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Badminton doubles tactics

Doubles is a team game!!a team of two. Many doubles players, however, act as though they are playing singles twice.

This article will teach you how to cover the court effectively as a pair, and how to choose the right shots.

Your range of tactical options will be heavily influenced by your hitting skill, your movement skill, and your physical fitness.

For example: if your smash is weak, then it will be a much less effective choice of shot. Or if you are unfit, then you will miss out on manyattacking opportunities.

This guide is written with the assumption that you do not have any obvious weaknesses. I understand thats an unrealistic assumption for mostplayers!

You will need to adapt your tactics to cover your weaknesses!!and also to exploit your opponents weaknesses!

And of course, you can train to eliminate your weaknesses.

At high levels of play, one basic strategy is completely dominant: aggressive attacking play! Attacking play usually beats defensive play!!inthe end.

What is attacking in doubles?

Attacking in doubles involves hitting the shuttlecock downwards, especially with net kills and smashes. These two shots are the mostcommon winning shots.

Any shot can potentially become an attacking shot!!even a lift!!but when we talk about attacking play in doubles, we really mean hittingdownwards.

The defenders dilemma

Attacking play!!in the sense of hitting down!!is not dominant in singles. Thats because its easy to escape the attack: you just have to blockthe opponents smash back to the net.

In doubles, however, it is difficult to escape the attack because the two attackers work together to maintain their attack. One playersmashes from the back, and the other intercepts any replies to the net or midcourt.

Attacking play is based around the smash. When you play a powerful smash, it creates a dilemma for the defenders. What can they do? If theylift the shuttlecock, you just continue smashing. If they block the shuttlecock to the net instead, your partner will play a net kill.

Tactics depend on skills

Strategy before tactics!

It is possible to escape the attack, of course; and indeed, turning defence into attack is a crucial element of good doubles play.

If youve never played against a strong attacking pair, its hard to appreciate just how difficult it can be to escape the attack. Once they startedsmashing, you can easily find yourself trapped: your defence crumbles a little each shot; the smasher is a little nearer each time; and the frontplayer cuts out all your attempts at counter-attack.

If youre still in any doubt about the supremacy of attacking in doubles, watch some world-class mens doubles matches (Wijaya/Gunawan vs.Cai/Fu is a good start).

The downside to attacking play

Attacking play is exhausting. You need a high level of fitness to maintain a prolonged, powerful attack. You also need determination: you needto be motivated to make the effort.

Smashing requires a violent throwing action. Covering the court so that you can keep on smashing requires fast, explosive movements includingsideways and backwards jumps.

While the attackers are doing all this hard physical work, the defenders are standing relatively still and using little effort to lift the shuttlecock.Its common to see the attacking pair leaping all over the court, while the defending pair hardly moves.

But its worth the effort. The defenders are likely to make the first mistake. Its difficult to maintain an accurate defence; eventually, a liftwill travel long or short of the back tramlines. If its long, then you win the point just by letting it fall out; if its short, then you have a chance toplay a decisive smash.

Copyright 20082013 Mike Hopley. All rights reserved.

This work is registered with the UK Copyright Service.



The principle of attack

Weve established a basic doubles strategy!!attacking play wins out!!but its still too early to jump into tactical details. First, we need tothink more generally about how we can implement our strategy.

Thankfully badminton is not chess, and we can implement our strategy by following one straightforward principle: the principle of attack.

The principle of attack

In doubles, always make choices that improve your opportunities to play attacking shots!!especially smashes and net kills.

The reason for this is simple: smashes and net kills are the most effective winning shots. Theyre not the only possible winning shots, of course;but at a high standard of play, most rallies will be ended by a smash or a net kill.

How you apply this principle will depend on the situation in the rally. In general, you should play the most aggressive shot possible, providing itdoes not expose you immediately to an even more violent counter-attack.

Heres a summary of what you should do, in order of preference (best options first, worst options last):

Play a winning shot Improve your current attack (create an opportunity for a winning shot) Maintain your current attack Gain a new attack Prevent your opponents from gaining an attack When your opponents are attacking, regain the attack yourself When your opponents are attacking too fiercely, defend (lift) and wait for a better counter-attacking opportunity When your opponents have a winning attack, do anything to stay in the rally

When you can play a winning shot

then play it!

Always play net kills when you get the chance. Never play a fancy show-off net shot or push, hoping to make yourself look clever. Youll lookpretty silly if your opponents scramble the shuttlecock back into play.

I am frequently dismayed by club players who fail to play the kill. Many will only attempt a kill in the easiest of situations, preferring otherwiseto take it easy and play a net shot, or even a lift.

Similarly, never pass up the chance to play a decisive smash from the midcourt. Many players choose a drop shot here, because they think its aclever variation. Its not: youre just handing your opponents a get-out-of-jail-free card.

Applying the principle

(Of course, drop shots can be an excellent variation!!just not when you have the alternative of an almost-certainly-winning smash.)

When you can play an effective attacking shot

then play it!

If you have the chance to hit the shuttlecock downwards, use it immediately. Play smashes and drop shots, not clears.

When no-one can play an attacking shot

Fight for the next attack. Someone is going to get it!!either you or your opponents. The aim here is to make your opponents lift theshuttlecock so that you can start attacking.

When your opponents are attacking

Try to regain the attack with counter-attacking smash defence such as blocks, pushes, and drives. Only lift the shuttlecock if the opponentsattack is too dangerous for you to play a counter-attacking shot.





Positions in badminton doubles

Doubles positioning is about how you and your partner cover the court.

Many players are purposeless in their positioning. Its common to hear players say, lets play sides, or lets play front-and-back.

With an understanding of the basic doubles strategy, however, you can make purposeful decisions about where to stand.

At any given moment during a doubles rally, you are in one of three situations:

Attacking Defending Fighting for who gets the next attack

Each of these situations is associated with standard positional ideas.

AttackingDoubles attacking formation

When attacking, you should adopt a formation with one player in the rearcourt, and the other player towards the front of the court.

The rear player will cover most shots to the rearcourt, continuing to play smashes or drop shots; the forwards player will cover replies to the netor midcourt, either playing kills or shots that provoke another lift.

DefendingDoubles defending formation

The three main situations

The basic positions

When defending, you must adopt a side-by-side formation so that you can cover the full width of the doubles court. If you cant cover the fullwidth of the court, then you will lose the rally immediately to any well-placed smash (or even a drop shot).

You should stand about one step back from the middle of the court, to give yourselves time to react to the smash. If either of you stands near thenet, then he will be vulnerable to a smash.

Fighting for the next attack

When both sides are fighting for the attack, they both tend to start in a defensive side-by-side position. As one side gains the advantage, one oftheir players will move forwards to claim the front of the court, and their attack will begin.





Choosing the right shots

This section will teach you how to make good shot choices.

All your shot choices should (ultimately) be guided by the principle of attack. Nevertheless, choosing the right shot is often a subtle decisionthat requires a good understanding of the situation.

Attacking shots Defensive shots

Attacking angles Defensive angles



Choosing the right type of shot

Choosing the right angle for your shot



Choosing attacking shots

When youre attacking, its important to keep the shuttlecock going downwards.

From the rearcourt, play smashes and drop shots; from the forecourt, play net shots, drives, pushes, and net kills (when you get the chance).

Smashes: your most powerful weapon

The back player should mainly play smashes, because the smash is the best attacking shot. Its tactically sound to play four smashes in a row(or even more).

This idea is important, but often neglected because many club players believe that playing multiple consecutive smashes shows inexperienceand a poor understanding of tactics. They say this because their smashes are weak, because their movement is slow, or because they are lazy!

If you have a good smash, use it!!and use it more frequently than your drop shots.

Drop shots: changing the pace

Although the smash is your best attacking shot, you should also consider using drop shots as a variation.

Drop shots can win the rally, but this is rare at high levels of play. More commonly, the drop shot provokes a short lift which you can follow witha winning smash.

