Hello there, the reason why I am posing this question, is because I am very curious to the reasoning behind the different answers that I am hoping to get from this question. I'll start by telling you about my experience dealing with the Singles High Deep Serve. When I started to play alot of singles at my local club, I noticed that about 90% of players were serving high and deep to me. I would simply do a high deep clear to their backhand side and the rally would continue from there. My rationale was: " if I hit to their backhand, they will have to do a weak-back-hand clear, then I can smash on them, or do a drop, but I am in a good position to retrieve a drop. Eventually I started to play better players, and almost all of them could do a full court back-hand clear so I decided to switch tactics. I switched to a fast-drop after a high deep serve, and have had some good success with that. Only problem was, that sometimes if the serve was really high and deep, I wouldn't be in a good position to get a net shot, if they decided to do a net shot after my fast-drop. Nowadays, I try to switch it up, not always doing the same play after their high deep serve; sometimes I will do a fast-clear to their backhand, or sometimes I will do a half-smash to there forehand, and finally, I will examine their stance to see what shot I should do...So, I guess, what I am trying to say is, I try not to be predictable with my return of serve shots... Cheers
I suspect you've just answered your own question. Playing the same tactic too frequently will diminish its effectiveness. Therefore, employ a good mix of good shots. Presuming that your opponent has played a high and deep (and in) serve, either a good drop to either fore-corner or a good clear to either rear-corner are just as good as one another. You say that you sometimes play a 'fast-drop' & struggle to get the opponents response. Consider playing a slower drop that lands closer/tighter to the net. Despite the shot appearing 'less aggressive', your opponent will have to travel further & you should have more time to recover to the net. Of course, too slow a drop will be killed at the net. However, if the opponent can't hit the shuttle before it has dropped significantly below the tape, all they can do is play a defensive shot.
A good high serve sends you right to the back of the court, and therefore compromises your recovery for the next shot. The standard reply here is a clear, although not necessarily a high clear (it could be an attacking clear). Playing a drop shot gives you less recovery time. Bear in mind that your opponent is currently well positioned to cover this shot. For that reason, drop shots are normally reserved for when the high serve is slightly short. A cross-court fast drop is especially effective when the serve is short and wide (i.e. nearer the corner than the centre line). A slow drop should be avoided like the plague, unless your opponent is very slow moving forwards. From the extreme back of the court, a slow drop takes far too long to reach the net. You are just handing your opponent the rally. He will either kill it or play a tight, spinning net shot. If you're Lin Dan, then you can go ahead and play a jump smash. But this is difficult because the shuttle is falling vertically and you may hit the feathers. This is the worst shot in terms of recovery, so it had better do a lot of damage (i.e. outright winner or weak response). For most of us, this is not a realistic option unless your opponent has very weak defence. You should probably reserve the smash for high serves that are not reaching the back tramlines. Remember that you don't need to win the rally on your first shot. Your first objective here should be to avoid playing yourself into trouble -- which is surprisingly easy to do when receiving this serve!
Slow drops kill yourself because of exactly this reason. Tight net shots are more difficult to play when the point of impact with the shuttle is further away from the net. If the server has played a good, high serve, you just have to be patient and rally, waiting/crafting the right opportunity.
I think I need to clarify a little. I was advocating a slower drop, not a slow drop. If JustinG is struggling with recovery time, he may be push-dropping too fast or smashing. Slowing it down a fraction gives marginally more recovery time, widens the angle available and requires the opponent to move a bit more. As I said in post #2, too slow a drop will just get killed. If your opponent has hit a good high serve (i.e. high & deep & central & in), I agree that you have to bide your time. Attacking clears and smashes are low percentage responses. Nothing wrong with standard/defensive clears though. If your opponent is returning drops better than clears you should hit a greater proportion of clears (and visa versa). However, better players will cover the court far more equally which will make drops and clears far more equal options. I disagree that hitting net shots from the mid-court is always harder than from the fore-court. Blocking from shoulder/chest height in the mid-court is easier than a hairpin net shot from waist/knee height.
To answer the first post. Variation is encouraged. The aim is to master all the shots and improve from there one step at a time.
I think you may have misunderstood me. I would say playing a tight net shot from further away the net (when receiving a dropshot) is very difficult. Personally, I don't see many dropshots that will be a shoulder height in the midcourt. I still agree with Gollum, though of course it will depend on the speed of the person receiving the dropshot. For a slow drop shot (that would end up landing near the service line) dropped below the net by 1-2 feet, is fair game for a tight, spinning netshot.
I like to make use of a fast sliced drop to the opponents backhand side. Often the decrease in speed brought on by the slice will make their return weaker that a normal fast drop. Also a shot most people don't expect is the cross court clear, soo many people play the clear straight that most people move over a little bit because they expect the straight return. An attacking cross court clear forces them onto their backhand. Give it a try and if it doesn't work against the better players it will against the weaker players.
Cross-court shots work well against opposition with poor footwork. I would also expect decent opposition to cut out an attacking cross-court clear in their mid-court. Down-the-line when retrieving a wide shot is the most common scenario to look for an attacking clear. With regards to drops, I think Cheung and I may be saying the same thing from different angles. I think that we are both advocating the shot that we feel will be taken from a lower height than it's alternative. The lower that your opponent takes your shot, the less options (especially attacking) they have. I feel that too quick a drop is vulnerable to blocks, drives & attacking lifts. As Cheung & Gollum have both stated, too slow a drop will get either killed or taken very close (in terms of both depth and height) to the net (i.e. a tumbling net shot). I believe that between these 2 extremes, there is a speed of drop that would be taken relatively low. Even if your opponent plays a good net, the drop will have given you time to take up a position that will enable you to return that net shot.
