[Video] Backhand short serve

R20190 said:
I'm very camera shy :p (which is ironic being an amature photographer! lol)

I'll see what I can do - probably be a couple of weeks though as my shoulder is still recovering from injury after the last stint.

Btw, do you hold the shuttle near the cork as opposed to at the tip of the feathers? I do this too. I find I have more control and more consistent doing it this way than holding the feathers. But there is a risk of hitting your hand before the shuttle if not careful.
Click to expand...

You can set it up to only show from the neck down. :)

Holding shuttle:
Yes, I don't have big hands so I can't comfortably hold it by the feathers. I tried holding the mid point for a while but often there's a hard knot with glue stuck on it there that catches my finger.

So holding the cork was the only way left. I don't think I've ever hit my own hand this way. The contact point is so close to the edge of the frame that I've always been able to get my hand out of the way in time. It's just release and push.
 
Tadashi said:
Visor, where is your contact point?

http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=149129&stc=1&d=1378459083
(obviously, the shuttle would be behind the strings)

BOK has it pretty much in the centre
http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=149130&stc=1&d=1378459083
Click to expand...

Sorry can't see the attachments.

Who's BOK?

My contact point I've mentioned in my OP... at around 1-2 o'clock within the first few strings near the frame edge.
 
R20190 said:
I think despite some people saying that serving near the tip of the string bed (top four crosses) I personally don't feel the benefit. In fact, I beg to differ - I actually feel it is less controllable as it is further from your hand and that it is the least stable part of the string bed. But that is just my opinion.

I personally contact the shuttle around the bottom left corner of the sweetspot.
Click to expand...

The stringbed has less rebound/repulsion there, and it's easier to adjust power input to control flight distance. But you have to be able to consistently hit that area within +/- few mm.

Because it's further from your hand and from your usual hitting sweetspot area, you have to grip the racket up higher closer to the cone. My thumb pushes onto the cone when I serve. This shortens the lever and improves accuracy.
 
So, I think visor had proven that he can win any skim-the-net contest, or chip the mosquito from the net, because he is so good with accuracy, too. Congrats, mate.

What about your partner, can they deal with the returning the returns that you provoke?
 
^ We're just social but moderately competitive players, so as long as I've done my part in doing a good serve and covering the net and midcourt replies, the rest is up to my partner. But I try to serve so that the reply is unlikely to be downwards or expose my partner's backhand.
 
So Coach's Eye app is on sale for a few days for $1, bought it and played around with it, importing this video. Processed it at 1/8 speed in Youtube video editor.

Blue line marks the lowest ribs.
Red arrow marks the net tape.
Yellow circle is where the birds end up after bouncing off the service line that I was targeting.

[video=youtube;J4LqW1ouRCg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4LqW1ouRCg[/video]
 
Have you ever think of stepping away after each serve. Noticing you haven't move at all the whole time. Every practice should reflex real game situation, ie you don't serve more than one bird at any time.
 
^ You've got a good point. I was too preoccupied with just clearing the net and hitting the service line. Next time I practice serves, I should immediately split step into the ready position each time.
 
9.1.6
the shaft of the server’s racket at the instant of hitting the shuttle shall be pointing in a
downward direction


your serve is at least suspicious...
 
I've been having a tough time with my short back hand serve, when I play doubles. In a tense match situation, my serve just goes bad to worse. In normal games, it's not consistant and don't feel confident and often flick serve. In fact player's friends say my serve is the only chink in my armour. I've tried various methods, only to get lost in them. I watched top Int doubles players like Cai Yun and LYD and tried to copy their serve but it's not consistant. Any ideas?
 
The serves are pretty similar to the ones I do myself, although I absolutely cannot pin point the general position of my serve's contact point (what o'clock??:confused:). What I did notice though, is that your serves seems dangerously high. In fact from the angle of the video, it seems that the serves were taken above the waistline... or am I completely wrong here???
 
uselessmail said:
The serves are pretty similar to the ones I do myself, although I absolutely cannot pin point the general position of my serve's contact point (what o'clock??:confused:). What I did notice though, is that your serves seems dangerously high. In fact from the angle of the video, it seems that the serves were taken above the waistline... or am I completely wrong here???
Click to expand...


yet again: the height is absolutely ok! not even close to dangerous. he might be called for the racket not pointing downwards, but not for the height.
 
Hmmm... I think my racket shaft is pointed downwards.

And usually I'm guilty of serving from too low.

Perhaps a video from the front angle may help clarify.
 
[MENTION=72087]uselessmail[/MENTION] [MENTION=28138]London_Player[/MENTION]

This is my service action, from the first page.

A fast but short push/jab with a tad of supination with a crisp contact onto the bird with the cork aimed at the stringbed. I prefer fast push as this action is very similar to a flick action. The supination also helps to quickly turn the cork towards the net sooner.

The contact point on the stringbed is at the top of the racket, at 1-2 o'clock within the first few strings closest to the serving hand. I find this area has the least rebound and the best control and consistency of the shuttle angle, direction and distance.

My aim is usually within a few inches of the racket shoulder and cheek, varying depending on whether the receiver biases to his forehand or backhand. The trajectory after crossing the net seems good and low, usually falling below tape level within a foot of the tape, so that looks not killable. Unless he's a rusher, in which case I'll purposely serve slightly short of service line.

Also having a stiff stringbed with higher tensions helps with better feel and consistency.

Hope this helps.
 
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Your serves are accurate! You can try to maybe lean in a bit to the net and serve from a bit higher to get the maximum benefit. Also, hold the bird at the feathers instead or you might hit your hands during your serve. In doubles, you want to get a serve that is closest to the net and the line so you won't give away the attack. Your serve action doesn't look smooth but honestly, as long as your serves are legal, accurate, and not easy to kill, it doesn't really matter what your form looks like.

If you want to learn more about doubles serve, I really suggest you to watch this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwPTMLIBbTY/
Skip to 5:05 for Cai Yun's doubles serve tips. The whole video is great for learning proper techniques and basics. If you have time, I really recommend you to watch it. :D
 
^ Tks for the video link. Very informative!

Good point, I should stand up on my toes and lean forward a bit to gain some height advantage. It's just that after doing 200 serves in a row, I was becoming more tired and unstable on my tippy toes. :p
 
visor said:
So Coach's Eye app is on sale for a few days for $1, bought it and played around with it, importing this video. Processed it at 1/8 speed in Youtube video editor.

Blue line marks the lowest ribs.
Red arrow marks the net tape.
Yellow circle is where the birds end up after bouncing off the service line that I was targeting.

[video=youtube;J4LqW1ouRCg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4LqW1ouRCg[/video]
Click to expand...

If you pause at 1m15.5 that blue line is level with your sternum and your contacting the shuttle level with it. Unless there is some camera trickery, you are waayyy to high for the rules, although about right for commonly accepted thought on the matter:D Is the bottom of the sternum this BWF rib cage cause it would make sense, it;s where the pro's serve from;)
 
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