When you play several smashes in a row, your opponents often start to become fixed in their defensive positions!!their feet are rooted to thefloor. If your attack has been especially fierce, they may also begin to back off farther from the net; and they may no longer be mentallyprepared for anything but a smash.

This is the best time to play a drop shot, because it disrupts your opponents defensive rhythm. Disrupting your opponents rhythm is a usefultactical device, and can be achieved in several different ways; in this case, it take the form of changing the pace of your shots (from fast to slow).

Key tip

The effectiveness of your drop shots depends on the quality of your smash.

If your smash poses no threat to the opponents defence, then they can move forwards and counter-attack your drop shots.

Use fast drops (which land about the service line), not slow drops (which land near the net). Slow drops give your opponents far too much time:they can take the shuttlecock near the net tape.

Slow drops are great against slow opponents, because the shuttlecock falls tight to the net. Against fast opponents, however, you should reserve

The back players choice of shot

slow drops for when an opponent is out of position (too far back) and will be late moving forwards. In this situation, the slow drop can be anoutright winner, or otherwise provoke a very short lift.

Clears: how to lose the attack in one shot

Never play a clear in doubles unless you have a compelling reason to do so!

Playing a clear is like saying to your opponents, Its only fair that I let you take a turn attacking. As soon as you clear, they can start smashing.

There are only two good reasons to play a clear in doubles:

You are too vulnerable to attempt an attack (very late to the shuttle, partner badly out of position). You see that your opponents are out of position and will make a weak reply.

When youre in trouble, play the clear high so that you have more time to recover.

When you spot that your opponents are failing to cover a rear corner, however, play the clear lower!!just high enough to get past them!!sothat they will have less time.

Net kills: the best shot in the game

Theyre called kills for a reason! A good net kill is almost certain to win the rally. Always play them when you get the chance.

When the kill is much flatter!!more like a downwards net drive!!the decision is not so clear-cut. Its still a good shot, but a tight spinningnet shot may be better: wait one more shot, and then you can play a proper kill.

Net shots: threaten a kill, force a lift

A good net shot will maintain your attack by forcing the opponents to lift the shuttlecock; after the lift, your partner can continue smashing.

Its important that, after playing a net shot, you move in to cover any possible net replies: you are threatening to play a net kill if the opponentsplay a net shot. Its this threat of a kill that forces the lift.

Pushes: using the open space

Normally net shots are better than pushes; but sometimes a push is necessary to counter your opponents attempt to steal the attack. Imaginethe following situation:

1. Your partner plays a straight smash.

2. Your opponent blocks the smash cross-court, and moves forwards (and across) to claim the net.

When you reach the shuttlecock, it is just below net height, between the net and the short service line. Your opponent is now encroaching on thenet, but has only just crossed the middle line. You have four possible shots:

Net shot Drive

The front players choice of shot

Push Lift

Obviously you dont want to play a lift if you can avoid it. A drive may be a good option, but the opposing back player has a good chance tocounter-attack it.

The net shot would be nice, but because its a slow shot, your opponent will be able to reach it and counter-attack with a drive, with his own netshot, or even a kill if hes really fast.

This is a good situation to use the push. Aim to push the shuttle straight into the tramlines, landing a little beyond the short service line.

The push has more pace than the net shot!!just enough pace to get it past the front player. But because its slower than the drive, it falls wellbelow net height before the back player can reach it. As a result, he will have to play a lift (or attempt a risky counter-attack).

You can vary the placement of your pushes depending on the situation. The idea is to find the gap in the opponents formation, and hit theshuttlecock with just enough pace to make it past the forwards player.

When your opponents are not challenging you at the net, however, use a net shot instead.

Drives: direct pressure

If you are taking the shuttlecock from below net height, a drive is normally a bad idea. You would probably be better off playing a net shot, withthe idea of setting up your partner to continue smashing.

When the shuttlecock is slightly higher than net height, however, the front player also has the option of a direct attack: he can play a driveinstead of a net shot. This is especially effective when you are near the net, because your opponents have little time to react.

In this situation, you would normally aim your drives directly at the opponents, hoping for a weak reply.

Lifts: the last resort

Playing a lift concedes the attack.

You must be realistic, however. Often your opponents will play a good counter-attacking shot, and will quickly move to cover all your attackingoptions. Yes, playing a lift allows your opponents to smash; but playing a fanciful net shot allows them to win the rally immediately with a netkill.

The most common delusion is this: playing a cross-court net shot from near the floor, desperately hoping to continue your attack. It wont workunless your opponent is half asleep; play a lift instead.





Choosing defensive shots

When you are defending, you must actively seek opportunities to regain the attack.

There are four possible replies to a smash:

Lift Drive Block to the net Push to the midcourt

Lifts

Lifts allow the opponents to continue smashing, but they are often necessary because the attack is too strong to be countered immediately. Apoor counter-attacking shot will lose you the rally.

For example: under the pressure of a fierce smash, you try playing a block to the net, in order to regain the attack. Unfortunately you fail tocontrol the shot, and your block is too loose. The front player kills it.

Even at the world-class level, you will see many lifts. This is because the attack is ferocious, and the defenders are biding their time, waiting fora better opportunity to counter-attack: waiting for a smash that is just a little slower, less steep, or less well-placed.

So whenever you are unable to play a good counter-attacking shot, play a lift, and look for the next opportunity to counter-attack.

Drives

Drives are an excellent counter-attacking shot, especially against flat smashes. The main aim of a drive is to get the shuttlecock beyond the frontplayer, so that he cannot intercept it.

When the front player stands too far forward (say, on the short service line), drives are the shot of choice: it will be relatively easy to get theshuttlecock past him in this position.

If this happens, then you must still be prepared to fight for the attack. The rear player may be able to play a counter-drive, or a shot to the net.Nevertheless you have improved your situation greatly; and in many cases, your drive alone will be enough to gain the attack outright.

The front player will try to intercept your drive first, however. If he succeeds, youre probably in trouble.

Blocks to the net

A block to the net is a direct challenge to the front player. Blocks are especially effective when the front player stands farther back from the net,in a position to intercept drives.

Defending against the smash

Its essential that your blocks are not too loopy and slow; they need a bit of pace. Playing a slow block gives the front player too much time, andhe will meet the shuttlecock almost as it crosses the tape (then you lose).

If you play a block, follow it in to the net. This is standard even when you have blocked cross-court, because you can start moving beforeyour partner realises what shot you played (and your partner will also be well placed to become the rearcourt attacker). The only commonexception is for the man in mixed doubles, who should usually leave his woman partner to take the net position.

Following the block means you can challenge the front attacker for control of the net, pressuring him to play a lift. If you just hang back andwatch your shot instead, he can play a net shot!!even a loose one!!because no-one is covering it.

Pushes

A push is much the same as a block, but with extra pace. Unlike a block, however, youre aiming to get the shuttlecock just past the front player,to fall in the midcourt.

As with drives, pushes can be more effective when the front player has moved farther forwards than usual. Because pushes are slower thandrives, however, its more difficult to sneak one past the front player; but if you succeed, then the back player will probably be forced to play alift.

Successful pushes are among the best counter-attacking shots, but you need good judgement to spot the right time to use them. They are usuallymore risky than drives, but also more rewarding.

Your choice of reply depends heavily upon how early you can take the shuttlecock. Most of the time you will be reaching it well below net height,and here your only viable option is a lift.

If you are able to reach it earlier, however, you should consider counter-attacking shots. The best shot is a net kill, but this is only possible whenyour opponent has played a very weak shot. Nevertheless this does happen, even at the highest levels of play; and you must make the effort totake advantage of your opponents mistake!

If you are taking it slightly below net height, then net shots, drives, and pushes are good options (again, use the push to get the shuttlecock pastthe front player, but in front of the rear player).

Be careful of playing a drive if it will travel to the back players forehand!



