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Round The Head Jump Out Smash Tutorial (Stop Playing Backhands!)

A lot of people often struggle with always hitting the shuttle late in their backhand corner, not knowing how to take it earlier.

But, what if we said that we have a solution for that – a round-the-head jump out smash!

The round-the-head jump out smash in badminton is played on the backhand side, where instead of playing a late backhand shot, you jump out to intercept the shuttle before it goes past you. This will help you reach the shuttle earlier to play an effective downwards shot.

To hit a good round-the-head jump out smash in badminton, you need to split step, then push off and jump out, keeping your hips square to the net. Bring your elbow back, open up your chest, throw your elbow forwards, then bring your forearm through followed by the wrist to hit the shuttle.

We’ll now go through everything you need to know about the the round-the-head jump out smash:

Table of Contents

Step 1 - When Should You Play The Jump Out Smash?

You should play the jump out smash when your opponent has played a flat lift or clear and you don’t have time to get behind the shuttle. 

Instead, you jump OUT to intercept the shuttle before it goes too far past you and you have to take it late. The earlier you can anticipate your opponent’s flat shot into the backhand corner, the better – because this is going to make the next steps more effective!

jump out smash in badminton

To get better at anticipating your opponent’s shot:

  • Look at your opponents body position and the position they’re in on-court.
  • For example, in singles if you hit a flat, deep clear into your opponents forehand corner then a likely shot from them is a flat straight clear so you can jump out and intercept this.
  • Another example in doubles is when you drop from your forehand corner where the ‘natural’ shot for your opponent to play is to whip the shuttle flat cross-court (where the gap is), but this is actually the shot you’re waiting for and you jump out to intercept it!

💡 As soon as you anticipate the shot, you should start doing the footwork for the jump out smash!

Step 2 - The Split Step

The split step is done for 2 reasons:

1. To get your feet in line with the direction you’re going to move to.

2. To help you push off.

Unlike the forehand jump out smash where you can do a directional or side-by-side split step, the most common split step for this jump out smash is doing it side-by-side.

Side by side split step in badminton
Side by side split step

A common mistake we see limiting people’s ability to push off from their split step is having their legs too straight or too close together. 

Instead, your legs should be bent and feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart.  

Step 3 - Moving Into The Right Position

After the split step, you need to look at the shuttle and instantly assess how far away it is. Depending on this answer, there are 2 options: 

1) Simply jump straight away. This is used when you can reach the shuttle in one jump.

2) Where you do a chassee then jump. This is used when you’re further away from the shuttle and is much more common in doubles (we’ll explain why in Step 6)!

💡 You need to be confident in your decision to commit to the jump out, and if you do get it slightly wrong you can hopefully still clear it out and reset the rally which is still better than taking a late backhand!

If you’re new to this, we’d recommend practicing this footwork without a shuttle before moving on to the next steps.  

Step 4 - Mid-Jump

This is what you should do from the moment you push off until the moment you begin your swing. 

This step is really important because it enables you to have a fast racket head speed which is the ultimate goal when trying to create a powerful smash!

jump out smash in badminton

So, as soon as you’re pushing off to jump, you need to do 4 things:

1) Keep your hips square to the net because unlike most shots, you DON’T rotate. This is because you simply don’t have the time.

2) Bring your racket arm up with your elbow back, which helps to open up your shoulders and chest. The further you can get your elbow back whilst keeping your hips square, the more distance you have to create a fast racket swing speed and therefore increase your power. 

3) Make sure you’re in a loose forehand grip. Being loose until the last second is important because it means you can create extra speed in the racket.

💡 Extra racket speed = extra power!

4) Whilst you’re bringing your racket arm up, bring your non-racket arm up and out to the side of you. 

This is important for 2 reasons:

  • It helps your balance.
  • If your non-racket arm is forwards (like it should be for most overhead shots), then your chest will be too closed which massively reduces your swing speed. Or you’ll have to rotate your hips which will completely ruin your timing!

Step 5 - The Smash

Firstly, you need to remember that your hips stay square to the net throughout this entire movement! 

It’s difficult to say exactly when you should initiate the swing because it really depends on how tall you are, your reach, and the height of the lift, but the following sequence should remain consistent:

  • You want to throw your elbow forwards and at the same time bring your non-racket arm down to help generate more force and also allow room for your racket to come through. 
  • After your elbow comes through, this quickly slows down with your forearm coming through. 
  • And then finally your wrist comes through to hit the shuttle!

It’s important to note here that it’s not just the wrist that creates power, which many people think! It’s all of the small movements quickly combined together.

There are then 2 final points in this sequence:

  • As you strike the shuttle, you want to have your arm almost straight but not completely locked out.
  • Your legs should be quite close together as you strike the shuttle and almost straight. Not tucking your legs when jumping will improve the speed of your recovery.

