Have you ever wondered how Lee Zii Jia hits this incredible backhand smash??
Well in this video we're going to teach you how to do it too, so let's get straight into it! Now to
perfect this shot it's all about your technique and timing but you should only try to do it in
certain situations. Firstly as you'll see when Lee Zii Jia plays the shot it should be done when
you're high up the court or your bodyweight is moving forwards and your opponent manages
to play it flat over your head. If they were to lift it high over your head you should have the
time to move back and get behind the shuttle not needing to play a backhand at all! And the reason
this shot is so effective is because often when your opponents play a flat shot over your head
they think they're going to get a simple layoff or even a clear, what they won't expect is a crazy
jump out backhand cross court smash! So how do you perfect this shot? Well we have five steps for you
to follow; step one like with a normal backhand clear drop or smash you should be in a bevel
grip and start with your elbow low. Step two is the footwork and there are actually two options here
option one is where you use both legs to push off at the same time and you do a 180 degree jump like this
Option two is more commonly used when the shuttle is further away from you and you drive off
your racket leg first and then use your non-racket leg to push up and again do this 180 degree jump
and we're saying 180 degree jump because if you look at Lee Zii Jia's feet they face into
the corner when he starts the movement and then exactly the opposite at the end of the movement
yeah and do note that this footwork isn't how you would normally hit a backhand smash it's just for this shot!
And if you want to learn the normal way then check out our backhand drop
clear and smash tutorial which we'll link at the end of the video! Okay step three is where it gets
fast so listen closely! Just after you've started this quick 180 degree jump and you're about to be
facing backwards you need to bring your elbow up and quickly accelerate your racket up then when
your arm is almost straight and the shuttle is slightly behind you you should snap your wrist
to come over the shuttle and get it traveling in a downwards direction. You need to wait until
the last millisecond to do this movement as it helps improve both your timing and power! If you
were already waiting in this position you would have no momentum and therefore no power! And what
should you do with your non-racket arm? Well it should be relaxed by your side and then as soon
as you strike the shuttle you should bring it up to help with your balance and stabilisation as you land
Yeah and keeping it relaxed at the start not only helps your ability to rotate quickly but also
makes you look very chilled this can again catch your opponent out because they think you're not
not going to play an aggressive shot! Step four is the recoil action. As you can see Lee Zii Jia
doesn't have a big follow through after striking the shuttle instead the racket recoils as soon as
he hits it this not only improves the timing and power of your shot but because you're doing this
really fast 180 degree jump it's not possible to have a follow through which is why this recoil
action is needed. Step 5 is the recovery and as you can see Lee Zii Jia actually lands facing forwards
which helps in case his shot comes back but usually it doesn't and hopefully it won't for you
and you might also be wondering why does he always play this shot cross-court? Well because of the
rotation and positioning of your body it's much easier to hit it in this direction. If you try to
play it straight you would often slice the shuttle therefore losing both power and control - I actually
can't do it! You really do need incredible timing to be able to pull this shot off but hopefully
if you follow these five steps effectively then you'll be able to time it over time and as always
it's better to practice it before attempting it in a match as practice makes permanent! We'd
always encourage you to try fun shots like this to help develop your skills but it's definitely
one that you don't need to be able to do and you might only use it in say one in every 10 matches
but people will be amazed when you do use it like we are when Lee Zii Jia plays it!
Now if you want to learn a backhand drop clear or smash from a more conventional position then you
can check out one of the most popular videos on our channel here where we go through these
techniques and of course if you haven't already don't forget to give the video a like, backhand
cross-court SMASH that subscribe button and we'll hopefully see you on another one very soon, bye :-)