Ever seen a professional badminton player do a badminton forehand serve?
While they make it look so smooth and easy, the truth is, most struggle to even get the shuttle consistently over the net. The service is as important as it is difficult – most world-class players agree that the outcome of a rally can be determined by a single serve!
Today, I will teach you how you can tip the game in your favour with 5 easy steps to master the badminton forehand serve.
Now, let’s break it down into a step by step guide so you can master the forehand badminton serve!
1. Use a Forehand Grip
Use a forehand grip as shown in the diagram above.
Some tips to note:
- Grip your racket comfortably but not too tightly
- Your grip should be close to the hilt/base of the racket to have more leverage.
- Don’t fret too much over getting the grip perfectly right, you can adjust it as we go along.
2. Get a Good Shuttle Grip
Using your thumb and fingers, hold the shuttle at the head, and raise it to about shoulder level. The way you hold the shuttle does not matter much when it comes to the forehand serve. Anything that is comfortable should work fine
The shuttle should fall freely into the mid-thigh to knee area before it is struck during a forehand badminton service during a forehand badminton service.
3. Get into Position!
The badminton forehand serve is typically executed in a singles game. Thus, you should practice by standing in the position on the court as shown above, at about 2 metres away from the net.
Before you execute the forehand serve, stand with the racket leg behind. Racket and shuttle=bearing hands in position as shown.
4. Take Aim!
The forehand serve has three variations and they are commonly used in singles, they are:
- The High Serve
- The Flick Serve
- The Low Serve
The target would depend on which side of the court you are standing at to execute the forehand serve. Your position when serving is denoted by the red cross.
For the high and flick forehand serve, the target would be the blue rectangle at the back.
As for the low forehand serve, the target would be anywhere within the yellow box.
5. Fire Away!
Demonstration of a Badminton High Forehand Serve
The badminton forehand serve starts with the weight on the back foot and shifting towards the front foot during the process of serving, this is to generate momentum and a more consistent flow for better quality forehand serves.
The wrist should be pulled back, arm swung in a pendulum motion, and finally right before contacting the shuttle, there should be a flick of the wrist/forearm.
The shuttle should be dropped at a comfortable distance away from the body and arm so that a proper swing can be made. Feel free to try different distances until you find the one that is comfortable for you!
The swing used for the variations of the forehand serve are largely similar. To execute the different forehand serves, vary the power used, and angle of contact with the shuttle to change the trajectory.
The trajectory of the high serve should, as the name suggests, go high and far, to the target.
The flick serve, while ultimately also landing at the back of the court, should sail quickly towards the back without much height (how much height really, depends on your judgement and strategic use).
As for the low serve, it should sail just above the net, landing right behind the service line.
The swing used for the variations of the forehand serve are largely similar. To execute the different forehand serves, vary the power used, and angle of contact with the shuttle to change the trajectory.
The trajectory of the high serve should, as the name suggests, go high and far, to the target.
The flick serve, while ultimately also landing at the back of the court, should sail quickly towards the back without much height.
As for the low serve, it should sail just above the net, landing right behind the service line.
Conclusion
Of course, lots of practice is required to master the badminton serve, but nonetheless, it’s easy! What might confuse most, is the service boundary differences in Singles and Doubles, as such, we have also compiled a simple list of rules to get you started here! (Coming Soon)
The forehand badminton serve technique by itself, is not all that hard to master. But to use it effectively in a badminton match to your advantage is a different story. Feel free to check out our training guides here to learn other techniques that will supplement your badminton arsenal!
Stay tuned for more guides!
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