there's this guy in my gym thats quite big, probably 6-2 or so. he's very good in the front court due to fast reflexes and is very good as low front court pushes. when he's receiving a serve, he stand almost at the front line with his arm up. if i serve low and its not perfect, he can does a soft or hard push to the side, and my partner has a lot of issues with it, and we end up being in a bad position to start. if i serve high, he can do a very deep smash that lands a few feet over the service line(on the other side) and its very difficult to give a good return. what is the best strategy against this? i mean aside from getting my serves to be perfect.
When you "serve high", is it a high serve or a flick serve? (See my page about types of serve.) You should use the flick serve, not the high serve. The high serve gives your opponent too much time, allowing him to reach an ideal smashing position. What about the angles of your serves? Are your low serves straight to the T, wide to the tramlines, or aimed at the receiver? Are your flick serves wide or straight?
An article on the subject: http://badmintonology.awardspace.com/tactical/servingrusher.php And a forum thread: http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58641 I think greater variety of (ie. less predictable) serves will help, and also "getting your serves to be perfect". Also try not to panic - don't allow yourself to start serving into the net, or miles long, just because your opponent has made a few good returns. At the risk of sounding cocky, return of serve is one of the strongest parts of my game, and I have seen this happen a lot.
@kooshball: Is he moving BEFORE you strike the shuttle? If he does then that's a fault: 9.1.3 some part of both feet of the server and the receiver shall remain in contact with the surface of the court in a stationary position from the start of the service (Law 9.2) untilthe service is delivered (Law 9.3); 9.3 Once started (Law 9.2), the service is delivered when the shuttle is hit by the server’s racket or,in attempting to serve, the server misses the shuttle. <rant> I'm asking because there are quite a few players in our league that do this and it really, really annoys me! Sometimes when you point it out to them you get: "If I am doing that then why don't you just flick me?" That's not the point, what you're doing is against the rules! It's not clever, it's cheating! </rant>
As in a drive serve? Not a bad idea but in advanced games, drive serves are often picked off. Also, opponents don't like them and things might get a bit heated. Even when I'm playing league matches or tournaments, I like my games to have a nice atmosphere so avoid the drive serve (I also avoid it because of the first reason I gave). I'd recommend serving as normal but making sure it's really good. Far too good for him to do anything attacking with. You may have to work on your serve to get it up to scratch but it will be worth it. Don't let him intimidate you in to trying to flick him, flick serves are another thing that don't really work in advanced level matches. They can, for the element of surprise but if you regularly use them to avoid playing a backhand low, they'll be predictable and get smashed through the floor.
Flick serves are used extensively at the highest standard of play; you only have to watch a professional match to see that. Although they are not used as often as low serves, they certainly do "work in advanced level matches." That's a much better way of putting it. I would add, however, that you should at least make your opponent prove he can attack your flick serve. If he shows no sign of adapting and attacking the serve, then by all means keep using it.
I agree that the proof is important but I don't know of many decent players who can't attack an average to moderately good flick serve. If your flick is awesome, then maybe it becomes a viable technique but a lot of people have very poor flick serves and use them all too frequently.
Don't forget that a flick serve's effectiveness extends past the immediate rally: it inserts the idea that you're using the flick serve into your opponent's head, which may make him/her slower to respond to the short serve.
