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Most avid players of badminton probably know how defend against smashes, but most people can’t do much about those extremely powerful, “head-hunting” smashes from the frontcourt. A few days ago, I saw with my own eyes a brilliant counter against a frontcourt smash, performed by my good friend and mentor Mr. Su. It’s really hard to describe how incredible that block-and-drop counter was, but I’ll try my best to explain the details.
A frontcourt smash is exactly what its name indicates: it’s a smash from the front court. Front court smashes usually occurs when one side makes a bad return, and they are typically very fast, powerful, steeply angled, so most of the time they are next to impossible to defend against. This is partly why Mr. Su’s block/drop return was so incredible. He also didn’t just return the smash; he actually deflected the shot and “guided” the bird into the opposing side’s empty front corner to win the rally. The only thing his opponents could do was to stand flatfooted and stare. After the amazement finally wore off, one of the guys in the opposing team exclaimed, “What the hell you did! It’s impossible!”
What I really should say is that Mr. Su’s badminton skills has reached such an advanced level that he can still stay calm and execute when his opponent is coming in for the kill. Mr. Su knew that his opponent was going to try and nail the bird to the ground, so without even moving his feet, he just placed his racket at where the bird was likely to land. By using the power of the original smash, Mr. Su managed to return with an incredible drop shot that was right on target. Even though I’ve known Mr. Su for quite a while now, he can still amaze me with some miraculous shots. I don’t know how long I’ll have to play and practice before I can gain that kind of skills.