How to defend a badminton smash?
by Hanzala
(Karach, Sindh, Pakistan)
Question: How can we pick the smash? How I Return the smash shot?
Hi Hanzala,
The KEY to return a badminton smash is to adopt the badminton defensive stance.
When you’re in a defensive stance, you’ll be able to respond to the smash regardless of whether your opponent smashes to your forehand area, backhand area, or directly to your body.
During the defensive stance, position the racket in front of you to be ready to defend a smash coming from every possible angle.
The best place to stand while defending a badminton smash is a point slightly behind the centre of the court (for singles).
Standing slightly behind the middle of the court gives your eyes some time to ‘catch’ the flight direction of the shuttle.
That way, you can respond to the smash quickly and return a quality shot.
There’s a high chance you’ll fail to defend against a smash when you’re off-guard. To be ON-GUARD all the time, you MUST:
- Stand slightly behind the CENTRE of the court
- Employ a defensive stance and anticipate a smash
- Position your racket in front of your body
Therefore, move into position quickly whenever you anticipate that your opponent is going to smash.
The ONLY time your opponent gets to smash is when you hit a high clear (or anytime you lift the shuttle high up)
Quickly move to your defensive spot on the badminton court and quickly adopt the defensive stance whenever you lift the shuttle up high to your opponent.
The quicker you prepare yourself to receive the smash, the better you can defend the smash.
Other Tips
- Don’t fear the shot, face your opponent
- Focus
- Relax your muscles to be more flexible. It makes it easier to react.