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To play an angled net shot from the middle, simply guide the shuttle gently towards a net corner, with a soft pushing action. Angled net shots are normally played with a basic grip or a bevel grip.

The idea is to place the shuttle just beyond the attacking reach of your opponent, who is covering the straight net shot.

Deception is less effective

Using deception for angled net shots is much less effective than for cross-court net shots. This is mainly because it’s easier for your opponent to cover the full width of the net.

You need a delicate touch to control the shot and avoid hitting it out the side of the court. The grip tightening during the shot should be very subtle, with the racket still held quite gently in the fingers even as you finish the shot.

When you are playing the shuttle from a net corner, the threat of a straight net shot creates space in your opponent’s court: he is forced to move away from the middle, so that he can cover your straight net shot. This creates space on the opposite side of the court, and you can then place the shuttle cross-court into this open space. The open space is what makes deception effective.

From the middle of the net, however, the threat of a straight net shot does not create space at the sides, because your opponent covers the shot by positioning himself in the middle. From this position, it’s only a short distance to reach either net corner. Consequently, deception is less effective.

How to use deception

Despite what I just said, it’s still possible to play angled net shots with deception. These shots can really surprise your opponent, and can be outright winners if played at the right time. They also make excellent service returns in men’s singles.

To make an angled net shot deceptive, you need to fake a shot to one net corner, before playing the real shot to the opposite corner. Faking a straight net shot (to the middle) is usually not good enough, because the distance is too small from the middle to either corner.

Natural and unnatural corners

These instructions are for right-handers. Left-handers need to reverse them.

For backhands, the natural shot direction is left-to-right. For forehands, the natural direction is right-to-left. If you are approaching the net shot with a backhand preparation, then your opponent will be ready for either a straight net shot or an angled net shot directed to his left (your right).

So for a backhand, your right corner is the natural corner to place an angled net shot. Your left corner is the unnatural corner: it’s much more difficult to place the shuttle into this corner. For a forehand, these corners are reversed: left is natural, right is unnatural.

To successfully deceive your opponent, therefore, you need to achieve two things:

• Fake an angled net shot to the natural corner
• Play your real net shot to the unnatural corner

This process involves double-motion: you approach the shuttle with the racket facing in one direction, before withdrawing the racket, changing the angle, and starting a new stroke in the opposite direction.

Getting the fake right

For your fake to be convincing, your racket must approach the shuttle from the side opposite your natural corner. I know that sounds like gibberish, but it’s easy to understand once you take an example:

Forget about deception for a moment. Let’s say you are playing a backhand net shot towards your right net corner. Think about where the racket comes from. You move your racket left-to-right, and the racket contacts the left side of the shuttle.

A fake must look the same as the real thing. So if you wanted to fake this shot, you would still have to approach the shuttle with a left-to-right action, suggesting that you are going to contact the shuttle on its left side (as you see it).

Avoid over-exaggerating the fake

Don’t exaggerate your fake, as this will make it much harder to change direction and play the real shot. For example, if you approach the shuttle with a large left-to-right swing, and the racket facing completely sideways, then it will be extremely difficult to change direction and hit right-to-left.

Instead, approach with only a slight–moderate tilt of the racket head and a small movement in the fake direction. This is realistic, and makes your shot easier and quicker to play.

Changing the angle

After your intial fake action, you need to change the angle of your shot. It’s important to time this right: if you leave it too late, then you won’t have time to make the change; but if you start too early, your shot will be less deceptive.

To change the angle, you need to get your racket on the other side of the shuttle before you hit it. You’re going to hit with the same side of the racket as you suggested during the fake. The hitting action will be in an unnatural direction — for example, after faking a natural backhand towards your right, you will hit a backhand towards your left instead — which is an unnatural direction.

To do this, turn your forearm so that the racket face tilts in the intended direction. For backhands, turn your forearm inwards (pronating); for forehands, turn it outwards (supination). This turning of the forearm will also change the position of the racket head, so that you create some more space between your racket and the shuttle. This gives you enough room to play your shot.

You can also try using your fingers and wrist to help control the change of angle.

Your hitting action will need to be very short and controlled.

Reversing the deception

You can also reverse this deception, by faking towards the unnatural corner, before playing your real shot to the natural corner.

This can be a good way to confound an opponent who has adapted to your original deception.