jung Jae Sung (RIP), are able to generate that much power because they are among the few that use perfect smashing techniques. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of heavy hitters out there that can generate power consistently like Muhammad Ahsan, Marcus Gideon, Zheng Siwei, etc. But some just have a little bit of an edge simply by having the perfect smashing techniques. Every player has their own style of play, their own way of swinging the racket so i'm aware that there are many factors that can vary the speed of a smash.
Leaving all the common things we all know like body rotation, snapping of the wrist, etc. The top smashers do several things that some other players don't consistently. We all know that in order to perform the best smash, one has to create the maximum racket speed at the point of contact like a whip. Here's are the difference i noticed in certain players...
1) Bring the elbow up to the side of the head: this is how they always manage to get some of the best angled smashes I've seen. Players like Marcus Gideon usually have a very strong smash but it is often flatter in trajectory simply due to the contact point of the shuttle. Yes, Marcus is shorter than Praveen, but so is Jung Jae Sung. By bringing the elbow up that close to the head gives the maximum height reached when hitting the shuttle.
2) Core crunch: Praveen does it less than Fu Hai Feng and Jung Jae Sung but it is still more noticeable than other players. The crunch of the ab provided an extra weight transfer snap that a lot of people ignore. I was able to improved my players' smashes simply by telling them to commit to the smash with an extra crunch of the ab on impact
3) Lighter grip: One can clearly see how Praveen consistently loosen his grip on the racket during the prep phase of his smash stroke. By having a looser grip on the handle, you are loosening up your forearm muscles and wrist allowing for a more natural and powerful pronation whip of the racket.
These are the 3 main things that I noticed my favourite smashers all have in common compared to other heavy hitters. Every players open up shoulder, rotate core, weight transfer from body to shoulder to arm to wrist, and finally snapping of the wrist to perform a smash. But in my opinion, these are the 3 things that give certain players consistent powerful smash with better angles. Let me know if you agree or not on certain things
