What is the best serve in doubles badminton?

The low backhand serve is the default doubles serve at every level above absolute beginner — it grazes the top of the net and lands on the front service line, denying the receiver an attack. The flick serve is used as a surprise variation to punish receivers who creep forward to attack the low serve.

When should I flick serve in doubles?

Flick when the receiver has crept forward, when they are pressuring your low serve heavily, when they have a weak overhead, or when you need to break a pattern. Use it sparingly — roughly one in five or one in ten serves. Overused, it stops being a surprise and becomes a free attack.

How do I stop my low serve from being attacked?

Three things fix most attacked serves: tighten the contact point (closer to the net and lower over the tape), keep the same backswing for low and flick (so the receiver cannot read it), and mix in a flick now and then to keep them honest. If they are still attacking, you are probably serving too high or too predictably.

Forehand or backhand serve in doubles?

Backhand for almost everyone. The backhand grip lets you keep the shuttle close to the front service line with a tiny, controlled motion, and disguises the flick variation well. Forehand serves are common in singles and at lower club levels but at any serious doubles standard the backhand dominates.

Where should the shuttle land on a perfect low serve?

On or within a few centimetres of the receiver's front service line, with the shuttle just clearing the net tape. The target is the T-junction between the centre line and the front service line for most serves — straight-line, hardest to attack, and forces a high reply.

Low Serve vs Flick Serve in Doubles: When to Use Each (and How to Hide Both)

The serve is the most-undertrained shot in club doubles. Players spend hours fixing smashes and footwork, then walk on court and lose six points a game to a shuttle that landed too high and got smashed back. The fix is not technical wizardry — it is understanding the two serves you actually need, when to choose each one, and how to make them indistinguishable until the shuttle has left the racket.

This is the tactical breakdown of the low serve and the flick serve in doubles: when each wins, when each costs, and the small details that turn an attackable serve into one your opponents have to lift.

Quick answer

Default to the low serve — backhand, just over the net tape, landing on the receiver's front service line. Mix in the flick serve roughly 1 in 5 to 1 in 10 serves as a surprise to punish receivers who creep forward. The hidden detail: use the same backswing for both, so the receiver cannot react until the racket has already moved.

Why the Doubles Serve Is Strategic, Not Mechanical

In singles, the serve is a way to start a long rally — you can serve a high deep serve and still be in the point. In doubles, the rules and the receiver positioning make that disastrous: the small front service court (the doubles serve box is shallower than singles) and the receiver standing right on the front service line mean any serve that goes up becomes an immediate smash opportunity.

The whole game of the doubles serve is the same question: how do I deny the receiver an attack on the first shot? You have two real options.

The low serve

What it is: a tight serve that grazes the top of the net tape and lands on or just inside the receiver's front service line.

Why it works: the receiver cannot get under the shuttle. They cannot attack downward. Their best reply is a tight net shot or a lift — both of which give your team the initiative.

How often: 70-90% of your serves at club level.

The flick serve

What it is: a deceptive serve that starts looking like a low serve, then snaps with the wrist over the receiver's head into the back of the doubles service box.

Why it works: the receiver, drawn forward by your low-serve threat, is on their heels when the shuttle goes long. Even a good overhead from there is a defensive clear, and your team gets the next attack.

How often: 1 in 5 to 1 in 10 serves. Less is too predictable; more loses the surprise.

The Low Serve: Five Details That Matter More Than Technique

1. The contact point should be high on the racket and close to the front line

Move yourself up to the front service line and rest the shuttle on the racket head. The closer your contact point is to the net, the less air the shuttle has to travel above the tape, and the harder it is for the receiver to attack.

2. The shuttle target is the receiver's front service line — not anywhere else

A serve that lands a foot inside the front line is far less threatening than one that lands on or near it. The receiver who has to step forward to take the shuttle is in worse shape than the one who can attack from where they stand. Aim long-and-low, not safe-and-short.

3. The default target is the T-junction (centre line + front line)

Straight-line serves are harder to attack than wide serves because the receiver's racket face has less angle to work with. Down the middle, the receiver's choices narrow. Wide serves give them angles back into your court. Save the wide serve for variation.

4. The backswing must match your flick serve exactly

If your low-serve setup looks different from your flick-serve setup, the receiver reads it before you swing. The whole game is bluff: keep the grip, stance, and backswing identical for both. Only the contact-moment wrist action changes.

5. Practice the height, not the rhythm

The single biggest predictor of "my serve got attacked" is shuttle height over the net at contact. Set up a row of tape on the net to mark your maximum acceptable height (about 2-3 cm above the tape) and serve a hundred shuttles a session against it. This single drill fixes more serves than any technical book.

