Frankly, I don't like funny serves. At all. That's true not only for your serve, but for all weird serves (i.e., habitually serving from the very far lines onto the backhand back-court in doubles). If you are in a tournament and playing for high stakes, by all means go ahead. The umpire will tell you if it's legal or not, problem solved. In all other occasions, i.e., training, recreational or tournament-for-fun, it just annoys people. Why are funny serves annoying? - They don't work against good players anyways. After the novelty has worn off, they'll just take advantage of your serve. (I.e., that backhand back-court serve in a double will just earn a smash; your serve will earn a net-kill or a mid-court smash or drive). - Against intermediate players, it's simply frustrating. Sure, it may earn a few more points, but if you're not in a tournament, your goal should not be to frustrate your opponent - you want to play him again tomorrow, don't you? And in a tournament, you should be able to win against an intermediate player anyway. Winning just because you did a funny serve would feel not right at all. - Against bad players, it's even worse. You confuse them. They are supposed to learn from better players, but won't learn much from you (if they cannot do the usual serve, they won't be able to do yours). Bottom line: I think funny serves are just inappropriate in recreational settings, and useless in tournaments, so it would be wise to avoid them.
Alright. If you don't care at all what others think about you, as long as you win, then there is nothing wrong about it.
There's a lot in what you say Addict, and I agree with you on a lot of it. however even in a purely recreational context, there are games you want to win, if only for the bottle of champagne prize of a minor tournament. Equally I believe that the game is actually better and more exciting when you're playing amongst players who are ready to fight tooth and nail for every point. I think that in fact is one of the basics of any sport, it allows you to do things in a controlled context that would be socially unacceptable off the court. Like being sneaky, aggresive and brutal. That's the fun of it. I believe its better to express these things on a court, amongst players who know and accept the rules, but once one leaves the court, one returns to being an unagressive friendly and amicable person.
I bet you would feel differently if you were always winning the rallies after these serves. I know it can be frustrating to receive these serves, because you have been taught that they are "bad" and therefore feel you "ought" to be beating them. If they are successful, it means you have a specific weakness in your receiving skills (or otherwise, your opponents are just breaking the service laws). Opponents who use these strange serves are actually doing you a favour: they are helping you to fill in this gap in your skills. It's also often a kind of compliment: they may be trying these strange serves because you are too good at attacking "standard" serves.
You should post a video because the way I'm imagining it, it would be a very ineffective way to serve. But then again, maybe I'm imagining it wrong.
I've not been taught that they are bad; my reasons are stated in my post and have nothing to do with any teaching... pure logic. Mind, I'm not telling anyone what to do, or berating the OP, just laying down my opinion, to represent a minority in this thread. I play one guy with a weird (doubles) serve regularly, and it's not giving him any edge to speak of, unless he happens to play against someone who is much weaker anyway. I also notice that he does not do these serves if he plays against someone who is noticeable better - he obviously knows that the only value in his serve is if he meets someone that cannot adapt quick enough. Not very sportsmanlike if you ask me. If I play against someone who is (very much) weaker than me, I do not slap them around and drive them into the ground - he does, with his serve, making it impossible or frustrating for them even taking part in the game.
that's not true, many people (including pros) use deception to win a game... you change the rhythm of the game by serving slightly earlier or slower to win a few points before your opponent can adapt fast enough...
Uhm, why wouldn't you, when playing someone very much weaker than you, slap them around and drive them into the ground? I've always been taught that if I don't play 100% I'm not showing my opponent respect. I must also admit that there is nothing worse than playing someone waaaay better than you and they are basicly toying with you, like letting you get a small lead, take it back and so forth the entire set. I learn much more if I get totally stomped as my mistakes get much better highlighted when I get punished immediatly!
I'm of course only talking about the serve, not about deception in general. And I am not talking about deceptive serves, but about those "very special" serves that are just completely different for difference's sake. Like the one described by the original poster; and the one described by me where you stand on the outer side line during a doubles serve, and play towards the receivers backhand. Both of which I would not call deceptive (as it's pretty obvious that no standard serve is coming!). Did you ever see a pro serve by going to his knees and serving in the upwards movement? Or serving from the side line in a doubles game? Frankly, I see I'm not able to express what I mean in this topic (english not being my first language)... last post for me regarding this.
You're doing fine; your written English is better than that of many native speakers ;-) You'll find in any internet forum that there are some people who don't agree with you, and some people who don't even read past the first paragraph of anything you post. It's not your fault. Please don't let it put you off posting here!
It's seems that I have nothing left to say because everything has been pretty much covered. I guess every player has their own style. Lars Paaske tilts left and right first before releasing the shuttle. Gao Ling holds here racket vertical to the ground and could produce a very deceiving flick serve. Jwala Gutta still uses the forehand serve in mixed doubles and yet produce a very tight serve. Anna Rice has this weird pause before releasing the shuttle. To each his own, as long as it's legal and it works.
If it works on lower skilled players, then why not continue to use it . From what is described, the Service is legal. It looks like the receiver is paying too much attention on your unusual movements/actions. Perhaps, the receiver is of lower skill. Higher skilled and experienced players focus completely on the shuttlecock; never on the server's action and/or posture. However, if it works on lower skilled players, then why not continue to use it. But for experienced players, this 'squash derived service' should not cause them any problem. .
Just a quick comment on what chris-cc said: Higher level players are in fact more focused on the servers posture as it can give a sign about how they are going to serve. At the same time, a good server will take note of which grip the reciever is using so it is possible for him to place the shuttle at the best possible place. A good reciever will therefor, when seeing that the server is standing odd, be prepared for something weird and is thus better suited to react to it.
Experienced players do not pay attention to their servers' antics . It's the opposite, Trmun. Higher level players understand how servers do certain action/posture to try to deceive them. Therefore, experienced players don't pay much attention to their servers' antics. They focus completely on just the shuttlecock. .
how di u define 'very special'? alot of pros extend their ankles when they do a backhand high serve so their point of contact with the shuttle is higher, is that considered special? one can easily extend their ankles and do a short serve... the difference is this guy is starting from a lower position then the pros... without a video you can't tell how low he actually is... therefore you can't say if it's 'very special' or not...
really, i've been watching some coaching videos and found that they teach you the same stance/posture/grip for a backhand serve(some do teach straightening of the ankles if your doing a high serve).... done well your initial serve stance/posture/grip will not give anything out, while hitting i think it's a bit too fast to tell maybe the pros can i don't know... and the final stance i'd rather watch where the shuttle's going, although that's probably the most obvious place on where the shuttle's going... it really depends on if they watch the shuttle or final stance...
Deception is from the server. Anticipation is by the receiver. . Don't understand your quote, Monster. Deception is from the server. Anticipation is by the receiver. For the server to deceive the receiver, he/she would use different actions/postures to serve, hence not giving any hints to the receiver what to expect. On the other side of the net, the receiver would say to him/herself, "You can't fool me, I will not pay attention to your antics. I will focus just on the shuttlecock." .