Defending against drop shots



Choosing angles of attack

The choice of attacking shot angles is one of the most commonly misunderstood areas of doubles tactics.

As a general guide, smashes and drops shots should be straight or to the centre (cross-courts tend to be suicidal).

Smashing angles can be straight, to the middle, or cross-court. When youre playing a smash to either side (straight or cross-court), you havethe additional choice of whether to aim for the outside edge of the court, or aim directly at the defender.

Many players prefer cross-court drops and smashes, mainly because they think these shots are advanced. This shows a fundamental lack ofpositional understanding.

Straight smashes

When you are smashing from a corner, these are normally your best choice, because they have the shortest distance to travel.

Remember: the shorter the distance, the less time your opponents have to react, and the faster the shuttlecock will be travelling when it reachesthem (shuttlecocks slow down a lot over distance, due to air resistance).

Smashes to the middle

Smashing to the middle is a good variation, because it often causes uncertainty in the defenders about who should take the shot.

When you are smashing from the middle (as opposed to from a corner), aiming your smash towards the middle is especially effective; indeed,its such a good choice that it should be almost automatic. This is because:

It travels the shortest distance, so your opponents have the least time to react. Your opponents may be unsure who should play the shot. It offers the least effective angles of counter-attack for your opponents.

This last point is important: its hard for your opponents to play any counter-attaking shots, because both you and your partner are alreadypositioned along the middle line. All possible replies are covered.

When you are smashing from a corner, the middle line of the court is not exactly where you should aim. Rather, aim between the players (thisusually means aiming slightly off towards the straight side, since the cross-court defender will probably be closer to the middle than the straightdefender is).

Cross-court smashes

You should usually avoid playing these, because they have the longest flying distance. Because the shuttlecock travels farther across court, ittakes longer to reach the same distance from the net; and it also slows down dramatically as it travels.

Smashing angles

The result is that your cross-court smash will be slower than your straight smash, and the cross-court defender will have more time to react (itssimple geometry).

To take advantage of this, a well-positioned cross-court defender will be standing closer to the net than his partner covering the straight angle.Because the cross-court defender is able to stand closer to the net, he can play much more effective counter-attacking shots.

Moreover, the angles for counter-attack are much better after you play a cross-court smash. The defenders will usually play a straight reply;even a lift can cause you problems, but a straight drive is absolutely lethal.

Of course, there are occasions when a cross-court smash is a good shot; but normally only when the opponents have been forced out of position.If they are covering the court well, you should probably avoid smashing cross-court.

Aiming at the defenders

Aiming at the defenders is a very effective tactic. The most vulnerable spot is around the defenders racket-side hip, because its the point wherebackhand defence begins to become less effective, but forehand defence is still awkward.

If you aim for this point you may cause your opponent to be uncertain about whether to play a backhand or forehand, and you also make manyof his shots more difficult because his racket swing is cramped.

Steep or flat?

Most of the time, you should make your smashes as steep as possible. Top players make athletic jumps for height, so that they can play thesmash with an even steeper angle (a jump smash).

The advantage of a steep smash is that it is much harder to counter-attack, because the shuttlecock will be farther below net height when thedefender hits it.

As an occasional variation, however, you can also play the smash flatter. This is effective if your opponents are slow to bring their rackets upfrom a low defensive position. If you play a flat smash, its normally best to aim directly at the opponent (hitting towards his head or chest).Some players, especially those with long arms, have difficulty coping with these shots.

Be careful with flat smashes. If you hit them too hard, they will go out the back of the court!

In most respects, drop shots follow the same principles as smashes.

Straight, cross-court, or to the middle?

As with smashes, your default choice should be straight. Drop shots to the middle (between the players) are also a very good choice.

Cross-court drops should usually be avoided, because they give the cross-court defender far too much time; as with smashes, they expose you toa deadly counter-attack: straight net shots, pushes, and drives are murderous.

Hitting at the defenders is pointless

Unlike smashes, theres no advantage in aiming your drop shots at your opponents. When you play a straight or cross-court drop shot, aim forthe side tramlines: its slightly farther for the defenders to move.

Drop shot angles

(When you play a drop shot to the middle, aim to place it between the opponents and cause maximum confusion.)

Net shots

These are normally best played straight or to the centre, because afterwards your side will be well positioned to cover the next shot; with across-court net shot, however, your court is opened up somewhat to straight counter-attacking shots (net shots, pushes, or even shallow lifts).

Another important difference between straight and cross-court net shots is that straight net shots can be played with spin. Cross-courtnet shots can never use spin.

Despite this, cross-court net shots are extremely useful when used at the right time. If you are engaged in a net duel, then a cross-court net shotplayed away from your net opponent can often secure you the attack.

Pushes

Pushes are usually played straight down the side tramlines, because a cross-court push will typically pass through the hitting area of theopponent who is challenging you for control of the net.

If the opponent is approaching the net from a straight defending position, however, and if his partner has already started to move around to arear attacking position, then a cross-court push could be the shot of choice (playing the shuttle into the open space). For example:

1. Your partner plays a straight smash.

2. The defender plays a straight block to the net, and begins to move in; his partner starts to move behind him into a rearcourt attackingposition

3. You play a cross-court push into the space just vacated by his partner.

Pushes to the centre are pretty much pointless in all situations. Remember: the push is a passing shot. If you play it towards the centre, then aforwards-moving player will easily intercept it.

Net kills

If the kill is steep and sharp, it really doesnt matter where you hit it!!just make sure you hit it inside the court! The opponents have no realchance of returning this shot, regardless of the angle.

Not all kills are steep, however. When the kill is slightly flatter, its worth playing it straight because this gives your opponents less time (thestraight route is shortest) and fewer opportunities to intercept it. Playing the kill straight also means you are well-positioned to cover a possiblenet reply.

When you are taking the kill at the absolute limit of your reach, however, you will have no choice but to play it cross-court.

Drives

Recall that attacking drives are usually most effective when played directly at the opponent. The effectiveness of drives as an attacking shotdepends on how much pressure you can exert on a single opponent.

For this reason, it usually makes sense to aim the drive at the defender who just returned your partners smash. This works because you givehim almost no time to recover from his last shot; he may be off-balance, and his racket may not have returned to a good defensive position.

Attacking angles for the front player

If your attacking drive is successful, the defender will usually return the shuttlecock back in your direction (with a weak counter-drive). Thebasic idea now is to keep playing drives at this one defender; as his responses become weaker, you move farther forwards. It is extremelydifficult for the defender to escape this cycle once it gets started.

Do not switch your attack to the other defender without a very good reason. Its usually more effective to keep the pressure on a single player.

A particularly effective attacking combination is a straight smash, followed by a series of straight attacking drives. Use this attack when you getthe chance, because it applies maximum pressure against one defender.





Choosing angles of defence

With defensive shots, you have much more freedom to choose different angles. Whereas cross-court attacking shots are usually a bad idea,defensive shots are more about finding the gap!!wherever it might be.

Since the attackers usually bias their position towards covering the straight shots, some of the best defensive shots by the straight defenderare played cross-court.

Lifts

Lifts should always be played to a corner, never to the middle. If you lift to the middle, then the attackers achieve their best possible position!They will smash down the middle, making it almost impossible for you to find an effective counter-attacking angle.

If possible, you should normally play the lift to the opposite corner from the smasher: make him move! If you lift to the same corner each time,its much easier for him to get into a good smashing position.

Drives

The front attacker will usually be biased towards the same side as his smashing partner. The most effective drives, therefore, are usually placedtowards the other side.

This means that the straight defender should play cross-court drives, and the cross-court defender should play straight drives.

Being realistic, however, the straight defender will not always be able to change the angle of the shot and play cross-court: its usually easier forhim to play straight. Straight drives can also be effective counter-attacking shots (although not usually as deadly as cross-court drives).

In both cases, the defender must be aware of the front attackers position. He must be careful not to allow the front attacker to intercept thedrive (especially with a forehand).

