Types of Badminton Serves [Forehand & Backhand]

Every battle for a badminton point starts with a serve. It’s the first step that opens up the
game and introduces players to each other. Every contact in badminton is important, but
the first time you hit the birdie may have a very significant effect on you.

A good serve can put you in an enormous advantage, since if played correctly; the
opponent might use up a big portion of mental and physical strength for the return. This
means that their counter won’t be as effective, which gives the serving player the
before-mentioned advantage because the next progress of the exchange can be
decided freely and entirely based on their judgment and needs.

Nonetheless, serving has its rules and technique as well. These need to be obeyed
in order to execute a correct initiation of the exchange. These are the three basic serve
rules:

 The player must hit the birdie when it’s below the waist.
 The head of the racket needs to be below the racket handle before it touches the
birdie.
 Both feet should be on the court.

This article will cover the several types of badminton serves that represents the basic
toolbox. It’s essential to master this part of the game since many professionals and
experts in badminton agree that even a single serve can decide the match.

Backhand serve

A nice and solid backhand serve can be taught in 5 easy steps. Firstly, pick up your
racket and hold it in the backhand grip, but not too tight, just the right amount to feel
comfortable. The position of the racket doesn’t have to be 100% perfect, you can
always modify it depending on the respective serve, just get the basic grip right.

Next up, use your thumb and forefinger to pick up the birdie so its head points to you
and the feathers to the net. Bear in mind that the angle of the birdie will have a big effect
on the overall trajectory of the serve, so choose it carefully and adapt to the situation.

As far as the positioning is concerned, stand with your racket foot forward and with
your racket and birdie facing the net.

Once you are set, aim and execute the serve.

The recommended area to strike the serve to is the beginning or the end of the square
diagonally to your serving position. The momentum for the serve is created by the shift
of weight from the back foot to the front foot. The release of the birdie should be done
by a gentle flick. Be careful to maintain a sufficient distance to be able to create enough
momentum. Don’t be afraid to experiment in this regard.
The power of the serve then depends on the type of serve you want to execute, be it
a low or flick serve. The low serve should get barely over the net and land behind the
service line.

A nice tip is to aim at the white band of the net to achieve that extremely close precision. Your
positioning should be close to the front baseline. The flick serve requires a more upwards tilted
birdie and a little bit more force to hit the wanted area in the rear part of the court. This should
be, however, done with vigor and little height to the birdie, so it can travel the distance quickly.

Forehand serve

Similarly, to the previous badminton serve technique, forehand can also be described in
five steps which are needed for the basic understanding.

The first step would be to use the forehand racket grip, which was already
discussed in previous articles. The grip should be comfortable and close to the base of
the racket for more control.

Secondly, take the birdie into your hands and use your thumb and other fingers to hold
it at the head while moving it up all the way to your shoulder height. The birdie should
experience a free fall to your thigh level height until it’s sent to the opponent’s side.

Be sure to make two separate movements, one for the birdie and a second one with the
racket, don’t do it simultaneously. The forehand service is mostly used during singles
matches and requires a stance approximately 2 meters from the net.

Your arms should be raised and the racket leg behind. You should be always aiming
diagonally and into the front or rear part of the square on the court. This of course
depends on your serve type as well, which in this case are: the high, flick and low
forehand serve.

High and flick serves should land in the back area of the square, whereas, the low
forehand serve should be aimed at the beginning of this part of the court and the
contact with the birdie should be below your waist. The momentum is created mainly by
your hips and the upper-body movement. The weight is initially positioned on the back
foot and then changes to the front foot.

The distance between the birdie and the racket can be once again freely modified to fit
your needs but prepare to be in a full swing position. This means that the racket needs
to be approximately at your side. To hit the forehand badminton serve you intend to, you
need to change the power and angle of the birdie. The high serve, for example, should
have the qualities of height and distance to hit the rear of the court.
The flick serve, on the other hand, should be quicker and travel faster to the back
area. The birdie should slide over the net and hit with precision. The low serve is
intended to just make it over the net and fall behind the serve line.

To sum this up, the long serve’s main idea is to open the game up for the player with
the help of a high distant serve. This enables to create a strategy starting already with
the first touch. The short serve represents the opposite, in the sense that it should land
very close to the net and thus requires a quick reaction.

From a tactical point of view, doubles give you more freedom and creativity in terms
of the serve. A very important quality is to always look confident and aware of what you
are doing. Give your opponents signals so they can worry about every inch of the court,
be it the front part or the corner. Make little subtle changes at the very last second to
throw them off and score a winning serve.

This way you will gain an advantage since they might not be able to react fast enough to
your actual serve.

Badminton Drop Shot

What is a badminton drop shot?
A drop shot is the name given to the badminton shot that you perform when you are in the back
of your court and you hit the shuttle so it lands in the front part of your opponent’s side (near the
net).

