I have seen a few top players do a flick on their backhand that sometimes can completely deceive their opponent. From a low forecourt position on the back hand side they look as if they are playing a backhand diagonal cross court shot to the net, but instead the shuttle goes straight and flies to the back of the court! When Peter Gade was playing Chetan Anand in the TC he did one at the start of the second game and Chetan didnt have a clue what had happened! How do they do that?
Haha, I know which trick you are talking about! It's actually a double motion where the first swing shot looks as if you are about to cross court drop the bird (Hairpin) and the second is the actual contact to the back. There are variations to this depending on the position of the 1st swing, but it is this general idea. (Ex. 1st swing is usually out further to prevent it from hitting the shuttle) I learned this trick by myself actually when I was playing around with birds, it becomes easier when you have a better feeling for the bird
it all about having the same technique for each shot and only at the last second revealing where the shuttle will go in order to do a backhand cross court shot you need to angle your racket slightly down and almost push the shuttle towards the other corner of court whereas a back-hand clear the racket head is very flat/ slightly upright and you tap the shuttle at the end hope that helps
