I suspect that this is a very important facet of the game but I have no systematic understanding of what it is best to do in different circumstances. Does anybody have "principles" to apply when deciding whether a cross-court shot or a down the line shot will be better?
This really depends on preference, ability, positioning, singles or doubles and the overall situation. In singles you should only play crosscourt if you are in good balance and you can cover the straight reply. Or if you are under a lot of pressure as some kind of desperation shot. In doubles the crosscourt attack is good if on opponent is weaker than the other or to get your partner involved. Of course mixing it up is very important but you have to remember not to play yourself into trouble.
You have not specified what type of shot, drop shot, smash, drive, lift etc. You have also not specified whether for singles, mixed doubles or level doubles. Also what kind of level so I am assuming casual to intermediate stage. So I will give an generic answers: 1) Level doubles. You play straight more often as you want to cut out any angle that you give to your opponents and any potential return has to pass through your partners way so he/she can intercept better. Playing cross court in level doubles should only be done if you know it might be a winner or the other players are out of position, otherwise you risk being pinned down as the return will likely to bypass your partner. I.e. you are effectively playing 2 on 1 at that point which you don't want. The exception to this is a good tight cross court drop shot. 2) Mixed doubles. Very similar to level doubles. However if you notice the lady is in the forecourt and out of position, then sometimes useful to cross court them. They have less reaction time compared to someone on the rearcourt and hence a better chance for a winner or atleast a weaker return. The reason down the like shots or 'tramline' shots are effective is because they give your opponents less time to react, they normally bypass the person at the front of the court so you are aiming for a 2 v 1 situation. 3) Singles - This is all governed by where your opponent is, the aim in singles is to keep them chasing the shuttle so if they are pinned on the far rearcourt, doing a cross court drop would be very effective and vice versa. Sometimes a straight smash might be the shot if they have just recovered and are favouring one side more. I hope this helps but like I said without knowing which situation and what shot specifically you wanted explanation on, I've tried to summarise as generic as I can. Kindest regards, -Ajay- Quote of the Day If you shoot at mimes, should you use a silencer?
Assumption Doubles game and you are talking about smashing. Smashing is the fastest attacking shot in badminton, one smash can finish a rally. However, in most cases smashes do not finish a rally, therefore are used to create opportunities. There are various kinds of smashes that you can mix up for attacking besides cross-court or straight smashes. So when do you use cross-court smash vs dtl smash? Cross-court is used when you are confident that your cross will create an opportunity for you. If your smash is does nothing, your opponent will lift straight into the other corner. Therefore you will need to run the other side to make to retrieve the shuttle. Performing an attacking shot from one side to the other side is difficult to perform and difficult to recover from due to the momentum. Cross court smashing is can cause problems because your front player cannot help you (normally) and you have to run from one side to the next. Cross-court smash is only performed when you are sure you can retrieve the block and/or you know that you can gain out of the rally. Otherwise, you might be in a poor situation. DTL smash is a standard smash because it is difficult for your opponents to get and they generally don't have much angles that will cause you be in a really poor position. However, if your smash is not steep or fast enough, players can force pushes or clears to your cross court corner, causing you to run to the other side. But, the travel time for cross court shots is longer, so your partner can help you, or you may have enough time to play another attacking shot. My personal opinion on DTL vs cross, I have a pretty steep and fast smash, so I normally smash DTL and once in awhile smash cross to mix things up. I am right handed therefore I never cross court with my forehand smash. I only cross smash on my backhand side when I feel comfortable getting the backhand side smash. 95% DTL 5% cross
DTL:mid:X= 6:3:1 Smashrop: clear = 6:3:1 Mix your shots up, smash n drop, flat and steep, and place them in different spots. Never do the same thing twice in a row
That's nice! Despite the fact that we might discuss the actual numbers (I would prefer even less cross and clears...), the general idea is perfect: In doubles, play a lot of smashes, quite some drops, very few clears. Play a lot straight, some to the middle, very few cross. These are good general guidelines. If you furthermore adjust to some weaknesses of the specific opponents (do they leave to much space in the middle? is one of them weaker in smash defense? is one of them slow on returning drops?), then you're doing fine!
Something important to think about for singles is sequences of shots. Lets imagine your opponent is a good standard and you want to beat him with winners. You need to decide what winning shots you can use effectively - this will depend on their positioning. If they stand right in the middle, then down the line attacking shots will do a lot of damage. If they stand closer to the straight side, then you will need to consider whether they can cover cross court shots so well. If they can cover both, then consider how you might move them one way to create a winning opportunity on the other side e.g. you hit a straight punch clear followed by a cross court sliced fast drop shot. You had to use the straight shots to create gaps cross court in order to hit winners. As others said, you question is a little too vague. For low level doubles, just hit everything straight. If you could have won the point with a cross court shot, you could probably have won the point with a straight shot as well - so just stick to attacking straight. Middle is also an option, but remember middle means you MUST get the shuttle to the straight defender OR into a gap. If the cross court defender can get to your shot down the middle, then it was not good enough.
one thing that is good, laughable and pure comedy is, you always need to look at your opponents racket and know how expensive it is. If they are playing with expensive rackets, especially the newest Y****, it's best if you hit to the middle at their gap, between waist and head height. Usually they would just leave the shuttle as they care for their racket so much. trust me, it works very well in social play, especially against players who brag about how good his or her racket is
Was playing a game at my club and our opponents had a clear straight up the middle. Both went for it, huge clash of racquets and both heads flew off. They both stared forlornly at their broken racquets for quite a while before getting replacements. . . Next point. guess what my next shot was? . . .Yep. Lift straight up the middle. Shuttle hadn't even touched the ground and my partner was rolling on the floor laughing whilst our opponents just stood there looking at each other before giving me the evil eye. . . (Then my partner took both racquet heads home with him to salvage the grommets)
