Question: Where are singles strokes in badminton normally directed?
About the article "Badminton", section "Singles".

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The singles court is narrower than the doubles court, but the same length.
Since one person needs to cover the entire court, singles tactics are based on forcing the opponent to move as much as possible; this means that singles strokes are normally directed to the corners of the court.
Players exploit the length of the court by combining lifts and clears with drop shots and net shots.
Smashing tends to be less prominent in singles than in doubles because the smasher has no partner to follow up his effort and is thus vulnerable to a skillfully placed return.
Moreover, frequent smashing can be exhausting in singles where the conservation of a player's energy is at a premium.
However, players with strong smashes will sometimes use the shot to create openings, and players commonly smash weak returns to try to end rallies.
In singles, players will often start the rally with a forehand high serve or with a flick serve.
Low serves are also used frequently, either forehand or backhand.
Drive serves are rare.
At high levels of play, singles demands extraordinary fitness.
Singles is a game of patient positional manoeuvring, unlike the all-out aggression of doubles.
When defending against a smash, players have three basic options: lift, block, or drive.
In singles, a block to the net is the most common reply.
In doubles, a lift is the safest option but it usually allows the opponents to continue smashing; blocks and drives are counter-attacking strokes, but may be intercepted by the smasher's partner.
Many players use a backhand hitting action for returning smashes on both the forehand and backhand sides, because backhands are more effective than forehands at covering smashes directed to the body.
Hard shots directed towards the body are difficult to defend.
The service is restricted by the Laws and presents its own array of stroke choices.
Unlike in tennis, the server's racket must be pointing in a downward direction to deliver the serve so normally the shuttle must be hit upwards to pass over the net.
The server can choose a "low serve" into the forecourt (like a push), or a lift to the back of the service court, or a flat "drive serve".
Lifted serves may be either "high serves", where the shuttlecock is lifted so high that it falls almost vertically at the back of the court, or "flick serves", where the shuttlecock is lifted to a lesser height but falls sooner. 
Badminton and tennis techniques differ substantially.
The lightness of the shuttlecock and of badminton rackets allow badminton players to make use of the wrist and fingers much more than tennis players; in tennis the wrist is normally held stable, and playing with a mobile wrist may lead to injury.
For the same reasons, badminton players can generate power from a short racket swing: for some strokes such as net kills, an elite player's swing may be less than .
For strokes that require more power, a longer swing will typically be used, but the badminton racket swing will rarely be as long as a typical tennis swing.
It is often asserted that power in badminton strokes comes mainly from the wrist.
This is a misconception and may be criticised for two reasons.
First, it is strictly speaking a category error: the wrist is a joint, not a muscle; the forearm muscles control its movement.
Second, wrist movements are weak when compared to forearm or upper arm movements.
Badminton biomechanics have not been the subject of extensive scientific study, but some studies confirm the minor role of the wrist in power generation, and indicate that the major contributions to power come from internal and external rotations of the upper and lower arm.
Modern coaching resources such as the "Badminton England Technique DVD" reflect these ideas by emphasising forearm rotation rather than wrist movements. 
These are the results of the men's singles competition in badminton at the 2011 Southeast Asian Games in Jakarta. 
These are the results of the women's singles competition in badminton at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.