The delicate art of deception: A badminton trick shot and its unlikely inspiration

Gade, who retired in 2012 and was in New Delhi recently as part of the Yonex Legends Tour, told The Indian Express that he learnt the art of deception from the creative genius of his fellow Dane, the football icon Michael Laudrup.

“I used to look up to football for inspiration. That was part of my creative process. We had some great footballers in Denmark at that point of time and one of them was Michael Laudrup. I was constantly looking at creative players like him for inspiration of body feints and footwork that can confuse the opponents,” Gade said.

What is the trick shot?

“When you are making the fake shot, use your backhand and wait,” Gade told The Indian Express. “When it’s time to deliver the final stroke, change your grip to forehand and flick it with speed and there goes your trick shot on the wrong side of the opponent,” Gade instructed eager learners at the Siri Fort Badminton Complex in Delhi.

Illustrations – Komal

This is what happens: Gade stands poised at the net with the racquet pointed in a backhand, parallel to the floor. The natural trajectory of popping the shuttle would be straight. But Gade subtly lifts his elbow higher with a loose, flexible grip, and flicks with the exact same stance, but with the other face of the racquet.

Illustrations – Komal

This transforms into a forehand shot that sends the shuttle gliding across the court at an angle. It appears that Gade has “switched the grip”. Except, there is no change of grip at all.

The parallels with football

Laudrup was a skilled playmaker known for his exceptional skills on the ball. He was part of manager Johann Cruyff’s dream team at Barcelona and also played for Real Madrid and Juventus.

This was one of his signature moves: He would dribble to the left and then suddenly twist to the right. The body and head would shift towards the right, pulling the defender in that direction. And then the Dane would swiftly shuffle to his left.

A large part of the deception lay in using the body to confuse the opponents. This is what Gade picked up on.

“Using the body is part of the deception. We need our body to make a few movements but the mind should always know what is the final outcome,” Gade said in a 2020 YouTube video.

The 48-year-old who finished with four bronzes and a silver at World Championships, mastered the art of deception so perfectly that he stopped giving away anything from his body movement. At the peak of his career, his smashes and drops had nearly the same jump, same shoulder rotation. The magic lay in the movement of the wrists and how he would change the direction of shot.

“I wanted to be offensive but also add some finesse to my game. That led to me finding inspiration in football…” said Gade.

Keeping up with the competition

Seeking inspiration always from the footballers of the Danish team that won the Euro in 1992, was not merely a creative outlet, but a necessity to keep up with competition.

Gade played in an era when the game was becoming more aggressive. While Chinese champions Xia Xuanze, Chen Hong, and Chen Yu were smashing the shuttle like drummers, Gade along with Taufik Hidayat and Hendrawan wielded the racquet with the subtle delicacy of violinists.

“It is fair to say that I was inspired by some of my opponents like Hendrawan and Taufik Hidayat. They were really good at deception and I used to think that I want to do this,” Gade said.

His disguises included precise wrist control and elite footwork that would leave his opponents guessing about where he might play the shot, especially the ‘double action’ where he would change the direction of the shot at the very last moment.

The courage to wait

One of the most crucial parts of his gameplay was the pause.

In the YouTube video during the pandemic, Gade says, “The idea for me is to wait as long as I can. That’s the whole idea about deception, you gonna need to be very close to the shuttle before you can decide what to do. A lot of players don’t have the courage to wait, they panic a little bit and go for the safer options.”

Both Laudrup and Gade could humble opponents. The story goes that Laudrup was once discussing retirement from football over dinner with a friend. The conversation was overheard by Spain’s king, Juan Carlos I, who stopped by the table and quipped: “That’s good news. I’ll be the only King in Madrid again!”

When Gade, dubbed Peter the Great, stopped playing, quite a few shuttle kings sighed in relief, knowing they wouldn’t be made fools of again.