Step 6 - The Recovery

The recovery for the round-the-head jump out smash is what a lot of people find most difficult because you actually land on your non-racket leg first.

💡 Players find this shot difficult because in badminton you almost always land and push off with your racket leg which usually means it’s much stronger and more stable!

So, after you’ve hit the shuttle you then need to widen your legs, and land on your non-racket leg with your knee slightly bent to help absorb the landing. 

You then land your racket leg, again with your knee slightly bent.

landing recovery for jump out smash in badminton
Recovery for the round-the-head jump out smash

💡 You shouldn't do a big follow-through with your racket because if you do, it will ruin both your timing and recovery!

How fast you’re moving into the jump, along with your leg strength will also determine your recovery:

  • If you’re moving at speed and jumping a long distance, you might need 1 or 2 mini steps to recover.
  • Whereas if you jump from a more static position or with less distance then it’s likely you can recover without taking any additional steps.

Like we mentioned earlier in Step 3, this is why doubles players can do this chassee movement more often – because they’re able to use the jump out smash and apply maximum pressure and it doesn’t matter as much if they are slow to recover as they have a partner to cover them!

Whereas in singles, if you were to do this chassee movement and fall out of the court then you probably wouldn’t be able to get the next shot if your opponent did get it back! 

Instead, in singles it’s often a better choice to take the shuttle slightly later and do a scissor kick to ensure you recover back into court as your bodyweight should be moving forwards after the scissor kick.

💡 Of course we’re not saying you shouldn’t do this jump out smash in singles, but if you can’t do it and land reasonably on-balance then we’d probably recommend not doing it!

How To Practice The Jump Out Smash

If you’re new to this movement, we’d really recommend practicing the movement without a shuttle first to not only get it engrained into your muscle memory but also give you the confidence to know that you can do it well, and also safely, in a match. 

When you then add in a shuttle, it will be difficult at first, but keep practicing it, and most importantly practicing with good technique!

Check Out Our Badminton-Specific Weights Programmes!

If you struggle with jumping explosively or having the strength and stability to land, we have 12 different programmes designed to help you improve your on-court strength, endurance, speed and explosive power.
Check them out here!

Learn More

We hope you’ve now learned how to play less backhands, and instead how to implement the round-the-head jump smash effectively into your badminton game!

Remember that the round-the-head jump out smash is slightly different to the forehand side jump out smash, which you can learn more about here! Or if you’d like to learn about the 5 different types of smashes in badminton, click here.

Otherwise, you can also check out our full YouTube video below on everything we’ve discussed above, which includes more visual explanations and demonstrations of each step!

The post Round The Head Jump Out Smash Tutorial (Stop Playing Backhands!) appeared first on Badminton Insight.

]]> The 5 Types Of Smashes In Badminton (+ How To Do Them) https://badminton-insight.com/the-5-types-of-smashes-in-badminton/ Tue, 20 Feb 2024 17:58:59 +0000 https://badminton-insight.com/?p=124123 Learn the technique for the 5 types of smash in badminton, including the standard smash, stick smash, jump smash, jump out smash and backhand smash.

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The 5 Types Of Smashes In Badminton (+ How To Do Them)

The smash in badminton is one of the most popular shots to play, as it’s often a shot you play to win the rally! 

What Is A Smash In Badminton?

A smash shot in badminton is an attacking shot played from the rear court, that is hit with both power and speed in a downwards direction.

There are actually 5 types of smashes, each with specific times of when they should and shouldn’t be played, as well as differences in technique in order to execute them well.

The 5 different types of smashes in badminton are:

  • The standard smash
  • The stick smash
  • The jump smash
  • The jump out smash
  • The backhand smash

We’ll now go through each of these 5 badminton smashes, including what they are, when you should play it, and how to do them successfully!

1. Standard Smash

The standard badminton smash is a powerful and aggressive shot, hit in a downwards trajectory. This shot is most often hit using the scissor kick movement.

For each smash, there will be times when you should and shouldn’t play them. For the standard smash, you shouldn’t hit it when:

  • When your opponent has lifted onto the backline
  • Or when you’re off balance and out of position.

This is because, if your opponents have good defence, it could get you, and your partner if you’re playing doubles, into trouble!

Instead, you should wait until the right opportunity, or a shorter lift to use this smash!

Technical preparation for standard smash in badminton
Standard smash preparation

To improve your smash technique and maximise your power:

  • Try to be around half a meter behind the shuttle. This is because a lot of power comes from rotating your body forwards into the shot. If you strike the shuttle when it is slightly behind you, then your momentum won’t be going forwards which reduces your power.
  • You also need to rotate your hips, torso and shoulders in a very fast sequence, followed by your elbow, forearm and then wrist. This is a huge part of creating good power in your smash, and we break this all down in a lot more detail in our step-by-step smash tutorial here. 

💡 You can hit a smash off balance, but you need very good power and placement and it ideally needs to be a winner as you’ll probably have a slower recovery!

