Techniques help

Discussion in 'Techniques / Training' started by Judas543, Oct 19, 2006.

  1. Judas543

    Judas543 New Member

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    I'm trying to find a better way to serve.. CUrrently i am doing the serve with holding the bird in the left and hit it the underhand flat which makes the bird go high.. BUt everytime i do that serve they just smash it down.. Is is possible to slice serves.. if possible.. And would a short serve or a flick serve with the left hand be more better. also how do i defend against a drive serve and drive return
     
  2. Crazypeetee246

    Crazypeetee246 Regular Member

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    - Can't only be high, needs to be as far back as possible as well
    - It isn't always a bad thing to get smashed on :D If you can return it well, it gets your opponent on defense and puts you back on offense in an instant.
    - Is this singles? or doubles?
     
  3. Judas543

    Judas543 New Member

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    this is for doubles.. well how can you make the bird go far to the left corner or right.. Do you swing your whole body into it while you serve.. And whats the pros about flick serves with the backhand.. and what are drive serves?
     
  4. Gollum

    Gollum Regular Member

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    About low and flick serves

    First, you need a good simple (not sliced) backhand low serve. Practise the straight variation (aim at the service T) rather than the wide variation.

    Second, you need a deceptive backhand flick serve. Again, practise the straight flick rather than the wide flick. You do not use body movement. You use a sudden acceleration of the racket head, using a sharp tightening of the fingers for power.

    If you can do both of these well, then you will have a good service in doubles. Use the low serve as often as possible; but if your opponents start attacking it, play a flick serve next time. This way they will be unsure which kind of serve you will do.

    The wide low and flick serves are icing on the cake. They are much more difficult (especially the sliced wide serve to the left), but much less useful. You don't need them yet. Using wide serves in preference to straight serves is a tactical mistake.

    Slicing can also be used to improve the trajectory of the basic straight low serve. If done perfectly, this obtains a powerful advantage. This, however, is very advanced and requires tons of practice. Many of these variations are highly prone to error. Stick with a basic, unsliced serve for now.



    About drive serves and returns

    The drive serve is very effective against unprepared players, because they will not react quickly enough. Beware of using it regularly, however, because your opponents will adapt. Against a very alert and skilful receiver, the drive serve is suicide.

    There is nothing you can do against a good drive serve return except turn away and save your eyes. The drive serve is a high risk, high payoff tactic. Against really sharp receivers, however, you should avoid drive serves entirely.

    Defending against a drive serve is much harder if you stand right at the front when receiving, because you have minimal time to react. Yet if you do manage to react well, your reply is likely to win the rally immediately. This speed of reaction requires training; you must also experiment with the ready position of your body and racket, so that you can react well to a drive serve without compromising your readiness to return a low serve.

    You must play drive serve returns with a forehand action. This means that often the hitting motion will seem awkward, as you play a forehand from behind and around your head.

    You may find it helpful to "shake" your racket lightly up and down in your fingers as you are waiting to receive serve. Watch Sigit Budiarto for a pronounced demonstration of this. Sigit is widely acknowledged to have extraordinary reaction times in badminton, and it may be that this habit complements his talent. Also note his extremely short grip. Now, Sigit is exceptional in this and I don't recommend you copy him exactly; but a short grip will help faster reactions.

    There are two good drive serve returns: the counter-drive and the fast dropshot. Both require a short hitting action.

    The counter-drive is ideally hit at the body or face of the server. In principle, you should be able to hit a much more dangerous counter-drive than his original drive.

    This is because, while his drive travelled upwards slightly, yours can travel downwards at the same angle. Finally, while you were prepared for the drive serve, he is still finishing his previous stroke and therefore not ready for the reply. Also, his drive had to be slow enough to land before the doubles long service line, whereas yours can be much faster and still land in (since it will be travelling downwards and can land at the extreme back of the court).

    Despite this, you should avoid trying to hit the counter-drive very hard, since it is likely to cause errors. Start with a sharp but controlled counter-drive. With more practice and confidence, you will be able to hit it harder without making errors.

    Counter drives are also effective when played to other parts of the court, but less likely to be immediate winning strokes.

    The fast drop shot is probably even better than the counter-drive, but somewhat harder to control. Ideally, this would be sliced to your left so that it travels to your backhand net corner and lands in the opponents' tramlines near the short service line. Again, this should be an outright winner if played accurately.

    A reverse sliced fast dropshot is a theoretical possibility and, theoretically, would be better than the sliced dropshot when you are in your right service court -- because it will be directed away from the server. If you could play this accurately, it would almost certainly be a winner.

    By all means do this if you can, but in my view this return is just too difficult. Stick to the sliced drop instead, which should still reliably produce winners or at least desperation lifts if played accurately.

    Remember: if you are standing at or very near the front, you must react immediately to a flat drive serve. You cannot let it get behind you. Both the counter-drive and fast dropshot should be played without moving from your original position.

