3 Deceptive Return Of Serves In Badminton

Adding deception into your game is really important, as it makes your opponents feel uncomfortable in a match.

If you use it at the right time, your opponent’s will never know what shot to expect next!

We’ll now go through 3 deceptive return of serves that you can play in singles and doubles – which we have named:

The Kevin Sukamuljo Special
Greg’s Favourite Return Of Serve – Greg’s Slice!
The Anthony Ginting Special

1) The Kevin Sukamuljo Special

Based on Kevin’s racket position in the picture below, you might expect the shuttle to land straight, around the mid-court:

But, he actually turns his body and racket at the last minute and the shuttle goes deep into the opposite corner!

So, how can you play the Kevin Sukamuljo Special?

You need to start by looking like you’re going to play a straight shot.

Then as you step forwards and your racket leg passes your non-racket leg, you twist your upper body and drop your racket arm shoulder.

You then squeeze your grip to add power and hit it into the opposite back corner.

There are 4 key points to playing this shot effectively:

To play this return, you should be receiving from the right box if you’re right-handed, and the left box if you’re left-handed.
We recommend playing at least one straight return before you go for this deceptive shot, to make your opponent’s think you are playing straight.
Don’t turn your body and drop your shoulder too early, as this will show your opponents that you’re going to play it cross court.
This return only really works if the opponent has played the serve to your non-racket arm shoulder. If the serve is across you, or right onto the T, it’s going to be much more difficult to do.

You can play this return in both singles and doubles, and you can also do this on your forehand side too, sticking to similar principles we’ve mentioned above.

2) Greg’s Favourite Return Of Serve – Greg’s Slice!

As you can see by the title, this is my (Greg’s) favourite deceptive return! Here you would look like you’re playing a cross return, then slice the shuttle to make it go straight instead. This return is very deceptive and satisfying when done right!

To see a video of this return in action, click here!

How can you play Greg’s Slice return?

You start by reaching towards the shuttle with your racket and body so it looks like you are going to play cross-court.

Then, you let the shuttle drop and bring your racket back, whilst keeping your body facing cross court.

When the shuttle is about half a metre from your racket, you begin the deceptive part of the shot by moving your racket sidewards and upwards to slice the shuttle (right to left if you’re right-handed and left to right if you’re left-handed).

And just as you’re about to strike the shuttle, you need to flick your wrist up, so that your racket is almost horizontal.

When hitting this return, the shuttle should be roughly in line with you and the shuttle should be on your backhand side.

So you should only use this return when your opponent has served to the T when you’re in the right box if you’re right-handed, or in the left box if you’re left-handed.

Keep in mind that this return is quite difficult to do, as getting the ‘perfect’ slice on it isn’t easy… So make sure you’ve practiced it before using it in a match!

3) The Anthony Ginting Special

Here you take the return on your forehand, and look like you’re hitting it straight:

But at the last second, turn to hit it cross court at the net!

This return is equally effective on both the forehand and backhand side, but the technique for each is slightly different.

The Technique When Playing A Forehand

Firstly, you need to be in the left box if you’re right-handed, and the right box if you’re left-handed. You also need to look like you’re going to play a straight net shot or lift.

Then, just before you strike the shuttle, you need to do 3 things:

Slightly drop your racket arm shoulder.
Bring your elbow close into your chest.
Turn your wrist so it’s facing upwards.

This allows your strings to face cross-court, so you can gently guide the shuttle cross.

The Technique When Playing A Backhand

For this, you need to be in the right box if you’re right-handed, and in the left box if you’re left-handed. And similar to the forehand side, you want to look like you’re going to play a straight net shot or lift.

Then, just before you strike the shuttle, you slightly drop your wrist and bring your racket elbow up and guide the shuttle cross court.

For both returns, you need to experiment with how much to turn your wrist. You don’t want to turn it too much, or your shot will go backwards! But, if you don’t turn it enough, your shot will go too far into the court and make it easier for your opponent to retrieve.

💡 When playing against slower players or those that can’t read the game as well, deceptive returns can still be effective even if you’re taking the shuttle late!

Common Mistakes When Playing Deceptive Returns

There are 2 common mistakes that we see people make when they try to add deceptive returns into their game:

Not using their body enough – you need to make sure your body (in terms of movement and momentum) shows the opposite direction to where your deceptive shot is actually going. You want to make it look as realistic as possible so you need to put your energy into it!
Having a tight tense grip – all of the professionals have a relaxed grip which enables them to quickly change the direction of their racket at the last second. This helps to create this deception and to have good control of the shot too.

Learn More

We’d recommend watching our full YouTube video below to see clear demonstrations of all 3 deceptive returns, which will hopefully help you understand how they work better!