2. Stick Smash

The stick smash is an aggressive shot that has a steep trajectory. It is hit with a short snappy hitting action, making it more suitable to play when you are off balance. Due to the short action, it is more of a controlled smash in badminton.

There are 4 important differences between the stick smash and the standard smash:

  1. The stick smash has less power than the standard smash.
  2. You can hit the stick smash from a variety of positions – both when you’re in a good position, or unlike the standard smash, when you’re taking it a little later.
  3. You have a slower swing speed in the stick smash and when your elbow is roughly in line with your body, it almost stops and stays in the same position (compared to moving forwards and down in the standard smash). You then use your forearm and squeeze your grip to ‘snap’ your wrist over the top of the shuttle.
  4. You don’t use your whole body to rotate in the stick smash, which means you’re more in control of your body so you can hit more accurate shots and recover better!
Technique for stick smash in badminton
Elbow stays in the same position after striking the shuttle

💡 The slower swing speed helps make the shot deceptive as your opponent thinks you’re playing a drop or clear. But for this to work you NEED to be relaxed in your arm and grip - if you’re really stiff and tense then you can’t create this ‘stick’ or ‘snap’ to add the power needed!

To learn more about the stick smash technique, check out this article here.

3. Jump Smash

The jump smash is when you jump up to the shuttle to get more angle and force on the shot when you smash it down.

This is the one that’s difficult to master but everyone wants to do!

There are two main benefits to using a jump smash as opposed to the other  smashes:

  1. You have a higher contact point with the shuttle and can create a better angle on your shot.
  2. You can look more threatening and scare your opponents!

A very important point is that you should only use this type of smash when your opponent has hit a high lift, and you have time to get behind the shuttle AND jump up to it! If you’re behind it, but don’t have the time to jump, then you should use the standard or stick smash instead.

You also need to start the jump smash by facing sidewards, and go down into a half squat to be able to jump as high as possible! As you push off from the ground you should open your chest out and pull your racket arm back as much as you can, which will help you generate a fast racket swing speed, and therefore a more powerful smash.

We cover the jump smash in a lot more detail in our YouTube video here.

4. Jump Out Smash

Not to be confused with the jump smash, and as the name suggests you jump OUT to the side rather than only up!

Jump out smash in badminton
Jump out smash

You can use this smash on both the forehand and round-the head side, and you would use it when your opponents have hit a flat lift and you jump out to intercept the shuttle before it goes too far past you and you have to take the shuttle late!

A key tip for both the forehand and round-the-head jump out smash is that, unlike the other smashes we’ve shared so far, you actually keep your hips facing the net!

This is because it’s a flat lift, so you don’t have enough time to do a full body rotation, but you do need to get your elbow back as this helps you still have a fast racket swing speed.

Learn more about the jump out smash technique in this article here.

This shot can be incredibly effective in both singles and doubles at all levels of the game, but you can only do it if you have good strength and explosivity. This is not only to play an effective shot, but also to absorb your landing and prevent injuries.

Check Out Our Badminton-Specific Weights Programmes!

We have 12 different programmes designed to help you improve your on-court strength, endurance, speed and explosive power. These will really benefit your ability to play all of these smashes!
Check them out here!

5. Backhand Smash

The backhand smash is a powerful downwards shot hit from the backhand rear court and is hit with a backhand motion rather than a forehand motion like in the other smashes.

This is typically more common in singles (or for the lazier players who automatically turn to take a backhand)! It should be used when the lift is short so you can still play an effective shot AND when you’ve either already turned your feet to play a backhand, or the shuttle has gone past you. Otherwise you’d be able to play a jump out smash instead! 

Technique for backhand smash in badminton
Backhand smash

We have a few key tips to maximise your backhand smash power:

  • You need to be in a bevel (not backhand) grip as this allows you to create maximum rotation and therefore power!
  • To generate even more power you also need to use the muscles in the back of your shoulder. You then rotate your forearm to be able to generate the ‘whip’ needed.
  • You need to be really relaxed right until the last millisecond, which is actually a key part of all 5 smashes we discuss here!

You can see our backhand smash tutorial here (from time 8:24)!

💡 Whilst it’s great to have all 5 smashes in your arsenal, we think the most important to learn are the standard smash and the jump out smash because these are the ones you should use in every game!

Learn More

We hope you’ve now learned how to smash in badminton and enjoy adding the different types of smashes into your game! Don’t forget to check out the individual tutorials for each of these smashes (linked below) to learn detailed technical and tactical tips!

  1. Standard Smash
  2. Stick Smash
  3. Jump Smash
  4. Jump Out Smash
  5. Backhand Smash

And if you’d like to see more visual examples and explanations of what we’ve discussed here, you can watch our full YouTube video below!

The post The 5 Types Of Smashes In Badminton (+ How To Do Them) appeared first on Badminton Insight.

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