Your poor opponent has just made the mistake of hitting a high pop-up or a not-quite-high enough lob (otherwise known as a flob, short for “failed lob”). This is the moment you’ve been waiting for! It’s time to smash the ball down — hard. You start to drool, sprint toward the ball, unfurl a giant windup, take a flying leap, and then swing with all your might. You hit the ball harder than you ever thought possible — straight into the net. Sheepishly, you wipe up your drool and slink back to your position for the next point while purposely avoiding eye contact with your partner.
Stop! Time to wake up! Thank goodness, it was all just a nightmare.

Try that same scene again: The ball is sailing high and you’ve called the ball — “Mine!” You take a compact backswing, keeping your paddle in your peripheral vision. You are moving your feet to the ball so that you can set up in balance underneath it and strike it in your perfect strike zone, up high and out in front. You’re reaching or pointing toward the ball with your nondominant hand, almost as though you’re going to catch it. As the ball enters your strike zone, you bring your paddle forward and contact the ball out in front, following through toward your target. You’ve hit a crisp, accurate attack to an open area of the court. Your opponents didn’t stand a chance! The crowd goes wild, your partner hoists you on their shoulders, and your phone immediately starts ringing with corporate sponsorship deals. (“How did they get my number?”)

We hope you noticed a few key differences between these two scenarios. When hitting an overhead smash, balance and accuracy are much more important than mustering as much power as is humanly possible. When you take a giant windup and swing, more often than not you end up contacting the ball either too late or too early, and outside your strike zone. This scenario causes the ball to fly over the back fence or hard into the net. Even worse, you may “whiff” the ball completely. Keeping your paddle where you can see it prevents this embarrassing moment from happening to you.

When you’re practicing your smashes, focus first on getting your feet under you and striking the ball out in front. Add more speed or snap to your swing after you begin to master the fundamentals, but not to the point that you’re sacrificing accuracy. Never hit the ball like you’re trying to crush it, thinking, “Now I can cancel my court-ordered anger management classes!” It is much more satisfying to win the point than it is to hit a hole through the net at 150 MPH.