Forehand serves

Forehand serve  —  singles

Use the basic grip for all forehand serves.

In singles, the badminton racket is usually held with a long grip, so that you can play an effective high serve.

You may prefer to use a short grip for low serves, but be aware that your opponent might observe the change in grip length and guess that you will serve low. In this case, a surprise flick serve could be effective.

In doubles, use a short grip. Consider using a backhand serve instead: all professional doubles players serve backhand.

Backhand serves

Backhand serve  —  doubles

Use a short thumb grip for backhand serves in doubles. Using a short grip helps you to make deceptive flick serves, because you can suddenly increase the speed of your racket.

In singles, I also recommend using a short grip; but remember that after serving, you should change to a long basic grip.

Related topics

Serving guide

My guide to serving in badminton, covering techniques for all the different serves and serving tactics for both singles and doubles.