The slice and reversed slice is the most difficult shot to execute in badminton. It is dependent on not only the skills of the player and the power he puts into the swing, but also the condition of the shuttle and wind. It is this complexity which makes it hard to execute, but when it is done right, it almost guarantees a point. Let’s discuss.

1. Swing goes one way, the shuttle the other way

The player executes the slice by not hitting the shuttle with a direct hit, but a glancing hit. A slice is executed by hitting the shuttle with a glancing hit while swinging to the forehand side. A reversed slice is executed by hitting the shuttle with an over the head swing but with a glancing hit. The glancing hit will cause the shuttle to move in the opposite direction of the hit, and this gives the slice an element of deception.

When the play swing his racquet in one direction, usually the shuttle will be flying in the same direction of the the swing is moving towards. The fact that when the player swings one direction and the shuttle goes in the other direction can put the defender off.

The better players counter this by waiting until the attacker has hit the shot to move. They do not want to get fooled by the deception of the attacker only starts to move after the hit. This is prudent, but extremely tiring. The player would have move much quicker to cover the distance. Although the players are extremely fit, it still wears them down over the course of the game, and as the game drags on further, this fatigue can be a huge factor between victory or defeat.

2. Change in trajectory mid flight

The slice changes the spin of the shuttle, and in doing so, the trajectory of the shuttle changes. The feathers of the shuttle are orientated in 1 direction, so when a slice is executed, it will either cause the shuttle to spin faster, or slow down the spin of the shuttle. The increase of spin would cause the shuttle to land sooner and the trajectory would be sharper. By slowing the spin of the shuttle would cause the shuttle to fly straight like a smash, but when the shuttle starts spinning again, the drop of the shuttle would be more than a smash. These differences are highlighted in my entry on slice here:

The change in the trajectory of the shuttle from the slice also give it deception. Because some energy from the hit is used to rotate the shuttle, and the hit is a glancing one, the slice will always be less powerful than the power of the swing suggests. What this means is when a player hits a smash with a swing of similar power the shuttle will fly at a certain speed and has a very telltale trajectory. But when the same swing is used to hit a slice, only partial power is transferred to the shuttle, which means it will not be traveling as far, and it will be landing closer to the net. Add in the fact that is will loop faster given the spin on the shuttle caused by the slice, that adds even more deception into the shot.

Here are examples of what the slice and reversed slice shot looks like.

Notice how the trajectory of the sliced shot and the reversed slice shot changes as it flies to Momota’s side. The drop becomes more pronounced once the shuttle reaches the other side of the court. This is when the shuttle loses a lot of its energy and it start to slow down drastically.

In both cases, Momota had to put in power into the blocks. Momota failed to do so when he was going for Lee Chong Wei’s slice shot in the first video above. That resulted in the shuttle going into the net. For the second video, Momota saw that it was a reversed slice and he had to put some power into the block to make sure it goes over the net.

The slice loses power quickly and the is less energy left in the shuttle for the player to use when hitting the shot. This is the reason why the defender has to put some power back in. This is totally different from blocking a smash. The defender can use the power of the smash to get the shuttle over the net.

If the defender gets fooled by the slice shot and thinks its a smash, then he would not add the power needed to get the shot over the net. This is where the deception of the sliced shot is. The sudden change in trajectory requires players to react quickly and adjust his block to defend against it.

Even with just these 2 factors, that makes the slice a difficult shot to defend against. but the slice is not just all bad news for the defender. It is an extremely difficult shot to hit as it requires great skill to be able to angle the racquet with just the right angle to get the shuttle to move in the direction the attacker wants it to go. Get it wrong, and then it either goes out, or it allows the defender to counter attack. The shuttle’s condition also plays a huge part. Every time the shuttle gets a hit, its condition deteriorates. After a long rally, the shuttle would have deteriorated to the point where the slice does not work anymore and it does not slow down as much after the slice is hit. That would make the slice fly more like a smash, and it eliminates one of the most important aspects of the slice: the change in trajectory. That defeats the purpose of doing a slice in the first place.

In conclusion, the slice is an important weapon in the player’s arsenal, but it needs to be used with care as its risks are as great as its rewards.

That’s it for this entry.

Until the next entry, eat well, get plenty of rest and keep the badminton going!