Hi Matt

Misinterpretation: depends who I play with. There's a few players I normally play with, and with them we form a “to beat” team. Even for better ranked players then I am. It's only when I play with someone I haven't played with before, misinterpretation can arise, with the result you mentioned.
What I also tend to do, but I must admit this was quite hard in the beginning, when I'm in the club playing matches, I use them for training, not bothering wether I lose or win (but off course the latter feels much better ).
The round the head smash you see in the videos, there are a few specialists arround the world: LD, LCW, …, they're able to smash really hard round the head. It is something very hard to master, but I must say when I started this, the first attempts looked like a fast drop. But if you don't give up and finetune your movement, it's getting better all the time (as every shot in badminton is). Not that I will ever equal the above mentioned masters in this technique, but I already made a few of my opponents frown their eyebrows. That too is an indication I'm getting there (and that momentum feels just great). Don't give up is the moral of the story. Played wednesday, and I have to admit that I do jump a little bit. You can't call it a jump smach, but I do level something like 10-20 cm. Indeed, very hard to describe when you never saw yourself in motion before.
Cheers ED

Is there any better feeling than hitting a MAHUSSIVE and perfectly timed smash from the rear-court and it not being returned??? In fact – there's not many better sounds either! Unfortunately my smash is severely lacking in CONSISTENCY!

Sometimes I feel like I could hit the shuttle through the floor and at other times I may as well have just hit the shuttle with a wet fish…its incredibly frustrating! If im honest though, I probably work on my smash less than any other shot. I think this is because in the early stages of my badminton, my smash was always my strongest shot. I had very little game other than a big smash and have therefore focused on improving everything else since. I even went to the extent a few years ago of playing for a year with a nanospeed in an attempt to make me less reliant on my smash.

I think that timing is my biggest problem at the moment – I find that I play my best badminton when i have little time to think and play on instinct and this is definitely the case with my smash. When I have plenty of time to prepare for my smash I often mistime the shuttle – not noticeably, just enough that my smash isn't as crisp and penetrative as it ought to be.

Despite this, I do think that a hugely powerful smash CAN be the most overrated shot in Badminton and one that if not utilised intelligently can put you in big trouble. Personally i would much rather defend against a very powerful smash than a varied one. At my level, this power is often twinned with a consistent trajectory and placement and eventually I will use the pace of the shuttle to outmaneuver my opponent. My mens doubles partner for example has a colossal smash and i will attack the net at every opportunity for easy kills early in a game. As the game progresses however this often becomes increasingly difficult as they begin to read it and return it with interest!

Conversely I absolutely hate trying to pick up a varied smash of less velocity, just when you think you're starting to read the placement….. FIDDLESTICKS ( i use this word when i get irate on court to make me laugh and relax haha)…. you've just taken a shuttle in the eye! And don't get me started on the wiley 'veterans' who appear to be able to hit the right side of your hip every time without fail!

This brings me on to my own placement of the shuttle. Many players often talk about trying to hit specific areas of the opponents body such as the right pocket (on a right handed player) but I find it difficult just to place the smash on the side of my opponent that I require sometimes! In mens doubles I will generally smash straight and down the middle as much as possible, I have a tendency though to become a bit 'smash happy' and forget to vary the speed and trajectory. In mixed doubles however my smash is probably more considered and i use my height more. If pushed to my backhand corner i will usually smash cross court, (round the head if required) at the lady as hard as possible. Is shes defensively proficient this can catch me out but as long as its successful I try and play it as much as possible. I often try and take some power of my smash in mixed doubles as well, attempting instead to use my height in order to bring the shuttle down very steeply, thus placing the shuttle behind the lady and in front of the man (if opponents are in this position).

Generally though I probably don't use my height and size to my advantage enough when smashing or in the rest of my game. Does anyone have any insights into making this most of these attributes?

Finally, in reference to what Paul said about genetically not being built for power and more of a long distance runner –  im the complete opposite. Im a hopeless long distance runner but was a decent sprinter in my school days, my rugby game was based around making huge hits, im a venomous striker of a football and not too shabby at slogging a cricket ball around. If only I could translate this power to my badminton and obtain the huge smash i desire!

Oh the frustration! Top discussion though guys!

Nice to know that im not the only person who has timing inconstencies Matt…although i doubt thats any consolation to you! Thanks for the input on my placement issues…I never realised/ have been told that your stomach will align with the direction of the shuttle…i'll have to look out for that one when i play tomorrow night. Do you or anyone else have any training regimes regarding placement of the smash…and can using targets be an effective method of improving this? My biggest problem regarding this sort of practice however, is that i rarely have access to a badminton court other than for club nights in which I can generally only play games.

With regards to taking the shuttle at the highest possible point, I am often guilty of striking the shuttle too late, its an old bad habit and i really have to concentrate on taking the shuttle early for me to achieve this in match play – its not a problem i have whilst knocking up or practising my smash, but sometimes when in the throws of a match this can hinder me.

I understand what you're saying about protecting the rest of your game by possessing a big smash, I cant think of many league players who haven't at least got a decently hard smash. As you have mentioned as well though, its not going to be effective throughout the course of a match unless you mix it up.

Rich