The backhand drop shot
How to play a soft shuttle to the front of the court from your backhand corner, hiding it behind the same preparation as a clear.
What it is for
The backhand drop shot goes from your backhand rear corner to the front of your opponent's court, just beyond the front service line. It is the natural partner of the backhand clear: when both start the same way, the opponent cannot tell which one is coming. It is mostly used to relieve pressure when the shuttle is behind you in the backhand corner: it makes it harder for the opponent to attack and limits the angles of their reply.
Step by step
- Prepare as for a clear. Turn your back to the net with small steps, take the same backhand grip as for the clear (turn further towards a panhandle for a deeper shuttle), and lift the elbow towards the shuttle.
- Reach. Meet the shuttle at your side, slightly behind you, with the arm straightened and the hand below the shuttle.
- Slow the racket down. Just before contact, reduce the arm rotation and push through the shuttle. There is less snap and more of a soft push.
- Choose the direction. A straight drop goes along the sideline; for a cross-court drop, change the racket face a little with the grip and the wrist. Decide before you hit, not during.
- Recover. Let the racket carry you round, turn back towards the net quickly and be ready for the reply, which may come to the front.
The idea behind it
The aim is a shuttle that crosses the net low and falls steeply in the front of the court. The shuttle is slowed by the hand, not by a slow preparation. If the preparation is slow, the opponent has already guessed.
Common mistakes and fixes
- The shuttle is too high at the net. You hit too firmly or stopped the racket too early. Reduce the arm rotation a little earlier and keep pushing through the shuttle.
- Nets and short shots. You stopped the arm completely. Keep a small continuation after contact.
- Obvious preparation. If the elbow drops or the swing is smaller than for a clear, the opponent reads it. Prepare in the same way every time.
- Always the same direction. Mix straight and cross-court.
Simple practice
- A hanging shuttle at shoulder or head height, slightly behind you: back to the net, practise the soft push through the shuttle.
- A partner feeds high shuttles to your backhand corner. Play only drop shots to a target on the floor near the net.
- Alternate clear and drop shot on feeds without telling your partner which comes next.
- In a rally, play your backhand-corner shuttles as drops or clears and count how many were hard to read.
Limits
This lesson describes the shape of the stroke. How much a drop works depends on your level and on how your opponent moves, and it is not tactical advice for a given match.
General practice advice: play within your limits and stop if something hurts.