Hey all. This is my first post so let me apologize if im reiterating anything....i did a quick search and I dont think this has been covered yet. Im curious to know how important a deceptive serve is? That is, how important it is to disguise your flick vs short wide vs short to the T serve. From what i've been taught the strongest serve is generally a short serve to the front line crossing the net at a position where the receiver makes their decision between a forhand or backhand return. While I definately do need to work on my short serve, I have a strong accurate flick, and when playing against people who know me well, i can often get away with my inconsistant short serve because people are too busy worrying about the flick. So, i suppose two quick questions: 1) How many of you MD players try and disguise your serve? (assuming backhand serve, since thats how I prefer to serve in doubles.) 2) How often do you concede the offense in favour of a set defense when you are serving? I find disguising a serve adds another level of complexity that makes a consitantly accurate serve more difficult.
I've had trouble in the past serving short too but I've found a way to disguise my serve. I serve with my wrist cocked as if I was going to flick it. This gives you flexibility and ability to adapt to your opponent's stance/position right before you serve. The best way though is to change the timing (i.e. sometimes you wait the split second before you serve, sometimes you serve quickly). As long as your opponent can't time your serve, you will have gained an extra .1-.3 seconds and that's a big difference between getting the shuttle back in your face and getting a not so strong return.
totally agree. variation in service is very important especially in doubles. the value of the flick service is not because it lifts the shuttle over the head of the receiver, the real value of the flick service is to tell the receiver that if he try to rush the service, he may completely lose the shuttle and as a result losing the point. this is especially useful against opponents who are risk takers, who tend to prefer taking risks. flick them a few times and you will find that they will plant the feet firmly on the ground. the key though, is to not allow the receive to know what your intention is. there are a few ways to do it: 1. make your flick and short serve look exactly the same. 2. rusher tend to take risk and they try to look for cues like the body/head/eye/arm movements. deliberately vary those and it will keep them thinking and guessing. try lean forward and then do a short service, later lean forward but do a flick, then lean backward and do a short service. soon you will find a pattern for each rusher and then you can use that to your advantage. 3. timing is another cue they look for as mentioned by valourarc. sometimes try to let the birdie drop, sometimes move quickly into ready but slow down during mid-stroke, or speed up. 4. forehand/backhand - try to master both services. most people only do one kind. i can do both, but ppl who knows me knows that i prefer the flick with forehand more than backhand. so some see me preparing forehand will immediately take a step back then i serve a short, some see me preparing backhand and step closer to the net, then i flick them. the variations are endless and if you can master all of them, then it sucks to be the receiver! as usual, easier said than done, but practice makes perfect.
Just one thing to remember when practicing variation on serve is not to do anything illegal. Question: Is it illegal to "head fake," when you are about to serve? I have seen someone jerk their head right before they served and the receiver said it was illegal. Maybe he only said it because he got faked out, but I would like some clarification on this. A couple points: 1. If you can tell the receiver has their weight shifted forward to rush the serve, it may be a good time to flick because it will be harder for them to move back. 2. As kwun mentioned, it is important that you don't to anything different before you flick. Many people I play with give away a flick serve by pulling their racquet further back to get more power because they don't have the right serving technique. Some sort of tense up their body, while others will speed up their serving stroke too early and give it away by doing that. 3. For backhand service, you should be moving at the elbow, with somewhat of a cocked wrist. To do a flick service, all it takes is a little flick of the wrist near the point of contact and supination. (I forgot to mention that in the other thread) If you find that you are not getting enough power for your flick service, try using some supination, I found it helps. 4. Unlike tennis, in badminton, the serve is not an offensive weapon, it is meant to simply start the rally. Some people try to gain points simply on the service and end up doing illegal serves, which bugs me. Phil
agree on all points by Phil. as for the head jerk, i believe it is legal. i have seen Huang Sui doing that all the time, she'd do a short serve but immediate look up high as if following the birdie of a high flick. if her opponent try to follow her body posture, then they'd think she just served high. but i have never seen a pro fall into her trick.
Oh, and my tip for this thread: I've taught myself to look at one spot but serve to another, you should try it. Look intently at the near side T and then serve wide. Lift your head, look behind your opponent, then serve short. I love doing this to players who are looking for body language clues. At the club, it always earns me a couple of cheap points every set. [moved off-topic portion to a new thread -kwun]
I think there's a lot of psychology when it comes to deceptive serves. Personally, I'm a forehand server. There's a lot more motion going on in a forehand serve from a visual perspective (i.e. the obvious weight shift with your feet, slightly more lengthy arm movement, etc.) than with a backhand stance. That said, it's a lot easier for opponents to assume they've got my pattern pegged. I do nothing to dissuade opponents of this. I also make it a point (as others did in this post) to make the exact same movements every time, not just with my hands, but with everything. This is where it gets fun. My first 4-5 serves will almost always be low to the 'T' or opposite side. I start out with a nonchalant look at my opponent, than I look down to my hands where it looks like I'm concentrating on a low serve (which has been established by the first ones I've given). In reality, my first look was to my opponent's racket to see if it was any higher or farther forward, my second is to the feet. I'm looking for a sign that says how ready that person is to push off from the left foot to rush my serve, and the distance from where my opponent usually is compared to the line. If I get a 'go' on both signals, I continue the same motion with the only difference being a quick wrist flick to the far backhand. 7 out of 10 times I either set me or my partner up for an easy kill on the badly handled return. The great thing is even A players are susceptible! How many times have you seen this or variation of it in a tournament? There's a lot of technique involved and a deceptive serve is definitely not an unearned point at all. I think if you can prove to your opponent that he can't read you, then he anticipates less, which gives you a greater margin of error on your serves, and ultimately, other shots. If you get him mad at the deception or second-guessing himself, even better. Simply stay cool and watch the his aggressive stance waver. At best, your opponent turns into a reactive, defensive player. Psych!
Well, in the case I described, the head movement came BEFORE the service contact, not even during or after. Phil
Oh, right, before I forget to ask....Does anyone turn the bird in any manner to generate different angles when they serve? The most common use for this is to turn the bird sideways right before you serve so that flies out wide. By sideways I mean...imagine picking up the bird with your racquet, the feathers are flush against the strings....and if you are serving from the even court, you'd have the cork closest to your even court, and the feathers pointing towards the wide side directly before you serve. Its a turn at the last moment. Anyone manage to effectively master this technique? One of the better players I occationally hit with does this quite effectively and it drives the rest of us up the wall!
that would be illegal. the rule says you have to clearly show that you are hitting the cork side of the birdie on 1st contact, if the birdie is sideways, you will be hitting the feather along with the cork.
... For me, the deceptive doubles serve is an excellent tool, one that has helped me win many rally's within the first few shots. I try to hold my racquet head as far up as legally possible. One of my favorite, tho certainly risky against a better opponent, is a fast drive serve towards their body, head, or even racquet. If they are unprepared, they will either miss, shank, or hit it into the net. If they do manage to return it, chances are it will be towards u or ur partner, at a very fast speed. If u return with a fast net or drop, ur opponents will be again unprepared and will struggle to return the shot.
none of the players i play with really get fooled by deceptive serves, its just something i do to keep them in check (as they keep getting closer to the net to try to smack it down early). i cant really use the serve to actually score a point
When i serve, i try not to look at my opponent. Just concentrating on the shuttle in your hand. Without eye contact, your opponent will have trouble figuring what u are going to do.
Kwun, good point to watch for the illegal contact - however, it is legal to contact the feathers, AFTER you contact the cork. The difficulty is that if you contact the cork and then the feathers it is very difficult to tell whether it is legal or not. so, umpires can hear by the sound produced which happened first. one of my coaches points out: you should look at three things before serving -- first, where your opponent is standing. then, decide where in the court you want to serve. finally, concentrate on getting the birdie over as close to the tape as possible. also, take a deep breath before you serve! it will help. gregory
Well, you will have a hard time figuring out what your opponent will do too! It's a matter of taste, but if you have an accurate serve, you SHOULD watch your opponent when serving. You will be able to respond to his return much faster. For instance, take Ha Tae Kwon: he really stares down the receiver when he serves, and does never ever looks at the shuttle. I have personally found that this makes quite a difference in order to make that important third shot in a rally... If you are having problems with your serve, however, you could perhaps find it easier to concentrate if you focus on the shuttle.
good call mag - it is important to concentrate on your serve, but once you've hit that shuttle... you can't do anything to change where you hit it, so watch your opponent!
How about Spinserve? Spin the shuttle when you are serving? I use backhand serve. Most of the time , when i serve. my shuttle go about 1 to 2 cm just above the net and suprisingly it landed 1 to 2 inches over the line. Most of the time my opponents always think that its short, Except my regular buddies. M still trying alot of variation serve.
Another way of deceptive serve to your opponent is by using this unconventional way of serving spot. I'm not sure weather you have friends or played with people that serve at this spots in doubles. pardon me with the drawing or illustration.
Serving wide is pretty dangerous if your opponent can get to the shuttle. He can either cross court drop or straight drop. In either case, the server will be lifting the shuttle if he can get to it (and that's a big if).