💡 The cheapest improvement: just slow down. Most club serves get attacked because the server rushed. The serve rules give you up to about five seconds — use the first three to settle your stance, grip and target, and the last second for the strike. A patient serve is a low serve.

The Flick Serve: When and How

The flick serve is a tax on receivers who get greedy. If they stand on the front service line ready to pounce on your low serve, the flick punishes them. If they stand back to cover the flick, they cannot pressure the low serve.

So when do you actually flick?

When the receiver is creeping forward. If you see them shift their weight before your strike, flick. Even a mediocre flick wins points against a forward-leaning receiver.
When they are attacking your low serve heavily. Three consecutive net kills off your low serve is your cue. Throw a flick to change the pattern. Sometimes one flick a game is enough to keep them honest for the rest of it.
When they have a weak overhead. If the receiver's clear is short or their smash is soft, the flick puts them in their worst-equipped position. Exploit it.
When you need to break a momentum run. Down three quick points, lost the previous rally on a smash-back? Flick. The pattern change shakes both you and them.
To the receiver's backhand corner. A flick to a right-hander's left-back corner forces a round-the-head shot — slower, weaker, less accurate. Aim there by default.

When you should not flick:

To a tall, deep-positioned receiver. They will smash it back through you.
When you have not warmed up the flick. Cold flicks land short. Get a few in before the match.
On set point against a player who eats overheads for breakfast. Stick with your strongest low serve.
Twice in a row to the same player. They know now. Mix.

Reading the Receiver: The Single Habit Most Servers Skip

Before every serve, look at the receiver for half a second. Where are their feet? Where is their weight? Where is their racket?

Receiver on the front line, weight forward, racket high: flick coming. They cannot recover backwards in time.
Receiver behind the front line, racket low, knees bent: low serve, target their forehand. They have set up to cover both serves; a wide low serve they cannot reach is their weakness.
Receiver standing tall, central: they have no plan. Low serve to the T. Easy point.
Receiver leaning visibly to one side: serve to the other side. They are guessing.

You do not have to be right every time. You just have to be right slightly more often than they are.

The Two Serves Side-by-Side

Aspect	Low serve	Flick serve
Target	Front service line, T-junction or wide	Back of doubles service box, backhand corner
Trajectory	Grazes net tape, drops sharply	Rises late, clears receiver, drops behind
Grip	Backhand (panhandle/thumb)	Backhand, identical to low
Action	Small push, controlled	Late wrist snap, same setup
Receiver problem	No attack angle, must lift	Caught flat-footed, weak overhead
When you lose it	Goes too high → smash	Goes too short → drive winner
Use frequency	70-90%	10-30%

Common Mistakes I See Every Week

The "safe" serve that is just high. A serve aimed safely below the front service line, but two feet above the tape, is the easiest point opponents get all match. Height is the only thing that matters.
Different backswings for low and flick. A bigger windup before the flick is a flashing neon sign. Keep them identical.
Always flicking when behind. If you only flick when desperate, opponents pattern-match. They will see your scoreboard glance and step back.
Serving to the same spot every time. Even a great low serve becomes attackable if it lands in the same place. Mix wide-T-wide-T.
Forehand low serves at club level. Hard to keep tight, easy to read. Switch to backhand if you have not already.
Following the serve with no plan. Where do you stand after the serve? Server-up, racket-up, ready to kill any block. If you serve and then watch, you have already lost the rally.

⚠️ The rules trap: the serve must hit the shuttle below 1.15 m, with the racket head pointing distinctly downward, with both feet on the floor. If your serve gets called a fault repeatedly, it is almost always one of those three rules — not unfairness from the umpire. For the full breakdown, see our badminton rules explained piece.

What to Practise This Week

100 low serves at a marked low-tape height. Five days a week. This single drill outperforms any other serve work.
20 flick serves with the identical low-serve setup. Same grip, same stance, same backswing.
Serve-and-react drill. Serve, then immediately move into your position-ready stance with the racket up. Your partner feeds a return; you intercept or push. Builds the link from serve to rally.
Receiver reading. When practising serves with a partner, ask them to vary their stance. Call out which serve you would choose before you serve. Most club players never train this.

What Actually Matters

The serve is the only shot in badminton you fully control. Nobody is moving it before you hit it. Nobody is forcing you to react. If you lose the rally on the second shot because your serve was attacked, that is on the serve, not on the next shot. Treat it like the strategic asset it is.

If your low serve is tight and your flick is unreadable, you start the rally with the initiative. That is half the work of winning a doubles point. The rest is positioning and execution — both of which our companion guide on doubles formations and rotation covers in detail.

For broader doubles context, see doubles communication and partnership and singles vs doubles strategy. For the receiving side of the same equation, our piece on how to read opponent shots is the natural follow-on.

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