Badminton Doubles Serve

Featured Image: Pierre-Yves Beaudouin

The badminton doubles serve varies from the singles one. In this article, we are going to discuss both low serves and high serves can give us advantages before the rally has even begun. While the serve might not be the most exciting shot of badminton, it’s certainly the most important.

Serving

This first discussion point also happens to be the first shot of the rally. Many people do not take the time to work on their serve but are more interested in improving the power in their smash or backhand clear. As mentioned above, it’s the most important shot in the game. In order to understand this, you need to understand the strategic implications of the shot.

Low Serve

Also discussed in  “5 Aspects Of Your Game You Need To Improve.” The low serve avoids lifting the shuttle and giving away the attack to your opponents.  Unlike other racket sports, such as tennis and squash, you are unlikely to win a point straight off the serve. However a consistent, low serve is the best way to gain the advantage from the start of the rally This is because:

1. It will make it difficult for your opponent to attack the shuttle.
2. Puts your opponent under pressure.
3. You can bias your position to likely replies from the serve.

A good low serve is one which crosses just above the net and falls below net height as it crosses over. The opponent cannot attack a shuttle which has not yet crossed the net and attacking a shuttle at below net height is more likely to result in an unforced error. This puts pressure on your opponent to make a quick decision on their alternative shot choice. From below the net, they really have two options.

1. Play to the net in order to attempt to get you to lift the shuttle
2. Concede the attack and lift the shuttle to the back of the court.

Example Of Low Serve

The majority of your serves should be a low serve towards the T. Consider the image below:

A has served to X. The low serve is such that X cannot attack the shuttle. Therefore knowing points 1&2 above the server can now move forward to threaten the net area. By doing so he pressurizes X to play a high-quality shot at the net, or to lift the shuttle.

By serving low and to the middle (or the T), A has effectively limited the angles in which X can play their shot. From below the net, statistically, X is likely to play a shot on the same side of the court as he is receiving. So X’s reply to the net is likely to be any of the blue arrows.

The first arrow from the middle is the most likely reply as it’s the quickest response to the serve. As the other potential replies from X uses wider areas of the court, A has more time to react to them. This is because the shuttle has to travel a little further distance and so A can afford to bias their position towards the straight reply. The return could also come on the other side of the court and is something A should also be ready for. This is a much less likely return, however.

Generally, the low serve should always be to the T. Aside from cutting the angles of reply from your opponent. It is also the shortest distance for the shuttle to travel, giving less time to your opponent.

Variations of the Low Serve in Badminton

There is really only one variation of the low serve. This is serving out wide into the tramlines rather than to the T. There are some benefits to this:

1. Throwing in a variation may force your opponent to reassess the path of the shuttle as they expected a straight serve. This can cause a delay in their movement, forcing them to play a weaker shot or a lift.
2. Effective against players who are keen to attack the shuttle, who are assuming you will serve to the T.
3. Creates uncertainty about your serve and where you will play it.
4. Can follow up this serve by biasing your position to the side you served to in the wide area as their response is most likely to be a straight push or drive.

You should not use this serve all the time. As you are serving out wide, the shuttle will take longer to cross to the opponent’s court, giving them more time to react to it and a quick opponent might even be able to intercept it and attack it.

Although I said the most likely reply would be a straight shot, this is more likely when you use the wide serve rarely. If you play it all the time, the opponent will be ready for it and will have a lot more angles of reply available. This is why it’s recommended to serve to the T as default as you can predict the replies and able to better control the initial stages of the rally.

Flick Serve In Badminton

The flick is another variation in which the shuttle is flicked to the back of the court, landing on or just before the doubles service line. This is a very useful shot to have in your repertoire but again should be used sparsely. The reason for this should be fairly obvious. A flick serve is lifting the shuttle to your opponent. If they can anticipate this, they will simply smash the shuttle and you have given away your advantage. Flick serves in badminton are useful when:

1. The receiver is keen to pounce on your low serve
2. To force the weaker rear court player to the back of the court, moving them out of their favoured formation.

The flick is unique in that you can apply more deception to your high serve than your low serve. Preparation to hit the serve is the same, but the power is generated at the end of the serving motion. This is why when you watch professional players, they usually get caught out immediately. However, it doesn’t necessarily have to completely fool your opponent. A good flick is also one which causes a delay in the movement of the receiver forcing them to clear the shuttle or into error.

Badminton Doubles Serve – Personal Experience

I have been in match situations where I have completely lost confidence in my low serve and resorted to flick serves just so I didn’t make an error. This was simply a different path down the same street as the opponents could tell exactly what I was going to do. Either way, I was losing the points.

The best thing for me was to work on it to become more consistent. If you can serve low with confidence, you have much less pressure, even in tight situations.

I hope you enjoyed this article on the badminton doubles serve! Following on from this article, we will look at receiving the serve and what shots you should play in order to gain a tactical advantage. I have also covered the serve in both singles and mixed doubles, you may click the links to be taken to those articles respectively.

Please consider subscribing to my blog at the bottom of the page for more great badminton content and make sure to follow me on Instagram and Facebook for other posts and updates!

If you want 15% off Alien Pro’s awesome looking badminton grips – click here and use the code “shuttlesmash” at check out! It will help support this website and enable me to provide you with more badminton content!