Photo Lesson: How to Hit the Overhead Smash

Here, one video frame (1/30 second) before contact, the wrist has begun to whip upward and forward. The legs have also pushed upward, hard enough to lift both feet off the ground. Meeting the ball high helps to ensure full arm extension on contact, and it gives you a better angle over the net and into the opponent's court, so positioning yourself to reach the ball at full extension with a little bit of a jump offers many advantages. You don't want to cut it too close on being able to reach the ball, though. Trying to position yourself so far forward that you'd need all the jump you can muster just to reach the ball would result in too many balls sailing just over your reach.