If you watch an Olympic badminton game, you’ll notice a lot of mention of drop shots. Badminton drop shots are an integral part of the game, so let’s talk about what they are and provide some examples.
What is a drop shot?
A drop shot is simply a shot that has a curved trajectory over the net, and directs the shuttlecock to land in the front of the opponent’s court, intending to land just as it crosses over the net. You are simply “dropping” the shuttlecock right over the net.
A well-placed drop shot is very difficult to defend especially if your opponent is out of place (standing toward the back of the court) and because of the proximity to the net when you attempt to return the shuttle.
What are examples of different drop shots?
There are many variations of the badminton drop shot. Knowing what drop shots you can and can’t do in any situation takes practice, skill, and lots of experience playing. But to start, its good to know what some of the basic ones are called:
1) Slow Drop Shot
The slow drop shot where you make contact with the shuttlecock at a point above your shoulders, and forces that shuttlecock to take a high trajectory where it lands close to the net on the opponent’s side of your court.
Slow doesn’t necessarily mean easy to defend. The purpose of the slow drop shot is that it drops in a straight line right in front of the opponents side of the net, so when the opponent returns it they have very little space between them and the net to return the shuttlecock without it or their body hitting the net.
2) Fast Drop Shot
In contrast to the slow drop shot, a fast drop shot simply takes more of a straight line trajectory, landing at the front side of the opponent’s court. As you might have guessed, many fast drop shots are executed when the play makes contact with the shuttlecock at a very high point. He or she may jump or extend their body high to make contact with the shuttle in order to get a 45-degree trajectory that quickly drives the shuttlecock into the front part of the opponent’s court. A fast drop shot that might be akin to more of a spike in volleyball.
3) Slice Drop Shot
A slice drop shot is meant to be deceptive and create unpredictability for your opponent. Per the name, you “slice” the shuttlecock by turning your racquet at a certain angle so that it looks like you are swinging the racquet as if the shuttlecock will take a certain trajectory, but at the last second the shuttlecock zips in the opposite direction, confusing your opponent.
There are a whole plethora of different types of slices you can use in your game, and we will make a post covering all of those.
4) Basic Forehand Drop Shot
When there is a high return volley, and it backs you up the backline, you might want to use a basic forehand drop shot. This drop shot is a solid volley but doesn’t put pressure on you to drive the shuttlecock downward. It is a risk-averse shot that will have a straight line trajectory over the net simply because you are backed up quite a bit.
Wrapping up
Drop shots are an integral part of the game of badminton. There are other types of shots that are important to the game such as the Backhand Drop Shot, Backhand Clear, Smash, and many more. The more you study them, the better your game will get.