Drives to the centre are usually suicidal: the front player should cut these out easily.

Finally, note that the choice of straight vs. cross-court is affected by which side is the front attackers forehand. Often a straight drive past theopponents backhand can be safer than a cross-court drive to his forehand!

Blocks to the net

As with drives, these are best played away from the front attacker.

The cross-court defender should almost always place his blocks straight (away from the attacker). The straight defender would ideally hit thesame place by playing cross-court, but again this is a more difficult shot. Straight blocks can be risky, but will work in favourable circumstances.

Unlike drives, blocks to the centre can be effective (a drive to the centre passes upwards immediately through his hitting zone; a block is in front

Defending against smashes

of him). Blocks to the centre limit his possible net shot angles; between the two of you, you may be able to cover all his net shot replies.

Unlike drives, it may not matter much where the opponents forehand is. His backhand net play should be just as strong as his forehand netplay!

Pushes

Pushes are usually best played straight, by either defender.

This principle is not the same as drives, where the straight defender would usually prefer to play a cross-court drive.

The problem with a cross-court push is that it takes too long. A cross-court drive can pass the front player quickly, but a cross-court pushusually gives him time to move across and intercept it early.

Pushes to the centre are an extremely silly shot. Youre just handing the shuttlecock to the front attacker!

Lifts

The straight defender should normally play his lifts cross-court, because:

It makes the opponent move (so its harder for him to reach an ideal smashing position). You can then retreat a shorter distance to cover the cross-court.

If the straight defender plays a straight lift instead, then he must move back very quickly into a defensive position.

The cross-court defender should play his lifts straight, leaving the smasher little time to get in position.

As when defending against smashes, you should never lift to the middle (this gives your opponents the best possible attacking position).

Net shots

If you can safely get away with a straight net shot, this is usually best because you are immediately in position to cover any net reply. If the dropshot is slow, then straight net shots also allow you to spin the shuttlecock.

When the back attacker plays a drop shot, his partner will move in to cover that part of the net. For this reason, cross-court net shots can beeffective (placing the shuttlecock away from your opponent).

Net shots to the centre are also a good option, with the idea of limiting your opponents effective angles of reply.

The cross-court defender should almost always play his net shots straight.

Drives

Drives are usually best played straight, by either defender.

The straight defender may sometimes play cross-court drives, but this is a very risky shot unless you are in an excellent position: its likely to becut out by the front attacker. Having said that, you can sometimes exploit the opponents rhythm of movement and racket carriage: there is

Defending against drop shots

often a moment when he lowers his racket, or shifts his weight as he moves forwards; sometimes a perfectly-timed cross-court drive can sailright past him. This trick is much more likely to work if you are hitting to his backhand.

Drives should never be played to the centre, unless you are reaching the drop shot extremely early and can attack directly at the front playersbody.

Pushes

As when defending against a smash, pushes should almost always be played straight. A cross-court push takes too long to reach its destinationand should be easily intercepted by the front attacker.

Pushes to the centre, as usual, are an extremely silly shot (the front player should hit this one right back at you, and hard).

As with drives, the exception to this rule occurs when you are taking the shuttlecock extremely early and can play the push downwards or atleast flat. Here, since you are actually attacking, a push to the centre might even be the best angle: its the opponents shot, not yours, whichmust now travel upwards.





Backhand clear technique

Backhand clears are notoriously difficult. Most badminton players cant get enough power, and are limited to playing drop shots instead.

Surprisingly, the technique is quite simple!!much simpler than the technique for forehand clears!

You only play them when youre already in trouble!

Good players will avoid backhand clears when possible, and play round-the-head forehands instead. This means backhand clears are onlyplayed when youre under pressure.

Specifically, we only play backhand clears when the shuttle is out to the side, and usually also slightly behind us. This is a difficult, defensiveposition.

How good are your forehand clears from that position?

You dont practise them as much

Since players avoid backhand clears, these shots get much less practice during games than forehands do. A good doubles player will hit at least10 times as many rearcourt forehands as backhands.

You probably have much more experience hitting forehand clears than backhand clears. That experience makes forehands easier.

They are physically more difficult

The shoulder is much less mobile when making a backhand hitting action, compared to a forehand action.

Loosely speaking, the shoulder can go farther forwards than backwards. When youre playing a forehand, your shoulder movement cancontinue after impact with the shuttle: the impact point is somewhere in the middle of the shoulders range of motion.

With a backhand, the impact point is near the end of the shoulders range of motion. This limits the amount of force that the shoulder cancontribute to the shot.

A backhand clear action is also less natural than a forehand. Its a movement you would almost never make except in racket sports.

Sometimes its just not possible to play a good clear, because you are under far too much pressure. Players tend to blame the last shot of therally, when often they should be thinking about how they got into that situation.

It is realistic to clear end-to-end on your backhand, even with decent height, and even cross-court. Its not easy, but its something you can

Why are backhand clears difficult?

You need realistic expectations

learn.

It is not realistic to play a good clear when youre desperately late to the shuttle, reaching behind you at full stretch, and off-balance.





Moving to the shuttle

When you play a backhand clear, you will be facing away from the net. This is unusual in badminton, and it puts you at a disadvantage.

While you are facing away from the net, you cannot see the opponents court; this makes it harder to play an accurate shot. You also cannot seeyour opponents, so you dont know what they are doing.

Try to minimise how long you are facing away from the net. You should only turn your back on the net when you are about to hit the shuttle.

As always, the footwork may vary depending on the situation. From a roughly central position on court, the basic pattern is this:

1. Split drop

2. Chass towards the corner

3. Turn and lunge into the corner

The turn involves swivelling around your left foot and turning your back on the net, as you lunge with your right foot into the corner.

Sometimes you dont need a full lunge, and a semi-lunge is enough.

Notice that the turn is the last thing to happen before you hit the shuttle. Players often get this footwork wrong, by turning at the start and thenrunning to the corner. This is slower, harder to recover from, and prevents you from seeing what your opponents are doing.



Footwork for moving to a backhand clear



How to hit a backhand clear

The technique for hitting a backhand clear is surprisingly simple!!but that doesnt mean its easy!

You must make good use of arm rotation and grip tightening to generate power. Backhand clears require technique, not brute force!

Start with either a backhand grip or a bevel grip. Which one you use is down to personal preference; I recommend trying both.

You need to make good use of grip tightening to transfer power efficiently into the shuttle. Start with a relaxed grip; the thumb should bestraight (not curled). As you hit the shuttle, tighten your grip sharply, pressing with the thumb.

Do not use a thumb grip to play backhand clears, except when the shuttle is in front of you (and in this situation, you should probably beplaying a forehand instead!). Using a thumb grip will restrict your arm movements, which reduces your power; it will also cause you to hit outthe side of the court.

As you start moving towards the shuttle, let your elbow drop low, but keep your racket head up (about face height). Your arm and wristshould be relaxed.

Players often get this the wrong way around: they put the elbow high and the racket head low. This is like pointing the elbow at the shuttle.Dont do this, because it will limit your ability to create power by uncoiling the arm from the elbow; it will also create tension in your armmuscles, which should be relaxed instead.

Remember: the elbow should point to the floor, not at the shuttle!

The hitting action is one continuous, flowing movement. Nevertheless, Ive broken it down into three steps, to make it easier to learn:

What time is it? Backhand time!

Begin your hitting action by raising the elbow and dropping your hand, so that the racket is pointing downwards. As you do this, twist your arminwards. Imagine you are wearing a wristwatch, and want to check the time. You can remember this by saying to yourself, What time is it?Backhand time! I know thats desperately corny, but it works.

Technically, this twisting of the arm is called internal rotation of the upper arm and pronation of the forearm.

At this point your racket head should still be low, and you should have a narrow angle at the elbow. Imagine you are pointing your elbow at theshuttle (now is right time to do this, not earlier).

