Basic Skills of Badminton Game

Owning a racket and a shuttlecock does not make someone a badminton player. The shuttlecock stays in the air for only a moment, and in that moment a player has to hit it the right way, send it to the right part of the opponent's court, and get ready for the next shot. Doing this again and again needs a small set of basic skills. A player without them can swing as hard as they like and still watch the shuttlecock land in the net or outside the court. Badminton has five basic skills:

• Grip: the way the racket is held
• Service: the shot that starts play
• Stroke: any hit of the shuttlecock with the racket
• Stance: keeping the body balanced and ready
• Footwork: moving the feet to reach the shuttlecock

The five skills work together. A good stance lets a player move off quickly. Good footwork brings them close to the shuttlecock. The right grip holds the racket the proper way. Only then does a stroke or a service go where it is meant to go.

A racket has to be held so that hitting and returning the shuttlecock feels easy and light. Held awkwardly, it tires the arm on every shot and sends the shuttlecock the wrong way. That is why gripping is counted as an important skill in badminton. The hand always holds the racket at its handle, the part below the shaft.

During a game the shuttlecock sometimes comes to the right side of the body and sometimes to the left. Holding the racket the same way for both makes one of those shots weak, so there are generally two kinds of grip.

During a rally a player watches where the shuttlecock is heading and switches quickly between the forehand and the backhand grip. The backhand grip is also the grip used for the flick service.

The server holds the shuttlecock in one hand and the racket in the other. A service that does not land in the right place gives the point to the opponent, so the server must be able to put the shuttlecock exactly where it belongs in the opponent's court. There is more than one way to serve. Depending on where the opponent is standing and whether the game is singles or doubles, a player chooses from several kinds of service.

• (a) Short and low service
• (b) Long and high service
• (c) Drive or shooting service
• (d) Flick service

These services take different paths through the air. The low serve crosses the net and drops almost at once. The flick serve passes over the opponent's head towards the back. The high serve climbs highest of all and falls at the far end of the court. Seen from above, they also land in different parts of the opponent's court.

This service is used mostly in doubles. Because the shuttlecock travels low, just over the top of the net, the opponent gets no chance to hit it down hard from above.

This service is generally used in singles. A shuttlecock sent that high falls almost straight down at the back, so the opponent has to go all the way to the rear of the court to return it.

It is used in both singles and doubles. The shuttlecock travels fast and flat, leaving the opponent little time to get ready, and it lands in the back area of the court.

The flick service is also used in both singles and doubles. The player tries to flick the shuttlecock so it arrives near the short service line or on the service line. By sending it sometimes to the front area of the opponent's court and sometimes to the back, the server tricks the opponent. An opponent who steps forward expecting a short serve finds the shuttlecock already flying over their head to the back.

A stroke has two jobs. The first is to keep the shuttlecock from falling in your own court for as long as possible. The second is to make it fall in the opponent's court. After the service, every hit in a rally is a stroke.

Strokes come in several kinds. They are divided into two main groups, depending on whether the player is in a strong position or a weak one:

• (a) Offensive stroke
• (b) Defensive stroke

An attacking stroke is not played at just any moment. It is the right choice when your own position is good, for example when the shuttlecock has come high above the net and close to you. Smashing, the low attacking clear and the clear belong to this group.

To do this, the shuttlecock is hit far and high so that it reaches the last line of the opponent's court. While it hangs in the air, you have time to get back to the middle of your own court. The high defensive clear belongs to this group.

Defensive strokes also come in different kinds, named after where the shuttlecock reaches the body. Above the head it is overhead. Below the shoulder it is underhand. On the side of the hand holding the racket it is forehand, and on the other side it is backhand.

The clear, the dropshot and the smash all belong to the attacking and defensive strokes. A player picks whichever one the moment in the game calls for. Here is a short look at each of the three.

In badminton the clear is regarded as a defensive skill. It can generally be played in two ways:

• 1. Overhead clear
• 2. Underhand clear

The overhead clear itself has two forms:

• Forehand overhead clear: a shuttlecock coming to the right of the head is hit so that it goes high all the way to the back of the opponent's court.
• Backhand overhead clear: a shuttlecock coming to the left of the head is hit so that it goes high all the way to the back.

The underhand clear also has two forms:

• Forehand underhand clear: a low shuttlecock coming on the right side is hit so that it goes high into the back area of the opponent's court.
• Backhand underhand clear: a low shuttlecock coming on the left side is hit so that it goes high into the back area of the opponent's court.

The dropshot is used to trick the opponent, so it is played when the opponent is at the back of the court. By the time a player standing at the back has run to the net, the shuttlecock is already on the floor. The dropshot can also be played in different ways:

• Overhead dropshot: a shuttlecock coming above the head, or to its right or left, is hit so that it falls close to the net in the opponent's court.
• Underhand dropshot: a shuttlecock that has come in low is hit so that it falls close to the net in the opponent's court.

For a smash the shuttlecock has to be higher than the net. Hit hard from below net height, it would simply crash into the net. In a smash the shuttlecock is hit with force, and the player aims either straight at the opponent or at an empty space on the court. A smash into an empty space is one the opponent cannot reach in time.

In a good badminton stance:

• The left foot is placed in front and the right foot behind.
• The body bends forward a little.
• The eyes stay on the opponent who is about to hit the shuttlecock.
• The player stays set as if ready to smash.

A player standing upright and stiff only starts to move after the shuttlecock has already come. A player crouched a little and balanced can set off in any direction at once.

With good footwork a player arrives beside the shuttlecock before it drops and hits it from the right spot. A dropshot means moving forward towards the net, a clear means moving back, and a shot to either side means moving quickly that way. Stance keeps the player ready; footwork carries them to the shuttlecock.

The four kinds of service compare like this:

The three main skills used during a rally can be told apart like this: