Do you want to play accurate drop shots to get easy points in a badminton match? Once you master this shot, it is a pretty easy shot to play to gain an advantage in a rally.
We often see that professional badminton players use this shot to make their opponent move forward and hit a lift so that they can attack and take control of the rally. If you learn how to execute a drop shot, it will improve your game to a whole new level.
In this article, we will break down the different aspects of this shot to help you understand how to master it and use it against your opponents.
Without any further ado, let’s dive right in.
What Is A Drop Shot in Badminton?
A drop shot is a shot hit softly so that the shuttlecock falls in the front area of the opponent’s court. Usually, a drop shot lands between the net and the short service line. However, an ideal drop shot will land closer to the net so that it will be difficult for the opponent to pick it.
There are several different types of drop shots in badminton, such as the normal drop shot, the slice drop shot, the deceptive drop shot, etc.
The main objectives of playing a drop shot are to make your opponent out of position and change the pace of the rally. You can use this shot is to trick your opponent and get points.
Pretend like you’re going to hit a powerful attacking smash. The opponent shouldn’t understand that you’re going to hit a drop shot from your body language.
This will trick your opponent as he/she will not expect a drop shot is coming. This late reaction will make your opponents miss the shuttle or hit a weak return. If the opponent hits a weak return, you can follow it up using a smash to finish the rally.
How To Hit A Drop Shot In Badminton?
Let’s see how you can execute a normal drop shot (with forehand) in the right way.
First of all, you need to position yourself behind and in line with the shuttle as early as possible, with your side facing the net (just like the position for hitting a smash).
Both of your hands should be upwards in the air, with the non-racket arm in front of your body, and the racket arm needs to be behind your head. The body weight should be on your racket leg.
When the shuttle comes closer, you need to extend your non-racket arm and rotate the hip and shoulders towards facing the net. Hit the shuttle gently with the shuttle just in front of your body, but still high in the air. Unlike a smash, decelerate the racket head speed.
Transfer your body weight from your racket leg to your non-racket leg and complete the follow-through motion.
This is how you execute a forehand drop shot. To understand the steps correctly, watch the following video, and try to imitate the steps.
To execute a backhand drop shot, the technique of the shot is similar to a backhand clear, except that the drop shot is played with a lot less power. We can use the backhand drop shot if the player can’t hit a forehand drop shot against the incoming shot from the opponent.
If you don’t have a strong backhand and your backhand clear is pretty weak, then it is a great idea to use the backhand drop shot most times.
Watch the following video to learn how to do a backhand drop shot in badminton.
Types Of Drop Shots
All drop shots aren’t the same. There are different variations of this shot. Just like the other shots in badminton, drop shots can have different angles, trajectories, power, etc. A player can customize a drop shot using these criteria.
Now, let’s try to understand what are the different types of drop shots in badminton and how to execute those shots.
Slow Drop Shots
Slow drop shots are played very gently so that they land on the opponent’s frontcourt just passing the net. Slow drop shots can be very effective if the opponent is a little bit slow to react to the shot.
If you play the drop shots very tight to the net, the opponent will not be able to play a full-length lift, which will help you to follow up with a smash and win a point.
However, the problem with a slow drop shot is that the shuttle will take some time to cross the net and reach the opponent’s court. That will give the opponent time to reach the net and return the shot.
It is good to play a slow net shot if you’re hitting it from the frontcourt. Also, you can use this shot if the opponent is late in recovering from the rear court. In other scenarios, it is dangerous to play this shot, especially against good opponents.
Fast Drop Shots
As the name suggests, fast drop shots are hit with more pace so that they travel quickly to the opponent’s court. The landing point of this shot is around the short service line of the opponent’s court.
Yes, it is nearer to your opponent compared to a slow drop shot. But, the shot will have more pace. Hence, the opponent will get less time to react.
On most occasions, playing a fast drop shot is less dangerous as it will prevent the opponent from reaching the net early and hitting a net kill or spinning net shot in return.
Slice Drop Shots
The slice drop shot is far more deceptive and tricky compared to the normal drop shots. As the name suggests, you need to slice the shuttlecock at a certain angle so that the shuttlecock will change its trajectory and confuse the opponent.
The most common slice drop shot is hitting the shuttle crosscourt from the forehand or straight from the around the head position. But, there are several other variations of this shot, such as regular slice, reverse slice, crosscourt slice, etc., using both forehand and backhand.
How To Improve Your Drop Shots In Badminton?
If you’re a complete beginner and never played drop shots before, I would suggest you watch professional players or others playing the shot. You can find several videos on YouTube. Once you got an idea about the shot, try to practice the shot.
Just before you hit the shot, imagine the shot in your mind and hit the shot with confidence. After some tries, you’ll definitely become good at it.
If you’re good with drop shots, I would suggest you add as much deception as you can to trick your opponent. Act like you’re going to hit a smash and execute the drop shot at the last moment. Watch some videos on how to add deception to your drop shots and practice it several times.
Do not overuse this shot. Try to use it at the right moment. Try to practice the swing motion of the shot so that you’ll develop muscle memory of the shot.
Practice the shot with your racket that you use to play matches. Also, make sure your footwork is correct while playing this shot.
After several practice sessions, you’ll be able to execute drop shots with ease.
Final Thoughts
We have covered the drop shot, which is one of the most useful shots in badminton to get points. It’s easy to learn the theoretical concepts, but you can’t master the shot unless you practice it.
Just like any other shot in badminton, playing exceptional drop shots also needs lots of practice and hard work. So, try to implement what you’ve learned and put it into practice.
I hope this article was helpful to you in learning something new about badminton. Share this article if you think it will help other badminton enthusiasts as well.
Thanks for reading. Enjoy the game!