    If the drive serve is less flat, then you may need a small, quick jump/shuffle backwards to intercept it (because it is beyond your immediate reach). Yet these serves will also be slower, so you have more time (if they are not slower, just leave them -- they will go out).
     
    #4 Gollum, Oct 20, 2006
    Last edited: Oct 20, 2006
  5. morewood

    morewood Regular Member

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    As Gollum said get the basics right before adding the final twist. If your looking to decieve with your serve I think the backhand offers more potential but is not as quick to master.

    Best way of pracicing your serve is empty court, couple of dozen feathers and try to get them as close to the short T first, long T when you can hit regualrly within 10 cm (4 inches) of the short T, then onto the short wide and finally the long wide when you have the same level of consistency on each of the others.

    Only then should you think about other serving options.
     
  6. Green72(CAN)

    Green72(CAN) Regular Member

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    Very well explained Gollum. One question though.

    I saw a training video where it said the wide flick serve is more common than the straight flick serve. To me, that seems to make sense when you use the wide flick serve, the angle at which you hit the shuttle is similar to the angle when you use the straight short serve. (Did that make sense?)

    Just wondering flick serve which one is the "more basic" one.
     
  7. Gollum

    Gollum Regular Member

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    It depends on the player, but I would say for backhand flick serves, straight is easier than wide. For the forehand, I think it's easier to hit leftwards, so the wide flick is easier from the right court and the straight flick is easier from the left court.

    The wide serve requires more power than the straight serve, because it must travel farther. Since many beginners struggle to get enough power on their backhand flicks, it makes sense to learn the straight flick serve first. The wide flick serve to the left is especially difficult.

    Tactically, I think there is less difference between the straight and wide flick serves than between the low serves. It's important not to serve too many wide low serves, but your choice of flick serve is not that important.

    Personally, I favour the wide flick to the left, and the straight flick to the right. The wide flick to the left forces the receiver to move farther; the straight flick to the right is effective because the receiver will be standing wide of centre to cover his backhand.

    Watch where your opponent stands. This will help your decision, because many players leave a gap. Against players who stand very wide, a very flat straight flick serve (almost a drive serve) often wins the rally immediately.
     
    #7 Gollum, Oct 21, 2006
    Last edited: Oct 21, 2006
  8. gak_12

    gak_12 Regular Member

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    Yes to Morewood....Try to get all the short backhand serve as close to the short T as possible.It is a good aiming tool.We aim our serve at the T so that we do not expose our side court too much for the reciever to take advantage on our far reach to the side lines of the other court.
    What I do for a reasonable low serve is to first prepare for a low serve.
    Look at your aiming point,ready your bird and racquet.(now come the most important part) , lock your arm and only use your wrist for a flip/light contact strong enough to get your bird pass the service line.Hope this helps.
     
  9. Gollum

    Gollum Regular Member

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    The backhand low serve should use a short pushing action. Although the movement of your arm should be kept minimal, it should not be locked completely.

    There are no situations in badminton where a locked arm is beneficial.
     
  10. Gollum

    Gollum Regular Member

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    Oops, that was a typo. It should read:

    Using wide low serves in preference to straight low serves is a tactical mistake.
     
  11. BadGone

    BadGone Regular Member

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    Hi,

    Very useful tips from Gollum...again ;)

    How to you hold the bird for the low straight and wide serves ?
    I usually hold it 90 degrees (feathers perpendicular) to the strings but saw on a video (XiongGuoBao) that it should be slightly horizontal (ie feathers parallel) to the strings.

    I've tried but can't control the direction of the bird.

    Hope this explanation makes sense

    Ciao
     
  12. Gollum

    Gollum Regular Member

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    For a basic serve, I think that your method is best. The shuttle should be pointing inwards to the strings, so that it will fly flatter (if it is pointing to the floor, then it will fly upwards more). The angle should be straight, so that it will fly straight.

    For a sliced serve, where you attempt to make improve the straight low serve trajectory by slicing underneath or across the shuttle (or both), I don't yet have a clear view which angle is correct. It depends what kind of slicing action you use, and there are many different variations.

    I've seen the Xiong Guo Bao video, and I've tried his method. I've also seen it taught by some other Asian coaches (Butch Oreta in Vip Malixi's book, for example). With this style, I find the shuttle will always fly to my left, and I can't make it fly straight.

    In general, I would recommend that you continue holding the shuttle straight rather than angled to the side. This will make it easier to control the angle of your serve.

    For the wide serves, you can change the angle just before hitting so that it points outwards instead of straight. This is necessary when you are serving to the left, but less so when you are serving to the right. When you serve wide and low to the left, you can use a slicing action with the racket travelling to your right. When you serve to your right, slicing doesn't really help (the racket is going that direction anyway). For the wide low serve to the right, you will need to drop your elbow as you serve to change the angle of hitting.

    All of this assumes that your racket is pointing down at an angle rather than straight down.
     

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