4 Advanced Badminton Tips For Playing Doubles Better

For the entire life of this website, pretty much everything I wrote focused on singles gameplay, as I spent most of my time playing singles. Over the past year, however, I started playing doubles more often due to the number of people playing on the weekends and the limited court availability.

At first, I was horrible at doubles. Though my brother and I could compete nationally as singles players, we looked like beginners when playing doubles. But as we practiced more and took advice from players better than us, we began to play better and were quickly able to get our skills up.

In this article, I’ll share the four advanced badminton tips for playing doubles better that helped us improve the most.

Table of Contents

Adjust How High You Hold Your Racket Grip As Needed

One of the lessons I learned from watching the 2023 Yonex Canada Open that I forgot to share in my last article was adjusting how high you hold your racket grip depending on the situation.

When I watched doubles players play, I noticed that all of them held their rackets high up on the grip until they got a high lift in which they would move their grip down, as opposed to singles players, who always held the racket grip at the bottom.

I tried implementing the same thing in doubles, and my gameplay drastically improved.

My biggest weakness in doubles has always been playing the frontcourt. I would often hit bad serves and get punished if I were serving. I would also be too slow to intercept drives and found myself lifting most net shots instead of contesting them.

Holding my racket higher made it much easier to control my serves. I could play tight serves that didn’t get killed instantly, and my flicks stopped going out as often.

Bringing my racket up and reacting to fast drives was also easier. This allowed me to put more pressure on my opponents and gave me way more net-kill opportunities.

Then as my partner and I rotate, and I move into the back, I would bring my grip down as well so I would still have the power I usually get and need when I play smashes and drives from the backcourt.

Be Proactive About Making Plays

Recently, I became a coach to help younger players improve. Most of these players are singles players, and it shows when they play doubles.

In singles, we’re used to covering the entire court, which means we generally maintain a central position on the court and wait for the opponent to hit the shuttle. If you do this in doubles all the time, however, you’ll find it extremely difficult to win as you continue to play at higher levels.

Doubles players generally only wait for their opponents to hit the shuttle when they play a bad shot and are on defense. If you play a good shot and then wait, you’ll be late to the next shot and end up in defense.

Here’s an example. Let’s say your opponent hits a smash at you, and you play an excellent block to the front. There are only two things your opponent can do: net or lift. If you wait in the middle and your opponent plays a net shot, you’ll be late to the shuttle and forced to lift.

Instead, what you want to do is move preemptively. After you play your block (provided the block is good), immediately start moving to the front so you can attack the net shot by brushing, for example. And if you have a good partner, they will immediately begin moving into the back when they see you move to the front so they can attack the lift.

This is how you win points in doubles. The only way to win on defense is if you’re way more consistent than your opponents. Otherwise, the idea is always to try to get in a front-and-back position that will allow you to attack. Actively thinking about how you will do that and implementing the strategies will tremendously help your doubles game.

Cover The Cross

In doubles, a cross-shot is often used to catch your opponent out of position and provide opportunities for easy points. If your opponent is ready for the shot, however, cross shots are also prime opportunities for your opponent to score points or put pressure on you.

Here’s an example. My opponent is smashing down, and I’m on defense. Sometimes, there are good opportunities to drive the shuttle cross-court. If the opposing front player is not in position, the opposing back player often has to run to the shot and play a high lift to keep the rally going.

However, if the opposing front player was ready for the cross, my cross-court drive would be a prime opportunity for him to jump out and smash or play a quick drive to break our rhythm.

As a front player, learn to anticipate the cross. The better you are at cutting off shots, the easier playing doubles becomes.

Focus On Speed To Generate Better Shots

One thing I’ve realized about playing doubles is how important speed is. Often, you would rather contact the shuttle earlier than wait to play a good shot. You might be able to play a better spinning net shot if you slow down, but the net shot will probably get brushed or killed regardless of how good it is.

Instead, if you want to play to the front court, jumping at the shuttle and playing a soft push around the service line is better. The faster you hit it after your opponents hit their initial shot, the less likely your opponent will be able to play a good return.

Your goal should be to play faster than your opponents. Whoever can get to the shuttle first will often be the ones taking the initiative.