like i said previously, this guy is very good at defending serves. i would say even better than most of the people at the club that are of higher caliber overall. he doesnt move at all, so there's almost no chance to trick him wiht a flick serve. he will smash it back at me at least 90% of the times. flick serving just means my partner and i have less time to prepare for the return, that's why eventually i chose just use forehand to serve high. i have never tried this, but thinking about this now, would it be feasible to do a short serve, then immediately move into a defensive side by side position with my partner? maybe even start in a side by side position before i serve. do a short backhand serve, if he drops then either of us can do a decent lift, and at least be in a neutral defensive position rather than being dominated already. if he pushes i wouldn't be moving and the sides are covered by either of us and there would be little/no chance of smashing
That sounds wrong; I think you may be confusing flick serves with drive serves. The time between serve and return will always be greater for a flick serve than for a low serve, unless the flick is too shallow. Of course, after playing a flick serve, you do need to move to a defensive position (normally). This tactic may work, but only if your opponent's partner is much weaker and does not constitute a threat from the rearcourt. Otherwise, the price is too high to pay: you are giving away the first attack without a fight, which is a bad way to start a doubles rally! Your opponent will have an easy time attacking your low serve: with no-one at the net, he should just play a net shot every time -- either winning the point outright, or at least gaining an undisputed attack at no risk. You still haven't answered my questions about the angles of serve that you use. This information would be useful if we're to help you:
Well... My opinion there said that too xD... Don't aim the head lol xD... But yes, Drive serve will turn the game atmosphere to a fast one. Flick serve is pretty tricky. But, can become worse than giving up the fight xD... If you do it wrong. If you're feeding a high ball, just like gollum's sentences, you're giving up the first fight. There must be better ways, if you observe him more carefully. Most world class badminton players are not tall, but agile. So, being tall isn't always an advantage (aerodinamically I'd say tall is disadvantage Tall = Slow peace ).
Hey guys, I'm playing against a super good player recently, and keep getting beaten in all areas of the game. What's the best strategy against this? I mean aside from improving my play. Though I did write that as a joke, I don't understand why you think the answer lies anywhere other than improvement. Serving can be practiced easily by yourself. Both you and your partner should try to improve replying to the tall guy's pushes.
Play with the angle of serve. See where is his racket and his stance. If you have no confidence in serving low... best advice is to practice your serve.
Are you serving backhand or forehand? Try both out to see which is more affective against him. Some servers struggle to flick affectively with a backhand grip and therefore if the receiver knows this then he can commit more to the attack. I'm not advocating the use of forehand all the time, from experience its just worth a try. It is better to practice your backhand serves so that you are consistant in your preparations to make it harder to read. Good luck
Get a big box of shuttles and some headphones and keep serving. dont worry about length, just height.
most of the flick serves i did was attempted to be long and high, there were some unintended low drives in there that also did not result in any success. i think serving wise, the only way to fix this is to perfect my low serve. Im not seeing an angle issue here since he has fast reflexes and can attack low drives, and also high flicks. At this point, we were willing to give up attacking position when serving to this guy. a neutral defensive position is probably ideal, and the price other wise was too high (rally ends almost immediately due to the receiver playing a low push or a smash with a weak return). Like you said, his best shot in this case would be to play a netshot everytime. I think that's the best outcome for us at this point, since a netshot is usually returnable with a high lift. And yes, his partner is a lot weaker than him in the back court, else we would have no chance at all please advise
i normally serve all backhand and can do a decent flick drive or medium high flick lift. i used forehand against him to give me and my partner more time to prepare for the incoming smash
You might be surprised what a change of angle can do. For example: A precise straight low serve to the T can make it difficult for your opponent to find attacking angles (his returns are passing closer to your hitting zone). A low serve directed at the receiver's front foot can cause him to be slow changing grips, or hit with the wrong grip -- thereby reducing the quality or variety of his return. A deceptive wide low serve can surprise him, leading to a late response. A wide flick serve will normally be much more effective than a straight flick serve (especially when the receiver is in his forehand court). Try to make use of different angles in your serving, and observe his responses. Okay, so your plan sounds logical to me. In the long term, however, you should be looking to improve your serving and especially your response to his pushes (this is a shot for the server's partner, unless the server can cut it out early). A really good push can be an outright winner, but you should be able to get at least some of them back.
Attack his backhand side with a wide low serve. Attack his backhand with a deep flick serve to the T. Assuming he is right handed, serve high, deep flick to T when he is on his right (even) side of court and low wide to his backhand when he is in the odd side of the court. Lets see what he does.. Other than that, like others suggested, improve your serve overall to get better. You may be giving away your intention to flick serve somehow. Excitement in eyes, unintentionally looking at where you are serving. Ask a friend to take notes when you serve. Better yet, videotape and check it out yourself.
