High serves in single games Just wondering, when serving high in single games, do you guys serve to the corners of the court, or to the middle? Why?
Usually to the middle of the backcourt. One of the reasons is as follows: When receiving a serve, your opponent will be standing in the middle of the receiving side of the court. For him to move back to the middle of the back court is the same distance as moving to the corner of the court. There is no advantage of serving to the corner (but in an rally after a serve, your opponent will very likley be standing in the middle of the singles court. Your opponent will need to move more to the corner than straight back to the middle of the back court. Therfore, after a serve, you want to hit your high clears to the corner rather than the middle). But on a serve, there is a disadvantage of serving to the corner. If you serve high and deep and your opponent wants to smash it down the line, you will more time to receive the smash if you serve it to the middle of the back court than to the corner. If you serve it to the corner and your opponent smashes it down it straight down the line, the birdie will travel less distance than if you serve it to the middle and your opponent smashes it to the side. Therefore, you will have more time to prepare and return the smash if you serve it to the middle of the back court.
Thank you. I always felt more vulnerable when high serving to the corners. Now I know I am not the only one.
I was taught by a good coach to aim for the center of the back rectangular box in singles, rather than go for the T. The reason is simply related to consistency - there is less of a chance that you will hit it out versus going for the T where it is easy to hit it out if you are off a couple of inches. Interestingly, after watching the first set between Taufik Hidyat and Peter Gade at the 2004 England Open semi-final, when Taufik serves high, he is also going for the center of the back rectangular box (as my coach advised) rather than going for the T. Obviously, the advantage of serving to the T is that it reduces your opponent's angle of return. But if Taufik isn't accurate enough to serve to the T, doesn't it make less sense for mere "mortal" players like us to try for the T unless we truly believe our singles serve is more accurate than Taufik? Viper_Mav
If i were to serve high which i rarely do in singles because i wouldnt wanna get whacked, I would served to the back at the side at the rectangular box because he would have to smash it straight down the line as it is the fastest way for the shuttle to go down. When he decides to smash cross-court, you would have more time to retrive the shuttle so i would be anticipating a straight down the line smash. If the serve is aimed at the center, he would have the opportunity to smash either side equally fast. I apply this to clearing as well.
Not suggesting for one second that I am better at serving long than him at all but I can count on one hand the number of out long serves I would serve in an evening. Mixing serves longT's, long wides, shortT's and short wides reduces the chances of me having to counter a down the line smash or cross court drop in a game which if my longs all went to the middle would be the two easy options for my opponent.
Always serve high and long, at the farthest line possible. Besides the obvious reason of less angle of attack from the receiver and more reaction time from the server, serve is the only action you have full control of. So practice serving.
I definitely agree for women's singles. For high level men's singles though, I feel the move to short service has proved an advantageous one, especially with the of modern facilities and the jumpsmashes of some of those guys!
Taufik is pretty lazy you know. He relies on his talent a lot, where he serves he probably don't really care about.
I dun really care where I serve either(in singles that is). I just hit it hard and as far back as possible without hitting it out. Sometimes I aim for the T just because when the birdie is flying down the center of teh court, sometimes the opponents think it's out.
Serving very high in singles gives the attack initiative to the receiver, which is not a bad idea if your opponent is not very good in attack. Some players have difficulty taking a very high serve towards the right forehand side, in which case it would be good tactics to execute such a serve. But against a deceptive player the wide angle of the serve will leave the server very vulnerable. In this case serving very high to the T is safer because it cuts down the wide spaces and angles that a deceptive player thrives on. To be effective the very high singles serve must be extremely high, not just high. This is to ensure the serve drops almost vertically. A very high serve that drops vertically poses two serious problems for the receiver. One, the shuttle/racquet contact point is a devil to get it right. Two, the angle of the contact point of the shuttle on the stringbed means there will be absolutely no bounce from the stringbed for your shot.