Use the right grip

Getting ready to hit the shuttle

Hitting the shuttle

Uncoil your arm from the elbow

Now uncoil your arm from the elbow and twist it sharply in the opposite direction (outwards), as you reach upwards and sideways for theshuttle. At the point of contact you should have a wide angle at the elbow.

Technically, this twisting of the arm is called external rotation of the upper arm and supination of the forearm.

Hit and rebound!

As you hit the shuttle, tighten your grip sharply, pressing with the thumb.

After hitting the shuttle, immediately stop the racket and let it rebound back. Do not attempt to follow-through. If you hit a backhand clearcorrectly, your shoulder should naturally stop moving just after the point of impact, because it cannot move any farther in that position.

This is very different from a forehand clear, where your arm continues moving forwards and downwards after contacting the shuttle.

Its possible to force a follow-through, by hitting incorrectly: you use a sweeping, windmill-like action, with a straight arm, and also turn yourbody. The correct hitting technique uses a bent arm; even at the moment of contact, there is a slight bend at the elbow, and the wrist is bent in athumbs up position (radially deviated).





Watching professional players

When you watch the professional players, it often looks like their backhand clear technique contradicts what I just taught you.

Be careful! Your eyes can deceive you.

When you watch professional players, especially the mens singles players, they often appear to make a large, sweeping action. They appear tofollow-through without any rebound action, just like hitting a forehand clear or smash.

This is an illusion. Your eyes are tricked by the speed of their recovery movement. The appearance of a follow-through is created by tworecovery techniques:

Immediately turning the body back into court Rapidly relaxing the racket arm downwards after hitting the shuttle

You can see this for yourself, but only on video. You need to pause the video and advance frame-by-frame to see what really happens. If youwatch carefully, you can see there is a rebound action, but the arm immediately relaxes afterwards. The player also turns rapidly back intocourt. The combination of these two movements gives the appearance of following-through from the shoulder.

Immediately turn back into court

Earlier on, I said that as you approach the shuttle, you should minimise how long your back is turned to the net.

Exactly the same principle applies to recovery after the shot. As soon as you hit the shuttle, turn back rapidly towards the net: use your rightfoot to push back out of the lunging position, as you swivel around your left foot.

Sometimes you can even make this recovery turn part of the hitting action, by starting the turn fractionally before you hit the shuttle. Thismakes your recovery even faster. The body rotation also creates some extra power.

Immediately relax your arm

Relax your arm immediately after hitting the shuttle.

A relaxed arm is crucial for playing backhand clears. Dont get tense, and dont try to force the power! You will get more power if youstay relaxed and hit the shuttle with a smooth, flowing motion.

The professionals seem to follow-through

What you should learn from watching professionals

What you should not learn from watching professionals

Dont try to hit backhand clears with a large follow-through from the shoulder. If you do this, you will fail to use arm rotation correctly, andyour clears will be weak.

It would be a shame if you ruined your backhand technique by copying what you thought the professionals do, rather than copying what theyactually do!

Weve covered the fundamental technique for backhand clears. In later content, well discuss topics such as how to practise, and how to hit abackhand clear when the shuttle is behind you.



What next?



Drop shot technique

This article will teach you how to play drop shots, both forehand and backhand.

Drop shots are played from your rearcourt. You hit the shuttle softly downwards to land in your opponents forecourt area.

Drop shots are often referred to simply as drops.

Other terms that get confused with drop shots

Sometimes people confuse drop shots with net shots. These are completely different shots. The term net drop is especially unhelpful and isbest avoided.

Drop shots are also different from blocks and pushes, which are played from farther forwards and in a flat or upwards direction.

Drop shots are used extensively in both singles and doubles. They are primarily an attacking shot.

Drop shots are usually disguised to make the opponent expect a smash or clear. A good drop shot can be very deceptive, and can cause theopponent to reach the shuttle late and play a poor lift (giving an opportunity to attack).

Drop shots are also used defensively, especially in singles, as a maintaining or get out of trouble shot.

Well start by looking at the basic technique for playing a forehand drop shot, and how to vary the pace and direction. Then well do the samething for backhand drops.

After that, well look at how to make your drop shots more deceptive.

and what it doesnt cover

Were not going to cover sliced drop shots in this article. Slicing drop shots is a huge topic by itself.

Were also not going to cover all the different variations, such as drop shots from the midcourt. This article is about playing drop shots from therearcourt.

What are drop shots?

How are drop shots used in badminton?

What this article covers



Basic technique for forehand drop shots

Lets start with the basics. Well worry about deception later.

Stand near the back of the court, and have a partner racket-feed lifts to you. Ask him to hit the lifts high, so that you have plenty of time.

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Make your preparation the same as for a clear or smash: stand almost side-on to the net, with your right elbow back. Your elbows and shouldersshould be in a line.

Why does this preparation matter for drop shots?

If your opponent knows you are about to play a drop shot, he can wait for it at the net! By disguising your drop shots to look like clears orsmashes, you can make him wait longer before moving forwards.

Its not only about disguise, however. The correct preparation will also help you play a better shot, by encouraging you to reach up and make asmooth hitting action. Which brings us to

The higher you can contact the shuttle, the better. Ideally you should be hitting at full relaxed reach. Start your hitting action by bringing yourelbow upwards and forwards, and extend your arm as you reach upwards for the shuttle.

A high contact point means your drop shot will travel downwards, not flat; this makes it a more effective attacking shot.

Use the right grip

Hold your racket in a relaxed basic grip. You will need to make sure the racket strings are pointing at the shuttle when you hit it; to make thishappen, youll probably need to turn your arm inwards slightly.

Do not use a panhandle grip. For most beginners, a panhandle grip feels more natural, but its the wrong grip here. Using a panhandle grip willmake you hit with a low contact point, and will also cause other problems later.

Contact the shuttle slightly in front of you

Try to position yourself slightly behind the shuttle, so that you hit your drop shots from above and just in front of you. If the shuttle hastravelled behind you, it will be more difficult to play a good drop shot.

The ideal contact point is above and slightly in front of your right shoulder.

Preparation

Reach up for a high contact point

Use a soft pushing action

Hit the shuttle gently and smoothly. You do not need much power to make it travel over the net. Keep your arm movement compact andcontrolled, and avoid making a snapping action with your wrist.

Think of it as pushing through the shuttle, rather than flicking or tapping at it. You are guiding the shuttle over the net with your whole arm.

After you hit the shuttle, follow through smoothly with your arm, rather than stopping suddenly. The follow-through should initially be in thedirection of your shot; after that, you can allow your arm to relax naturally across the front of your body.

What about arm rotation?

For forehand clears and smashes, generating power using arm rotation is a essential part of the technique. That power is not needed for playinga drop shot.

The arm does rotate during drop shots, but much less forcefully than for clears or smashes: for clears and smashes, arm rotation is sudden andviolent; for drop shots, it is gentle and smooth.

You probably dont need to worry about getting the arm rotation right. Focus on the correct preparation, reaching up for a high contact point,and making the racket face the shuttle at impact. The required arm rotation will likely happen without thinking about it.

Basic control

At this stage, dont worry about deception. Just concentrate on the quality of your drop shots.

Begin by aiming for the service line, and dont worry about getting your drop shots to pass close over the net tape. At this stage youre learningabout how much force to use when you hit the shuttle.

Once this is working, try making the shuttle pass closer over the net tape!!say, no more than 30 cm (about a foot). Dont try to make it perfect:you need to leave some margin for error. Although tighter is better, the exact height is not critical for drop shots.

Varying the pace

Try varying the pace of your drop shots. Can you make them land even closer to the net!!say, halfway between the net and the service line? Canyou make them land farther from the net? These variations are useful.

To achieve these slower or faster drops, you need to use two techniques:

Varying the speed of your hitting action Adjusting your contact point (by changing where you stand)

For a slower drop, slow down your pushing action even more. Contact the shuttle with your racket pointing somewhat upwards: you want tosend the shuttle upwards and forwards on a slower, loopier path. This works best if your wrist is bent back (extended) and your contact point isdirectly above your racket shoulder, rather than slightly in front.

