Most non-professional badminton players are satisfied once they get the hang of the game. You’ll notice that they stay at the same skill level or improve minimally over a long period of time.
But in order to derive more joy from any sport, it’s important to delve a little deeper and polish your skills. And in the case of badminton, most people still don’t understand how to serve properly.
The importance of the serve cannot be stressed enough! It sets the tone for the entire game and a poor serve can give your opponent the upper hand at the start of the rally. You don’t want to do that. To gain the upper hand in the match, it’s important to start with a good serve. And just like any other sports skill, you can improve your serves by practicing regularly.
Get A Place To Practice
If possible, find a court where you can practice without anyone bothering you. It may be difficult to find one, but it’s also the important factor in improving your serves.
Also, remember to keep roughly 20 – 30 shuttles with you so that your practice session is more efficient. If you have only a few shuttles, most of your time will be spent gathering them between shots.
Short Serves
The quality of a short serve is determined by how low the shuttle passes over the net and how close it lands to the forecourt (near the short service line). There’s a simple exercise to improve your short serves, and you can use either a forehand or backhand short serve for this exercise.
Tell a friend to hold a racket parallel and above the net and try to serve the shuttle in such a way that it passes through the gap between the net and the racket. Each time you manage to make it through, ask your friend to move the racket closer to the net, to make it more challenging.
Also read: 6 Badminton Shots That Will Make You Improve Your Game
Long Serve
For this serve, have your partner stand at the back of the opposite court (near the long service line) with his/her racket held high in the air. Your objective should be able to serve the shuttle so it flies over the racket and lands between the long service line and the baseline. It takes a lot of practice, but it’s quite simple once you get the hang of it.
Keep Training!
The importance of practice cannot be stressed enough, and to really master the art of service, it’s imperative that you train everyday. Of course, there will be a certain point where you become disinterested in just serving. When this happens, it’s important to take a break or learn a new technique before returning to the task at hand. This way, you can break the monotony and you won’t get bored of practicing serves.
Lastly, don’t look at these drills like some sort of work you have to do. Switch it up and make it fun, and every time you get bored, think about how many more games you can win once you learn to serve well.
You might also be interested in: 10 Classy Badminton Rackets You Can Get Under INR 500
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