Badminton

Promotional 3D render found on Nintendo’s website

**Badminton** is one of the 7 sports currently in *Nintendo Switch Sports* and is one of the 3 newly introduced sports.

## Overview

The goal of Badminton is to score 5 points by hitting the shuttlecock onto the other team's court. There is one person per team, with no doubles matches.

In contrast to volleyball, there is no analogue stick control of the player, with the automatic player movement often walking too slowly or in odd directions. Players also flinch backwards when returning many hits, and can tumble and fall down immobilized on the court if they are deemed to be too far away from the shuttlecock when attempting a hit.

In online matches, there is a 10-second shot clock to serve. If the clock runs out, the player serves automatically.

## Moves

### Hit

Simply hit the ball into the other court, nothing special.

### Fast Hit

At a high point in the shuttlecock's arc, hit the ball to do a fast hit (marked by a yellow/orange trail)

### Weak Hit

If the ball is across the court and you have to dive to hit it, or something similar happens, the hit will be weak (marked by a wavy purple trail)

### Smash Hit

If you return a weak hit at the right time, straight downward, you will perform a smash, having an extremely small window to return, and an even smaller window to return perfectly (marked by a pink trail).

### Drop Shot

Hold ZR/ZL while hitting the ball to perform a drop shot, which is, as the name suggests, a much lower shot compared to normal hits, which is good to catch your opponent off-guard (marked by a dotted blue trail)

## Scoring

Landing the shuttlecock on the opponent's court earns you a point. Like volleyball, being tied at the last point needed to score causes a deuce, where you need to score 2 more points to win. At 6-6, the next point wins.

## Tips

* If you are stuck with many fast hits, try to use a drop shot and catch your opponent off-guard.
* Constantly using drop shots is unreliable, as your opponent may get used to it, and hitting a weak shot with a drop shot does nothing.
* The most reliable way to get your opponent out is to get them to one corner of their side of the court and then send a drop shot to the complete opposite (diagonal) corner.
* Although fairly rare, the shuttlecock can sometimes land off-bounds on a smash hit, leading to a lost point where players would've expected a won point.
* Avoid too rapid racket position changes, as the motion detection is very sensitive and will often register it as a hit attempt, often causing the player to tumble and become immobilized.
* The shuttlecock descends slower than in real life, so you can feel free to be patient while planning your next hit or for your Sportsmate to walk over to the shuttlecock.
* Low shuttlecocks have a lower chance to become weak if they are hit with a downwards diagonal scoop movement, instead of with above-center hit movements.

## Collection points

Applied in order from top to bottom:

* Play Bonus: 30 points
* Victory Bonus: 1.2x
* Long Rally Bonus: 1.1x
* Repeat Super Smashes: 1.1x
* Event Bonus: 1.5x, 2x, or 3x

## Gallery

Badminton gameplay, found in the trailerBadminton gameplay, found on Nintendo’s websiteMore Badminton gameplay, found on Nintendo’s websiteCloseup of the racket and birdie, found on Nintendo’s website