IS A STANDING OR JUMPING SHOT MORE

EFFECTIVE IN A GAME OF BADMINTON?


WHAT IS A SMASH SHOT?

The smash is hit fast, downward with force and deep, to put away any shuttle that has been hit up and short. This can only be hit from the overhead position. Correct timing and balance are important in creating a successful smash shot. The player should get both of these aspects right before trying to get excessive speed on the smash. The most important aspect of the smash besides speed is the downward angle.

The badminton jump smash is an advanced technique used in which the player jumps as high as possible prior to making contact with the shuttle to complete the overhead smash shot.

This will be explored further as we look deeper into the biomechanics of a badminton smash shot.

PROJECTILE MOTION, HEIGHT, SPEED AND ANGLE OF RELEASE:

In badminton, the shuttle is projected into the air by an external force (the athlete) which results in projectile motion. Projectile motion can be defined as the motion of an object. The direction in which the shuttle is moving (or its flight path) is dependent on three factors; speed of release, angle of release and height of release. A projected object can move at any angle between horizontal (0degrees) and vertical (90 degrees) but gravity only acts on bodies moving with some vertical motion (Blazevich, 2010). The most important aspect of an overhead smash, besides speed, is the downward angle (Grice, 2008). The shuttle must be contacted farther out in front of the body with the racquet angled to direct the shuttle downward. If the angle is steep enough the smash may be unreturnable. To optimise the speed and angle of the smash the player must be as close to the net as possible.  The further away from the net the player is the more velocity the shuttle will lose as it travels on to the opponent’s side of the net. The height that the shuttle is contacted will alter the angle of release as well as the shuttles flight path. Gravity accelerates the shuttle towards the ground at the same rate regardless of whether the badminton player leaves the shuttle to fall freely or hits it perfectly horizontally.

If we analyse a flat smash and a steep smash as seen in figure 1.0, the shuttle is hit at the same location on the court yet the flight path of the two hits is different because of the height of release. Because of the vertical velocity of the badminton player’s jump, the steep smash is hit from a higher point and as the shuttle is always travelling in a downward motion in the smash, its angle is reduced because of the height of contact. We know that gravity pulls objects back to earth, because the shuttle is hit from a higher point, it will be pulled back down to earth quicker by taking the quickest flight path. When throwing an object, you are projecting it from below the height it will land and must give the object some extra flight time to increase the vertical velocity and therefore angle projection (Blazevich, 2010). This is similar to the standing smash, because the point of contact is lower, the shuttles flight path is longer and needs extra time to increase vertical velocity and angular projection.

 

Figure 1.0: Trajectory of Flat vs. Steep Smash

APPLYING NEWTON'S THREE LAWS OF MOTION:

Newton’s First Law: Law of Inertia  

In order to get something moving you must have a force bigger than that object. A shuttles mass is quite small but when a greater mass (yourself) acts on the shuttle, the force put behind the shuttle will determine how far and fast it will go.

Newton’s Second Law: Law of Acceleration

 When a net force acts upon a mass the result is acceleration. In badminton, the shuttle will accelerate depending on how big the net force acting upon the shuttle is and how big the mass is of the shuttle and the force behind its movement. As the badminton player is bigger than the shuttle, the net force will be greater when the racquet and shuttle connect. .The inertia of the racket is bigger and has more force acting with it than the falling or flying shuttle. Therefore the shuttle accelerates when the force of the racket and the person behind it hit the shuttle.

Newton’s Third Law: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction

When a foot strikes the ground in a vertical jump, both a vertical downward force and horizontal force is applied. The ground exerts an equal and opposite reaction force, in this instance called the ground reaction force which stops the foot sinking into the earth and can accelerate the body forward and upwards if the force is large enough to overcome inertia. Blazevich (2010) explains that we kick the earth and it kicks back; but because we are so small, we are the ones who go flying through the air. When we apply force the earth applies a reaction force that moves us, the greater the force we apply, the greater the reaction force from the earth. Blazevich (2010) also states that in order to optimise jump height, the lighter you are, the more you would accelerate for a given force and this is most important when we move vertically because we are affected by gravity.

 

BALANCE AND STABILITY:

The smash is made up of three segments; preparation, execution and a follow through (as seen in figure 1.1). The body is most stable when the centre of weight is over the base of support and it is increasingly stable when the line of gravity intersects with the middle of the base of support. In figure 1.2 we can see that the athlete has a wide base of support (marked out by the horizontal line), which allows for the line of gravity to pass through the centre of gravity (marked by the vertical line). Therefore a greater base of support allows for greater stabilisation.