Wind is a factor, too If the court has side winds that are unsteady, serving to the center instead of T reduces the chance of serving out. Well, every high shot become somewhat unpredictable if you play in such a situation. I've heard comments on some tournaments that it's windy in the gym. Just wondering if it's a factor in this game.
Serving to the corner is a horrible option in singles: 1) Tactically, you are setting yourself up to get smashed on because your opponent's smash is a straight line if he goes down the nearest line. You will have the least amount of time to cover a down the line smash. 2) If you are attempting to serve it within a few inches (like less than 4 inches) from the corner, it is also less consistent. Chances are, you are bound to serve a few out - the closer you attempt to get to the corner, the more you will hit out. In other words, you are gifting your opponent with points on your service. Viper_Mav
Not necessarily, because you will be surprised how many good players are poor with their extreme forehand side. I am sure you will notice that there are some players who are extremely deadly with their smashes when they are well positioned, but move the shot to their right their power is gone. You can also find this out in doubles by flick-serving to their right side. Malaysia's great Tan Aik Huang used to exploit this singles high serve to good effect.
Assuming your opponent has decent footwork and you serve it high enough, wouldn't that give your opponent enough time to get into a position he/she finds "comfortable" such that is is not to his/her extreme right before he/she hits the shot? I can see how you can force the opponent to take the shot uncomfortably with a surprise flick serve, but a typical high singles serve gives the opponent plenty of time to get into position. Viper_Mav
Badminton like any game is one where there is no definite answer. It's all relative to the situation you're in. I think a lot before I take a serve because when you're in full control of the first stroke of the point, you should try to get yourself in as favourable a position as you can. These are the steps I use to consider what shot to use. 1) What's the score? Am I winning? Am I losing? Am I catching up? Is the opponent catching up? Forget that you have a chance to make the harder shot. Go through all the scenarios. Usually I'll think, "If I take a risk and miss, how hard will I be hitting myself?" That's enough to help me decide if I want to risk or not. 2) Keep them guessing. It's the easiest in the beginning. Give them your most comfortable shots, mix it up with some short serves that should be standard in your serving. It's in the later stages of the game/match where you come to difficulty. You've served your comfy shots far too often. You aren't cutting yourself any breaks with your serving. Now's a decent time to try it. Sometimes I'd even go for it twice in a row since they usually don't think you'll do it again. Reverse reverse psychology. 3) Who am I playing? Just remember who you're playing. Are they someone who's extremely mentally tough? Or someone shaky? If they're somewhat shaky, then it is more affordable to make an error. If they're someone tough and you're grasping for straws, then even if you have to start the point weakly, it's better than downright losing it. 4) Who am I? Have you been in situations like this before? Have they paid off or did it backfire? We value experience so much for a reason. Use it. Also remember how skilled you are. No not what you hope you are, what you really are. We all have egos but try to be as realistic as you can. In an important match, its better to lose doing what you do best, than trying to play what you're not good at and regretting it.
The key to a high serve to the backalley is the angle at which the birdie comes down on. At a near 90 degrees, the choices of the reciever are extremely limited even if they get into position because of the lack of lateral force on the bird. Basically this means that you can't slice the bird, smahes are less powerful and harder to angle and drops are less deceptive (generally). The common response to this is that it lets the opponent get behind the bird and smash which is bad. I personally believed this same thing until recently. The fact that the opponent smashes does not mean that they are going to win the point, especially when they are forced to smash from the back court. With the limited range of angle of the smashes, the smasher is very very vulnerable to drop returns which can be devestating because a) the smashes has to move from the backline after recovering from the smash to the net and b) unless the smashes is extremely fast they are forced to clear.
Well, you can ask a good player to serve really high to you and see how you can hit the shot cleanly. The serve must land within 2" from the backline and it must be a very high serve in which the shuttle descends vertically. This will require that you hit the shuttle almost on its side (feathers and side cork) instead of the cork. A smash from such a vertical drop will have little power because you are not hitting the cork. Extreme high singles serves are a devil to handle. It is also very difficult to master.
