Badminton doubles has an extremely different style of play compared to badminton singles. Two partners work together as a team to retrieve the shuttle and win points. In professional badminton, you’ll realise that a singles player will not be a doubles player at the same time because it’s difficult to specialise in both disciplines.
The table below highlights the main differences:
| Singles | Doubles | |
| Good Court Coverage | Effective footwork is key | Formation is important |
| Training | Focus their training on footwork and accurate smashes towards the singles sidelines. | Train more on returning badminton services (I’ll explain why later), powerful smashes and block defences. |
When playing doubles, it is very important that you DO NOT produce a high lift or clear unless you really have to. When you lift or clear the shuttle, you’re simply inviting your opponent to attack you. The basic strategy to win rallies in doubles is to fire channelling attacks to your opponents and then keep the pressure on until you win the rally. The objective is to force a weak return from your opponent with your consecutive attacks. In order to commence your attack, you’ll first have to force your opponent to produce a high lift. This allows you or your partner to smash. This is the main reason why doubles isoften a very fast paced game.