Since the sum of forces dictates our acceleration and the forces of gravity act downwards (Newtons LaW’S OF Gravitation), it is very important to produce large vertical forces, or have a lower body mass, to jump very high (Blazevich, 2010).

 

Figure 1.1: Smash shot sequence: Preparation, Execution and Follow Through

Figure 1.2: Wide base of support allows the line of gravity to pass through the centre of the base of support.


LEVERS:

In sports, levers are used to increase the force and speed of body segments. A lever contains a force (generated by muscles), a resistance (body weight or racquet) and an axis (joints) and are used in badminton to generate force to improve the overall performance of play. The smash is an example of a third class lever. Levers can be classified into two groups; short and long levers. Long levers are used to increase the force applied, whilst short levers are used for fast and accelerating movements. The combination of both levers allows maximum force and acceleration. The smash combines the action of a short and long lever; the long lever is made up of the radius and ulna whilst the wrist is the short lever.

The longer the lever and the more mass behind the lever, the more power generated. The racquet is gripped near the bottom of the racquet’s handle to extend the length of the lever to generate more power. A high grip is not often used in badminton as whilst there may be reduction in time in which the racquet makes contact with the shuttle, there would be less power. The smash uses a longer levers which results in greater speed. This third class lever is designed for speed. To increase speed, the player must snap the wrist as the last stage of hitting the shuttle. The wrist acts as an axis, creating motion around the joints to allow the racquet to be powerfully thrown and followed through in one single motion. The racquet is held at the end to increase the length of the lever which will increase power and speed.

THE ANSWER:

The smash is often used to increase the games tempo or seal the deal with a single shot against an opponent to win the point. A perfectly executed and placed smash is almost impossible to return.

A tall height of release creates a steeper angle at the contact point; this makes it very hard to return the smash, increasing the likelihood of winning the point. An increase in the height of release is a significant advantage, as it decreases the angle that the racquet makes contact with the shuttle. This creates a steeper angle of the shuttles trajectory and will then fall nearer to the net on the opponent’s side. As Grice (2008) states; ‘A smash that is not angled downward is generally less effective. The shuttle stays in the air longer and gives your opponent more time to potentially make a return.’ The steeper the smash, the less time the opponent will have to react and defend because the shuttle is travelling less distance.

A jump smash will generate more power and a steeper angle for the shot therefore giving the opponent less time to react. This is because of the time saved by hitting the shuttle at a higher contact point and as the angle of the smash is steeper, the shuttle has to less distance to travel and takes less time to reach the opponent's side of the court. For the opponent to return the shot with a defensive block after a well-placed jump smash is then very difficult.

 

HOW ELSE CAN WE USE THIS INFORMATION?

It is essential to understand the basic biomechanical principles of badminton as it will help to players to execute each shot with perfection. Understanding of the badminton smash shot biomechanics will help teachers, coaches and players to identify errors made by the players in executing the shot and to rectify them.

In particular, beginner badminton players are often seen with uncoordinated movements that result in poor shuttle trajectory and velocity. On the other hand, professional players will perform the correct movement sequence to obtain precise summation of forces. Their bodies will be fluent in executing the shot to perfection so the shuttle is contacted at a height that will decrease the angle the shuttle is released to make the shuttle unreturnable. The difference between the beginner and the professional lies in fluent execution of the shot following the proper biomechanical principles. A well timed movement is the result of the right muscles delivering the right forces at the right times at the right speeds for the right durations in the right places (Stanley, 2010). This comes with experience and proper guidance and a mentor with sound biomechanical knowledge can identify a players problem areas and guide improvement to increase the performance of play. This will result in not only better performance but also an understanding for the player as to how and why they are moving their body in a certain way to execute a successful smash shot.

 

REFERENCES:

Blazevich, A. (2010). Sports biomechanics, the basics: Optimising human performance. A&C Black.

Davids, K., Button, C., & Bennett, S. (2008). Dynamics of skill acquisition: A constraints led approach. Human Kinetics.

Grice, T. (2008) Badminton Steps to Success. United States of America: Human Kinetics.

Grezios, A. K., Gissis, I. T., Sotiropoulos, A. A., Nikolaidis, D. V., & Souglis, A. G. (2006). Muscle-contraction properties in overarm throwing movements. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 20(1), 117-23. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/213086903?accountid=10910

Ikram, H., Saleem, A., & Singh, C. S. (2011). Analysis of forehand and backhand service in badminton. International Journal of Sports Sciences and Fitness, 1(2), 160-165. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1325005658?accountid=10910

Loads of levers. (2011, Click, 14, 13-15. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/852515015?accountid=10910

Stanley, S. (2010). Skill: Is it just a matter of timing? New Zealand Physical Educator, 43(2), 15-16. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/899273005?accountid=10910