As we will see below, there are several different types of drop shots, all with their own
characteristics, but what they all share in common is the position where they are hit from
(backcourt) and the position where the shuttle lands (front court).

There are five types of badminton drop shot.

 Basic or slow forehand drop shot

 Slice or fast forehand drop shot
 Reverse slice drop shot
 Basic backhand drop shot
 Slice backhand drop shot

Basic or slow forehand drop shot

The basic or slow forehand drop shot is the most common of the badminton drop shots. In this
type of shot, you will hit the shuttle with the racket head flat and the shuttle will travel slowly to
the other side of the court, landing very close to the net. It is important that the shuttle doesn’t
travel too high or too far away from the net because, as the shot is slow, you cannot give enough
time to your opponent to reach the shuttle when it is still up. Otherwise, he will easily finish the
rally.

As with the slice forehand drop shot and the reverse slice drop shot, you need to use a forehand
grip to perform this shot. If you are not sure what a forehand grip is, we recommend that you
read our extensive badminton grip guide where we explain all there is to know about the
badminton grip, including the “trick” positions so you can easily remember how each grip has to
be performed.

Below is a step by step guide on how to perform the basic forehand drop shot.

Step 1 – Getting ready

The first step is the preparation of the shot or the position you are in before you start with the
motion to hit the shuttle. In this position, you should be standing with your non-racket foot
forward and your racket foot on the back. Which is your racket foot? If you are right-handed,
your right foot is your racket foot. If you are left-handed, your left foot is your racket foot.

In both cases, you have to be facing sideways and not facing the net. This might seem a bit
counterintuitive at first and difficult to do, but it is key in order to keep a consistent ready
position for all your shots. As we said before, one of the most important characteristics of a
badminton drop shot is that your opponent doesn’t know this shot is coming, so you need a
consistent ready position for all your shots. Make sure you keep your weight on your back foot.

In addition to the position of your legs, your non-racket arm should be up and in front of you in
order to generate balance. The exact position of the arm will depend on your own feeling, as
each person is different and you might feel more comfortable with the arm more or less raised.

Regarding your racket arm, your elbow should be forming roughly a ninety degrees angles.

Step 2 – Moving towards the shuttle

Step two is what could be also called the movement itself. It is the process between your “ready”
position and when you hit the shuttle.

In here, especially for beginners, you will probably start diverging your movement from that of
your smash or your clear. It should be your aim through training, though, to keep this as similar
to the other shots as possible.

During the movement phase, you should be bringing the racket up using your elbow, so that the
racket goes over your head. While you do that, it is also important to start switching the body
weight from the back foot to the front foot and start moving towards the front.

Step 3 – Hit the shuttle

The last step is hitting the shuttle. In the most perfect badminton drop shot, this will be the only
moment where the movement will change from that of a badminton smash or a badminton clear.

Here, you finalize the whole process by hitting the shuttle gently with the wrist still. It is very
important to keep your wrist still because otherwise, it will be very difficult for you to control the
shot.

You should be contacting the shuttle at the highest point possible, with the racket head
horizontally flat or facing downwards.
Upon contact with the shuttle, you should be stepping forward with what was your back leg. By
this time, your weight should be in what was your back leg and is now your front leg.

Badminton Net Shot

Net play is often underappreciated in badminton. Unless other skills that only benefit singles or
doubles players, net play is extremely valuable for both.

In this post, we are going to clarify what we understand for net shot, and we will describe all the
different types of net shots. After that, we go through a step-by-step process on how to perform
the different types of shots. Last, but not least, we will explain when you would want to use net
shots and why. Ready? Let’s get started!

What is a net shot in

badminton?
A net shot in badminton is a shot that is performed from the front of the court, near the net, to the
front of the court of your opponent.

In the image below, you can see the trajectory of a standard badminton net shot.

Trajectory net shot

This type of shot is considered mildly offensive. It can be a winner and it usually brings the rally
to a situation where it can finish very fast. However, it is also used as part of the in-between face,
where players are just looking for a crack in order to start the attack.

What are the different types of

net shots in badminton?
There are four types of net shot, all with their forehand and backhand variant.

 Basic net shot

 High net shot
 Flat net shot
 Spin net shot

Basic net shot

The basic net shot is the first net shot that beginners should master, both forehand and backhand.
In this type of net shot, you are using your fingers to give just enough power to the shuttle to
pass through.
In this type of shot, the shuttle will pass quite close to the net and land somewhere in between the
net and the service line. It is the most basic shot and it is usually seen in the first stages of the
rally, whenever players are testing each other and trying to find a crack.

High net shot

The high net shot is similar to the basic net shot in terms of how you perform it, but it has a very
different trajectory. In this case, you want to be passing the shuttle quite high from the net so
then it can fall vertically very close to the net. If the description is difficult to understand, have a
look at the drawing below.

