Make your shots look alike: a simple way to surprise your opponent
Why the BWF manual asks you to prepare related shots in the same way, and five examples to try in practice.
The idea
A large part of badminton is tricking your opponent. The BWF coaching manual gives a simple rule: wherever possible, make a stroke look the same as the other strokes related to it. If your opponent cannot tell early which shot is coming, they cannot move early. You do not need fancy tricks, only to prepare in the same way for more than one shot.
Five examples from the manual
- Low serve and flick serve. Make your low and flick serves look the same, so that the receiver is confused and may be forced off balance. The same advice appears for the high serve.
- Lift and net shot. Make your lifts look like net shots wherever possible.
- Drop shot and clear or smash. A deceptive drop shot is played with an aggressive body movement and fast racket head early in the stroke, so that your opponent thinks it is a clear or a smash. Just before contact, the arm rotation slows and you push through the shuttle. See the forehand drop shot.
- Held clear. Holding the stroke briefly between the backswing and the forward swing can deceive the opponent, because it affects their movement.
- Backhand clear and backhand drop. Start both the same way, so the opponent cannot tell which is coming. See the backhand clear and the backhand drop shot.
Relaxed grip helps
The manual says a relaxed grip makes changing grip easier, helps power, reduces fatigue and increases deception. A tight, fixed grip is easy to read.
Slicing for variety
Experiment with slicing the shuttle, both right to left and left to right, to widen the range of your overhead strokes and add deception. The manual calls this experimentation, and says it is developed further in Level 2.
How to practise
- Choose two shots that share a preparation, such as the clear and the drop shot.
- With a partner, rally using only those two shots. The partner calls out the shot they thought was coming, as early as they dare. Count how often they are right.
- Move on to a third shot only when the first two are under control.
Limits
Deception works only on top of control: a shuttle you cannot place is no surprise to anyone. The manual does not give figures for how much deception is useful. If you feel pain in the shoulder when holding a stroke, stop and ask a qualified coach.
General practice advice: play within your limits and stop if something hurts.