For a faster drop, make the gentle pushing action more forceful. This time, the ideal contact point is slightly farther in front (more like a smash),and youre hitting more steeply downwards. You can also try using the wrist to adjust how steeply and how hard you hit the shuttle, but keepany wrist movements small and subtle.

In other words: a very fast drop shot is like a very slow smash!

Goals

Varying the direction

Next try varying the direction of your drop shots. Can you play them cross-court as well as straight? Can you play them to the middle? Can youdo this from either rearcourt corner (remember that we often play forehands in our backhand corner), or from the middle?

To control the direction of your drop shots, simply change the direction of your arm movement. Pay particular attention to your follow-throughmovement: after contact, your arm movement should initially follow the shuttle!!almost as if the shuttle were dragging your arm behind it!

If you need a greater change of angle, you can bend (flex) your wrist as you hit the shuttle. This is especially useful when playing a cross-courtdrop shot from your backhand corner (round-the-head).

Because the cross-court distance is longer, cross-court drops require a bit more force.

Once you can hit all these different angles, try combining them with changes of pace. For example: can you hit a slow cross-court drop fromyour backhand corner, making the shuttle land close to the net? Can you do the same thing, but hit it faster to land beyond the service line?





Basic technique for backhand drop shots

The technique for backand drop shots is similar to the forehand technique, so I wont repeat everything we just covered.

Instead, Ill just explain the aspects that are different.

Make your preparation the same as for a backhand clear or smash. Your body should be turned away from the net, with the right foot steppingtowards your backhand corner. Your elbow should be low and your racket should be pointing in an upwards direction (the racket, not thestrings).

For a forehand drop shot, I said you should reach up for a high contact point. This doesnt apply for backhands!!at least, not to the sameextent.

You should never hit a backhand shot from directly above your right shoulder. Why? Because you should be playing a forehand instead! Its alsophysically awkward to make a backhand hitting action in this position.

Instead, the contact point for backhands should be above and out to the side of your shoulder. This does not mean that you deliberately letthe shuttle drop lower before playing your shot; rather, it means you only play backhands when you cannot play a good forehand.

So the contact point for backhand drops is lower than for forehands, and is always out to the side. Nevertheless, its well above shoulder heightand usually above head height too.

For backhand drop shots, use a relaxed bevel grip or panhandle grip.

The bevel grip is good when the shuttle is level with your body. When the shuttle has travelled slightly behind you, youll need to shift towards apanhandle grip instead.

Bring the elbow upwards and forwards and extend your arm as you reach for the shuttle.

Just as with forehands, backhand drops are hit with a soft pushing action, using the whole arm to guide the shuttle gently over the net. You canalso think of it as a smooth pulling action. The pulling action comes mainly from the forearm, not the wrist; there is very little wrist movementin this shot.

As with forehands, some arm rotation does occur during a backhand drop shot, and its much gentler and smoother than for a clear or smash.

Preparation

Contact point

Grip

Hitting action

Concentrate on the other aspects of the technique and this should happen naturally.

Backhand drop shots are typically played when youre under pressure, so the shuttle will often be behind your body at the point of impact. Inthis situation, you need the wrist to be bent back (extended) as you hit the shuttle; this helps make the shuttle travel downwards.

Make your recovery part of the hitting action

As you hit the shuttle, turn your shoulders and body back into court. This recovery movement should not happen after youve hit the drop shot!!rather, it should be part of the hitting action.

When youre under more pressure, you need to start recovery even earlier. You can do this by placing your right foot onto the floor slightlybefore impact with the shuttle, which allows you to begin the turning action sooner.

Try hitting slower and faster drops, and try directing them straight, cross-court, and to the middle. For obvious reasons, you dont need topractise backhand drop shots from your forehand corner!

Because you are typically under pressure when playing a backhand drop, it can be difficult to create a cross-court angle. To make matters worse,the shoulder cannot move as far with a backhand action as it can with a forehand action.

To get around this problem, its often helpful to adjust your grip farther towards panhandle when playing a cross-court backhand drop. You canalso use your wrist to help create the angle, by bending it backwards more (extending it fully).



Variations of speed and angle



Making your drop shots deceptive

Once youve learned the basic technique, its time to add more deception to your drop shots.

Deception is most effective when youre playing a forehand drop from a good attacking position. For that reason, were going to focus mainlyon forehands here.

The basic method for adding deception is to make your hitting action appear to be faster, so that it looks more like a smash or a clear.

Previously, you were using a slow, smooth arm movement throughout the hitting action. This meant your opponents could recognise that youwere playing a drop shot before you actually hit the shuttle.

Now try changing your hitting action so that your arm movement is faster at first, and then suddenly slows down just before you hit the shuttle.You should still hit the shuttle with a soft pushing action, but this only starts shortly before contacting the shuttle.

The trade-off between deception and accuracy

The faster you make your initial swing, the more deceptive your drop shot will be. But this fast-then-slow swing is more difficult than the basictechnique. If you try to make the swing too fast, your accuracy will suffer.

You need to compromise between deception and accuracy. Its no good playing a deceptive shot that keeps going in the net!

In a later article, well look at how you can use slice to improve this trade-off.

Players often give away their intention to play a drop shot without realising it. For your deception to be convincing, every aspect of yourpreparation must look like a clear or a smash.

Make sure that your movement to the shuttle is convincing. Many players move fast to hit a smash, but slower to hit a drop shot!!taking thedrop shot later and saving effort. A canny opponent will detect this discrepancy in your speed or style of movement, and will start anticipatingyour drop shots.

The top men players often take this deception to the extreme, by faking a big jump smash: they jump up high, only to play a soft drop shotinstead. Every aspect of their movement suggests that a powerful smash is coming.

but the timing cannot be exactly the same

Your hitting action for a drop shot must start fractionally earlier than if you were playing a smash instead. This is necessary because the swing isslower, and therefore takes more time to complete.

Speed up the initial arm movement

Make your preparation convincing

Its not a huge difference, but it can be a problem when players are obsessed with deception and want to start their swing at exactly the sametime.

If you start your drop shot swing at exactly the right instant for smashing, then your contact point will be lower. This is a common error in dropshot technique: the elbow drops, the contact point is too low, and the shuttle often goes in the net.

Many players have favourite shots in particular situations. For example, some players will almost always play a cross-court drop when underpressure in the rearcourt. This makes them predictable.

It doesnt matter how good or deceptive the drop shot is. If your opponents can predict your shot based on your previous choices, then theycan move forwards and take it early at the net.

That doesnt mean you should be constantly varying all your shots. Some shots are better than others in a given situation. But you should avoidbecoming too predictable in your shot selection, especially with drop shots.

All of the same ideas can be applied to backhand drop shots. In most situations, however, deception for backhand drop shots is less effective,because youre in a defensive position.

In this situation, youre probably unable to play a powerful smash, so no amount of deceptive technique will convince your opponent that a bigsmash is coming. Usually, therefore, you should prioritise accuracy over deception.

Of course, its always good to maintain a basic level of disguise, so that your next shot is not easily predictable.

In a later article, well look at how you can use slice to make your drop shots more effective. Adding slice to your drop shots opens up manyopportunities for deception.



Be unpredictable

Deception for backhand drops

What next?



Lifts

Lifts are a badminton shot played from the midcourt or net area. A lift involves hitting the shuttle upwards towards the back of youropponents court.

Lifts and clears are different shots:

Lifts are played from the midcourt or net; clears are played from the rearcourt. Lifts use an underarm hitting action; clears use an overhead/overarm hitting action.

The terminology is often used inconsistently. Sometimes you will hear people call lifts underarm clears, in an attempt to avoid confusion.

For now, well look at these topics:

Basic technique for a straight lift from the net Lifting cross-court Lifts after a spinning net shot Lifts from the midcourt

Deceptive lifts are not yet in this article, although you can read about the tactical ideas in my singles tactics article: deceptive shots from the net.

I also dont cover lifts as smash defence here (long defence), since smash defence is a significant topic by itself.

Because lifts are primarily a defensive shot, some players find them boring and neglect to practise them. This is a mistake: if you can play anaccurate lift when under pressure, then you will win many more rallies.

Using lifts defensively

Mens doubles players in particular often prefer to practise their attacking skills, correctly reasoning that attacking is the way to win in doubles.Yet your opponents are trying to attack too, and you must avoid throwing away points with weak defence.

Getting good height and depth on your lifts makes a huge difference. A high, deep lift will blunt your opponents attack, forcing him to workharder for a winning smash.

Direction matters too. In doubles, lifting accurately to the corners will allow you to maintain the best defensive position, open up space forcounter-attacking shots, and put some pressure on the attackers movement. In singles, lifting to the middle helps you narrow down your

Lifts vs. clears

What this article covers

Lifts are an essential shot

opponents angles of attack.

Using lifts aggressively

Lifts can also be attacking shots. An attacking lift involves hitting the shuttle flatter (i.e. to a lower height): youre trying to deprive youropponent of time and get the shuttle behind him.

Deceptive attacking lifts can be deadly, especially in singles. The idea is to fool your opponent into committing forwards to the net, beforeflicking the shuttle over his head.

You can also deceive opponents about the direction of your lifts. Once you recognise all the deceptive possibilities, its easy to see that lifts canbe some of the most advanced shots in badminton.

Lifts as feeding shots

In terms of your ability to train, lifts are the most important shot in the game. Before you can practise any rearcourt shot, you need a partner (orcoach) who can play good lifts!

The only alternative is to buy a shuttle-feeding machine. Although these have some use in coaching, they are prohibitively expensive and muchless versatile than a skilful human feeder.

So remember: by practising your lifts together with a practice partner, your rearcourt practices also become more effective. This is one reasonthat coaches usually teach lifts early on: they are training the players to feed for each other.





Basic technique for playing a net lift

When youre first learning to play lifts, concentrate on straight lifts played from the net, on both the forehand and backhand sides.

If you can master this technique, it will make the other lift variations easier to learn.

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Approaching the shuttle

Hold your racket with a relaxed basic grip. Step forwards towards the net, to end with a lunge on your right foot.

For forehands, keep the racket head above the level of your hand as you approach the shuttle.

For backhands, push the elbow forwards as you approach the shuttle. The elbow should be bent to about 90 degrees. This helps get your arminto a position where you can uncoil from the elbow (rotating the arm), and also keeps you balanced as your body turns towards the backhandside.

Lunge forwards to reach the shuttle, and extend the rear arm for balance.

The hitting action

For forehands, turn your forearm so that your palm is facing upwards. For backhands, turn your forearm so that your knuckles are facingupwards. You can also think of this as turning your hand over. At the same time, bend back your wrist.

Reach forwards, bringing the racket upwards from underneath the shuttle. Flick through with the wrist, turn the forearm back in the oppositedirection, and tighten the fingers as you hit.

Thats an outline of the technique. Now lets look at those points in more detail:

Its essential to use the correct badminton grip, as this allows your arm, wrist, and fingers to work effectively.

For forehand lifts, its simple: use a basic grip.

For backhand lifts, I recommend slightly shifting your grip from a basic grip towards a thumb grip. At the same time, you need to make a littlemore space between the racket handle and the base of your thumb, and place the pad of your thumb-tip more directly onto the handle.

I believe this slight adjustment is a better default grip for playing backhand lifts, since it allows you to make better use of the thumb.

Do not use a full thumb grip!

Technique summary

Grip

Some coaches teach backhand lifts using a full thumb grip. This is a serious mistake, because a full thumb grip inhibits the forearm muscles andprevents players from using the fingers effectively.

Remember that were talking about the grip used at the start of the stroke. When you complete the stroke, the grip may be different. Forbackhands especially, there may even be some change in grip angle during the grip tightening: the grip angle can change towards a thumb gripas you twist the racket between your fingers.

For forehand lifts, the wrist should be bent back back substantially (extended) as you approach the shuttle. As you hit the shuttle, the wristshould return to approximately neutral; avoid bending the wrist forwards (flexing).

For backhands, the initial wrist movement is different and more constrained. You prepare with a slight thumbs down movement (radialdeviation); if youve got this right, then youll find its only possible to move your wrist a small amount. As you complete the stroke, allow thewrist to continue beyond neutral and bend forwards (extending).

The wrist movements should feel relaxed and flowing. If they feel awkward or uncomfortable, then youre doing it wrong.

The forearm movement should happen together with the wrist movement and grip tightening: they are coordinated.

Forearm rotation is essential for power. For a forehand lift, you turn the forearm outwards (supinating) before twisting it back inwards(pronating) to hit the shuttle. For a backhand lift, its the opposite way around: turn the forearm inwards (pronating) before twisting it backoutwards (supinating).

Avoid using a flat hit

Most beginners naturally use a flat hit, where the racket strings are facing the shuttle throughout the stroke. In other words, they are not usingforearm rotation.

Its natural to do this because the flat-hitting technique is much easier. Unfortunately, its also much weaker: using a flat hit will make it difficultto play high, deep lifts.

One indicator of flat-hitting is that the wrist movement is wrong: after hitting a forehand lift, the wrist continues to bend forwards, and finishesin a curled up position (flexed). The same error (a flexed wrist) occurs with backhands before contacting the shuttle. These errors happenbecause the player is trying to force the wrist to power the shot.

You should feel that your fingers are controlling the stroke. The power is coming from your arm, but its directed by the fingers. Remember tostart with a relaxed grip before tightening the grip sharply on impact.

The thumb plays a central role for backhand lifts. Try to press with the thumb as you tighten your grip. Keep the thumb straight to providestability in your stroke.

For forehands, the index finger plays a similar role. Press with the index finger as you flick through with the wrist and arm. The index fingershould not be held straight: keep it gently curled instead.

Wrist movement

Forearm movement

Use of the fingers

Of course, the other fingers are also involved in tightening your grip. But the thumb (for backhands) and the index finger (for forehands) play aspecial role: you should feel backhands in your thumb, and feel forehands in your index finger.

You should reach your racket forwards to the shuttle, rather than hitting close to the body. This gives you space for the arm and wristmovements.

Try to avoid reaching out to the side, and hit more directly in front of you whenever possible. This helps you to direct your power where itsneeded (forwards).

Straighten your arm as you hit the shuttle, but maintain a slight bend at the elbow even at the moment of impact. Avoid hitting with acompletely straight arm, as this locks out your joints and prevents you from using forearm rotation effectively.

A common error is to sweep the arm sideways across your body as you hit the shuttle. This is a natural movement, but its poor technique.

Instead, try to keep the initial follow-after movement in line with the direction of your lift. For now, since youre learning straight lifts, thismeans the arm movement after hitting the shuttle should continue straight. Imagine that youre pointing the racket at the shuttle, or that theshuttle is dragging the racket head behind it.

Sweeping the arm across the body makes it almost impossible to play a straight lift: you are locked into a cross-court angle. Knowing this, thefault is easy to diagnose: if a player cannot hit his lifts straight, then he is probably sweeping the arm across.

Thats why I advise you to start with straight lifts: they help you detect and fix this error early on.

You dont need a big swing to play a lift. Although it may seem counter-intuitive, you will get more power from a relatively compact swing. Moreimportantly, using a compact swing will help you maintain balance, reach the shuttle earlier, and open up potential for deception.

The overall hitting action should feel like an explosive flicking movement, rather than a wide sweeping movement. Try to extend your armforwards to the shuttle, rather than backwards-then-forwards in a large circle. A badminton lift is not like a golf swing!

Lunging lets you reach farther in front of you and bring your body to a stop before hitting the shuttle.

