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In a game of doubles badminton, there is a special skill that is easy to learn and extremely effective when used in battle. Some people call it “Front court interception” while others call it “Net swat,” but me myself feel that the term “Catching the Bird at the Net”, coined by my good friend and mentor Mr. Su, is the best phrase for describing this skill.
In a doubles game, you’ll usually try to push the opponents into their backcourt, or hit shots towards the holes in the opponent’s coverage in order to make it hard for the other side to make an effective return. When pressed, most amateur players usually won’t be able to make an effective high clear to get out of danger, so most of the time people will go for the drop shot. At that moment, if you manage to anticipate the return and move towards the net ahead of time, you’ll be at the right spot to make a kill with a front court smash or lightly tap the bird and roll it over the net. This skill will make it much easier for your side to get points (or get the service back, if you are playing the 15 points scoring system).
Actually, it’s probably more correct to call “Catching the Bird at the Net” a mind-set than a skill. There are many highly skilled players who lack this mind-set to try and intercept enemy returns in the front of the net, and they miss a lot of very good opportunities because of this. If you manage to train yourself to catch these low quality shots near the net, then your team’s competitive edge will be much sharper.