Trajectory high net shot

This shot should be used only in singles whenever your opponent is far from the net. This way,
he/she will not have enough time to reach the shuttle to kill it. It then becomes very difficult for
them to lift the shuttle without it hitting the net or staying in middle court.

If you were to use this shot in doubles, the likelihood of receiving a net kill as an answer is very
high. Since your opponents have less court to cover, they can pressure more the net and one of
them will be able to reach it before it has fallen enough for it to become a dangerous shot for
them.

Flat net shot

The flat net shot is another variant of the basic shot, with a different trajectory. In this case, the
aim is to pass the shuttle very close to the net so that the opponents cannot kill it. It is not as
important where the shuttle lands as it is how close to the net it passes. Have a look at the image
below to better understand what I mean.

Trajectory flat net shot

This shot can be used both in doubles and in singles. By making it pass close to the net, you are
making sure that the opponent cannot attack it. Contrary to the high net shot, where you are
risking the rally a little bit in order to get an advantage, this type of shot is mostly safe. You are
not risking too much, but you won’t get much advantage either.

Spin net shot

The last type of net shot is the spin net shot. This is the most difficult one to perform, but also the
most effective. This is the type of shot that you see the pros perform time and again. With the
spin net shot, the shuttle passes very close to the net and lands also very close to the net. It is
called spin net shot because the shuttle does a spin when it is flying. You can see the trajectory in
the image below.

Trajectory spin net shot

This shot can be used both in singles and doubles. By giving it a spin, players manage to be
much more accurate with their shots and can adjust the shuttle more to the net.

How to perform a net shot in

badminton?
Now that we had a look at the different types of shots, let’s talk about how to perform them. For
this, I have also pasted some videos from other sources that support the written explanation I am
giving.

How to perform a basic net shot

Step 1 – Getting ready
The first step is the preparation of the shot or the position you are in before you start with the
motion to hit the shuttle. In this position, you should be in the center of the court with your
racket leg slightly forward and your non-racket leg slightly backward.

It is very important that your racket is pointing upwards. If your opponent is also in the front of
the court, you can bring the racket even a bit more upwards, just in case he/she delivers a weak
net shot and you can kill it.

Step 2 – Moving towards the shuttle

While moving towards the shuttle, you need to direct the racket also towards the shuttle. The
head of the racket should be lower than your hand, orientated in a way that, when the shuttle hits
the strings, it will rebound in the right angle in order to go over the net.
You should be making the last step with your racket leg, leaving your non-racket leg behind you.
Your non-racket arm should also be extended behind you in order to keep a good balance.

Step 3 – Hit the shuttle

The last step is hitting the shuttle. This step is fairly easy for a basic net shot. You simply need to
place the racket at the right angle so that it will go over the net and do the necessary small
movement with your fingers. If forehand, the index finger will be the one doing the movement. If
backhand, the thumb will be done the necessary movement.

While hitting the shuttle, you should be landing with your racket leg. Your legs should be as
wide apart as you can without getting stuck or injured.

In this video, Prairie Badminton explains how to do the basic net shot.

How to perform a high net shot

Step 1 – Getting ready
This step is the same as for the basic net shot.

Step 2 – Moving towards the shuttle

This step is the same as for the basic net shot, but the angle of the racket should be different.
Because you want the shuttle to go high, the racket should be almost perpendicular to the net.

Step 3 – Hit the shuttle

This step is also the same as for the basic net shot. Because of the type of shot you have
performed, you can stay close to the net to put pressure on your opponent for his/her next shot.

How to perform a flat net shot

Step 1 – Getting ready
This step is the same as for the basic net shot. If you are playing doubles, though, your racket
needs to be a bit higher than if you are playing singles.

Step 2 – Moving towards the shuttle

In this case, because your aim is to pass the shuttle as flat as possible, you need to be holding the
racket in a different way. Instead of placing it as shown in the video above, where your palm is
facing upwards, you will rotate your wrist ninety degrees so that the head of the racket is
perpendicular to the floor.

Step 3 – Hit the shuttle

This step is similar to the basic net shot. However, because of the orientation of the racket, you
will be hitting the shuttle from the side and not from the bottom. You need to make sure that the
angle of the racket is good so that the shuttle passes close to the net.

As far as the legs are concerned, follow the same steps indicated in the basic net shot.

How to perform a spin net shot

Step 1 – Getting ready
This step is the same as for the basic net shot.

Step 2 – Moving towards the shuttle

This step is also the same as for the basic net shot.

Step 3 – Hit the shuttle

Here comes the tricky part. In order to perform a spin net shot, you need to go “around” the
shuttle while hitting it. You need to do this while at the same time having the right angle. The
more around the shuttle you can go, the more spin you will give to the shuttle and the more
difficult it will be for the opponent to return it.

This is quite difficult to explain with words, so be sure to check the video below from Badminton
Famly where they explain thoroughly how to do this shot.