Singles – Strategies & Tactics – Return of High Serve

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The return of the high serve will depend on your ability to move into the rear court to retrieve the shuttle and your ability to recover to your base position.

The High Serve

As we discussed in part 1, the high serve is when the shuttle is lifted right to the back of court, hopefully landing between the two rear tram lines. A perfect high serve would hit the back line plum on the line. (If you didn’t read “plum on the line” in Gill Clark’s voice, do you even watch badminton bro)?!

In essence, the high serve is just a lift. The only difference is that the shuttle is controlled by the server. The goal of the return of serve is to be able to control the subsequent rally, or at the very least not give the advantage to the opponent.

The idea of the high serve is to move you away from your base position into the rear court and also minimise the potency of your attacking play.

So let’s see what our options are for the return of the high serve.

Punish Any Short High Serve

Any serve lifted high into the air but short of the rear court should be punished. It’s a gift of an opportunity to win the rally! Your shot choice needs to be carefully considered here however as the wrong shot might lose you the advantage. The default return of the high serve should be the smash.

• Smash – Straight forward, simple and effective. It’s the shot which will put the most amount of pressure on the opponent in this situation. But also it’s the shot which gives you the best opportunity to follow up and kill the shuttle if the opponent does manage to return the smash. Remember the rally isn’t over until that shuttle hits the floor!
• Drop – A little more of a risky shot. As this shot will be slower, there’s a chance the opponent will be able to reach the shuttle earlier, playing a tight net shot. If they do not read the shot well enough to play a tight net shot, they may still be able to reach the shuttle and play a lift, giving them time to recover. The advantage is lost here.

Return Of The High Serve

Assuming a good high serve, because the shuttle will be taken from overhead, there are only three shot options available.

Smash

If you are a strong high-level player, with competent footwork, then a high lift would give you a good opportunity to take control of the rally through attacking play and dictate the pace. You must ensure however that you are able to cover any likely returns from the opponent.

You should also be aware that a smash from the back of the court might not be advantageous if you use full power. Remember, that the shuttle falls vertically on a good high serve. So a smash might be a little harder to control. But it also takes longer to recover from an all-out smash. If your opponent plays a good defensive shot, you might struggle to retrieve it. It is better to perhaps go for angle and play a smash with a little less power. This will force the opponent to take the shuttle lower than net height and they have to play a shot which allows you time to recover.

Drop

A slow drop means that the shuttle spends more time in the air. Considering you are playing it from the back of court, this gives plenty of time for the opponent to consider their options. A fast drop would be more appropriate. For the same reasons as the smash. Adding deception to this shot would also delay the opponent. This possibly resulted in them reaching the shuttle late and therefore having to play a lift to recover.

Clear

A clear is a neutral shot. It does not give you a particular advantage. But neither does it give your opponent much to work with (assuming it’s a good length and height)! It can force your opponent into the rear court, away from their base position and give you time to move back into yours. This is important because recovering to your base position gives you the best option to cover any replies. If your footwork is not great or you currently cannot cover the court well, this is the best option.

Direction Of The Return Of High Serve

In general, the best options are to play straight or to the body of the opponent. The main reason for this is that it helps you keep in control of the rally.

Singles is a lot like chess. You have to be able to think two or three moves ahead of your opponent. The best way to do this is to play shots which limit the number of returns available to the opponent. By doing so you can anticipate what their next shot is likely to be.

When the opponent serves high, they immediately move you away from your base position. So you need to consider what you can do to either take initiative in the rally OR how to neutralise potential advantages your opponent might have. This all depends on your shot choice and direction.

Playing To The Middle/To The Body

Playing to the middle limits the angles of reply that the opponent has available to them. Particularly if you play an attacking shot, you can really use this to your advantage.

A smash of any kind is likely to result in a block back to the net. Simply because that’s the area of the court most exposed when you’re in the rear court. A smash to the body does not give space for them to manoeuvre their racket to create any significant angles. Therefore you can anticipate that your smash will be returned as a block back to the middle.

Likewise, a good drop to the net will have the same effect, however, can put pressure on you. If the opponent reads the drop early, they might be able to play a tight net shot. Which means you’re forced to rush to the net. Even though you can anticipate that they are likely to play it back to the middle, you can still be put under pressure. It’s better to play the smash if you’re able to play a downward shot to pressure the opponent. They, in turn, have less of an opportunity to put you under significant pressure.

The clear to the middle is a safe option. It limits the angles of reply available to the opponent and also buys you time to move back to your base position. However, it doesn’t give you any opportunity to take initiative in the rally, unless your clear is particularly deceptive. If your opponent is also able to read your clear, or if they know you’re going to play a clear based on your previous returns of the high serve, they will adjust their base position, ready to attack and pressurise you.

Playing Straight

This is the most direct method. Playing straight means the shuttle reaches its intended destination faster and in turn gives a little less time to your opponents. If the shuttle is served out wide, this means attacking down the tramlines. We mentioned earlier that the smash can give you the opportunity to follow up your shot. It’s easier to follow the shuttle in a straight line and also quicker, so you can close down a block to the net.

Playing a straight drop should be played with some caution. On one hand, the drop will force your opponent into the forecourt opening the rear court. However, depending on how well the opponent can cover the straight drop, they might be able to put you under pressure. If your drop is too slow they might be able to play a fast push crosscourt into the rear court forcing you to change direction rapidly. Or alternatively, they might be able to play a tight cross-court net shot, forcing you to move the full diagonal of the court.

Lastly, a straight clear will force the opponent into the rear court. giving you time to move back to your base position. The problem is, that the opponent will now have all the options of a clear, drop or smash, plus a number of angles to play into. Remember we do not want to give the opponent the opportunity to control the rally. So once they have a number of options available to them (attacking shots & a number of angles to choose from), the opponent becomes more unpredictable. Especially if they reach the shuttle early.

Clearing To Their Backhand

One advantage of the straight clear is if you can force your opponent onto their backhand. From this position, they cannot play any threatening attacking shot (unless they happen to be Taufik Hidayat!). Backhand shots are often slower than on the forehand side and from this position, they can only really play a drop or clear. A cross-court clear is unlikely because it has to travel a further distance and on the backhand, it’s quite difficult to move the shuttle that far. A cross-court backhand drop is risky because the shuttle has to travel for a longer period and also the opponent has to recover from their shot and move the full diagonal of the court to cover a net reply. So their best options are a straight backhand drop or a straight clear. So you have effectively narrowed down, in part some of their options.

Playing Cross Court

Returning a wide high serve, a cross-court is not usually a good tactical choice. As soon as you play the crosscourt, you open up the court. Playing a cross-court smash leaves you vulnerable to the opponent’s straight block to the net. A cross clear leaves you vulnerable to the opponent’s straight smash or even cross-court smash. Playing a cross-court drop leaves you vulnerable to a tight net shot.

We do not want to be put in these situations straight off the serve because the opponent will have the opportunity to dictate the rally. Once the rally has passed this initial stage and you have the advantage, there will be situations where it’s beneficial to play the cross-court shots. But initially, it’s more tactically sound to ensure you can control the rally, or at least your opponent can’t!

Conclusion

Return of the high serve is not always straightforward. It’s tempting for many beginners to play the cross-court shots, thinking it’s an advanced shot. But this is more naivety than anything else. You do not want to give your opponents the advantage at the start of the rally because you will be chasing them trying to win back the initiative. Particularly if they are faster players than you or fitter. You always want to minimize their opportunities to do this and the initial stages of the rally are crucial to ensure you can come out on top.

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