BIOMECHANICAL ANALYSIS OF THE JUMP SMASH OF GERMAN ELITE BADMINTON PLAYERS

Abstract

The smash is one of the key techniques to gain success in Badminton. For elite athletes, ball velocities up to 68m/s have been reported for the jump smash (Tsai & Chang, 1998). Differences between the jump smash and the smash without jumping where up to 5m/s. In earlier analyses of German badminton players (Kollath, Bochow, & Westermann, 1986), no differences between both techniques according to ball velocities have been reported. Compared to the international elite players, German Badminton players were ranked in midfield or on even lower positions during the last years, but especially for the female athlete increased performance can be stated in recent championships. To analyze the smashing technique of these athletes, jump smashes of female as well as male Badminton players were analyzed.