Your last step should be a lunge on your right foot. Time the lunge so that you land at the same moment as hitting the shuttle, or momentarilybefore. This helps you stay balanced during the stroke, and also improves your recovery for the next shot.

If you hit the shuttle before your lunging foot lands, then you will be unbalanced and your recovery will be compromised. This is sometimesnecessary when youre scrambling to get the shuttle back, but should be avoided whenever possible.

Hit out in front of you

Follow-after in line with the shuttle

Keep the swing compact

Make a positive lunge forwards

Practising lifts

Start with a simple hand feed over the net. The feeder should be positioned in the midcourt so that the player has time to track the incomingshuttle; the player should also be positioned in the midcourt, so that he has room to step forwards into the shot.

Practise with underarm feeds first; this feed simulates a net shot. You should also practise with overarm feeds, which simulate a drop shot. In agame, you must be able to play lifts from the net in response to both drops and net shots.

When practising lifts for the first time, concentrate on achieving a good height first, and worry about depth later.

Progressing the practices

You can progress the practices by playing shot sequences, so that you get experience of lifting from a real shot, not just from a hand feed.

The two simplest repeating sequences are as follows:

Lift, drop Lift, drop, net shot

The first sequence lets one player continuously practise lifting from his partners drop shots. The second sequence lets both players practiselifting from a net shot.

By adding another net shot, we get another common practice sequence:

Lift, drop, net shot, net shot

This helps you practise lifting after a tighter net shot (a net shot will usually be tighter if it follows another net shot).

As you get confident with these practices, try to develop the movement so that you return to a sensible base position between shots. Eventhough you know what the next shot will be, its still good to maintain the habit of covering the court effectively.

To progress the practices further, add an element of uncertainty. For example, allow the players to choose either a drop shot or clear from therearcourt, and a lift or net shot from the front.





Directing your lifts cross-court

Before practising cross-court lifts, make sure that you can play effective straight lifts.

Cross-court lifts require only a few small changes to your hitting action.

Bear in mind that cross-court lifts require more power than straight lifts of the same height, because the cross-court distance is greater. Itscommon for players to hit all their cross-court lifts flatter than their straight lifts, without even realising they are doing this.

Try to avoid running around the shot in an attempt to get a better position for playing cross-court.

In badminton, you rarely have time to reposition your whole body as a method of changing your shot angles. Instead, you need to move directlyto the shuttle and still be able to hit different angles.

Before you swing forwards into the shot, the racket head should move slightly outside the line of the shuttle. In other words: considered in asideways direction only, the approaching shuttle should be between you and the racket head.

This helps you to bring the racket inwards in a cross-court direction.

Bringing the racket outside the line of the shuttle is often useful for other shots too, because it gives you options: from this preparation, you caneasily play straight lifts, cross-court lifts, cross-court net shots, or out-to-in spinning net shots.

If you begin the hitting action just fractionally earlier, then the angle of your shot will change from straight towards cross-court.

This works mainly because the forearm is rotating rapidly during the shot. With a straight lift, you time the hitting action so that the forearmhas turned back to (roughly) neutral at the moment of impact. For a cross-court lift, beginning the hitting action an instant earlier means thatthe forearm will have turned farther by the time you contact the shuttle.

You can also flick the wrist forwards slightly more to adjust the angle of your lifts towards cross-court.

Using the wrist is more effective for backhand lifts than forehand lifts. If you bend the wrist forwards too much with a forehand lift, it willinterfere with your ability to generate power from your forearm.

Adjusting your position is not the answer

Bring the racket outside the line of the shuttle

Adjust the timing of your lifts

Using the wrist

When youre reaching out to the side, its much more difficult to play a cross-court lift.

If youre reaching sideways at full stretch, then you will probably find it impossible to play any cross-court shot. However, if you are underslightly less pressure, it may still be possible to hit cross-court, provided you adjust your grip.

To do this, move your grip towards a thumb grip for forehands or a panhandle grip for backhands. These grips change the angle of your rackethead towards cross-court.

The downside of these grip adjustments is that you will lose power: forearm rotation will be less effective, since you are holding the racket at anawkward angle. It will also be harder to use the fingers effectively.

You should take this loss of power into consideration tactically. Although you can achieve a cross-court lift with these grip adjustments, the liftmay travel flatter than you would like. Depending on the situation, it may be wiser to play a straight lift instead; remember also that straightlifts require less power than cross-court lifts, since they travel a shorter distance.



When youre reaching out to the side



Playing a lift after a spinning net shot

Spinning net shots can make it difficult to control your lifts.

By lifting high and towards the middle (rather than a corner), you have a better chance of keeping the shuttle in the court.

When your opponent plays a spinning net shot, you are often faced with two extra difficulties:

The net shot may be very tight. The spin may make it hard to control your shot.

Of course, any net shot can be tight, but typically spinning net shots are the tightest. This means you will have to lift the shuttle very high tomake it reach the back.

You need to get your racket more directly underneath the shuttle, so that you can hit steeply upwards. It often helps to crouch down low, as thisgets your body in a good position to unleash power upwards. Make a positive follow-after movement to help achieve as much height as you canon the lift, but be careful not to hit the net with your racket.

Because you need to hit the shuttle very high, you should use a longer swing than you normally would for a lift. This will allow you to get morepower.

Its often helpful to delay your shot slightly, as this can provide several benefits:

The shuttle will be spinning less when you hit it. You will have more time to get into a low, stable position. You will have time to make a longer backswing.

Delaying the shot in this way affects your position of preparation. Normally, you would place more emphasis on reaching the shuttle as early aspossible.

Because of this difference in preparation, its useful to recognise early when you will need to play this shot. This means you make the decision toplay a high lift as you are approaching the net, rather than at the last moment. This allows you to approach with the best posture for thisparticular shot.

Its worth noting that some net shots are so extremely tight that you do not have the option to delay hitting them: to do so would leave your liftlanding woefully short. In this situation, youll just have to take your chances with a turbulently spinning shuttle!

Especially when the net shot has sideways spin, the spin can alter the direction of your lift; this happens when you are forced to play your shotbefore the shuttle has fully stabilised.

Dealing with tight net shots

Dealing with spin

The most dangerous example is when your opponent has played in-to-out spin near a net corner, as this spin will tend to push your lifts out atthe side. This is also a possibility after any spinning net shot.

To counteract this problem, its often wise to play your lift towards the middle of the court, rather than aiming for a corner. This gives you alarger margin for error.

Cross-court drops or net shots

A similar problem can occur after your opponents cross-court drop or net shot: because the shuttle is still angled when you hit it, you can losecontrol of the direction and height of your lift. The effect is most pronounced with a heavily sliced cross-court drop shot: these have a curvingtrajectory and seem to die as they cross the net.

These are nowhere near as dangerous as spinning net shots, but they can still upset your lifts. Learn to adjust your stroke to compensate for thetrajectory of your opponents shot. When youre practising lifts, dont forget to practise against cross-court drops (sliced) and cross-court netshots.





Playing a lift from farther back in court

So far, weve only discussed lifts played from the net.

Lifts are also played from the midcourt, and occasionally from the rearcourt too.

There are two main situations where lifts are played from the midcourt:

When defending an opponents smash After the opponent plays a push or drive

Ill discuss smash defence elsewhere; here, we are concerned with playing a lift from your opponents push or drive.

Pushes and drives are most common in doubles, although they do sometimes occur in singles too. Especially after your opponent plays a drive,you will need more power to play a lift. You need more power because youre positioned farther back in court, and your lift must therefore travelfarther to reach the back.

Youll also typically be reaching out towards the side in this situation, as drives and pushes are mainly placed towards the side of the court.

Theres no special secret to help get that extra power. The technique is much the same as for a net lift, except that youll be stepping out in asideways direction rather than forwards. Focus on reacting quickly and addressing the shuttle while its still partially in front of you. Do notmake the tempting mistake of building up for a big swing: while

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