# How shots are classified

> Every value GGAB records on a shot, what it means and where the lines between them sit, with examples from official match videos you can jump straight to.

Source: https://www.getgoodatbadminton.com/docs/shot-classification
Updated: 2026-10-24
Answers: What shot types does GGAB track? / What's the difference between a smash and a half smash in GGAB? / How does GGAB tell a block from a net shot? / What does contact height mean? / Can I see examples of each shot type?

These are the only values a shot can have. A shot that doesn't fit cleanly still gets one of them, so the rules for the awkward cases matter as much as the definitions. For how a match is tracked and checked, see [How GGAB tracks a match](https://www.getgoodatbadminton.com/docs/data-methodology).

## See every shot type

Pick a discipline, then press a timestamp to watch that shot in the official match video. Each type shows two examples from the match; **Two others** picks again.

*Examples of every shot type, from official match videos: open this page on the web.*

## Shot families

The shot itself. Every shot is exactly one of these ten.

| Family | Definition |
| --- | --- |
| Serve | The shot that starts the rally |
| Clear | Hit from the rear court, high and deep to the opponent's rear court |
| Drop | Slower shot landing near or in front of the service line |
| Drive | Flat and fast, roughly parallel to the floor, usually mid court |
| Smash | Steep downward attack with full body commitment |
| Kill | Downward put-away from the front court, off a loose shuttle above tape height |
| Net | Played in the front court, back over the net into the opponent's front court |
| Lift | Played from the front court, upward to the opponent's rear court |
| Block | Defensive reply to a smash, drive, kill, brush or drop, dropping it into the front court |
| Brush | Fast sideways swipe across the shuttle in the front court, mostly doubles |

Where each family is generally played from and to, seen from above:

## The lines between families

The calls that come up constantly:

- **Smash, half smash, or drop.** A smash has **full body commitment**: rotation, jump, everything behind it. A **half smash** is generally just an **arm flick**, still steep and still attacking. A **drop** is slower again and lands near or in front of the service line. Read the body, not just the shuttle.
- **Smash or drive.** Mostly **the angle**: a drive is much flatter, travelling close to parallel with the floor. But a flat shot can still be a smash when the player **jumps or commits their whole body** into it. Steep, or flat with a full-body hit: smash. Flat and pushed: drive.
- **Kill or smash.** A kill is struck from the **front court** off a loose shuttle sitting above tape height. Anything downward from mid or rear court is a smash.
- **Block or net.** A block is a defensive reply to an **attack**: a smash, drive, kill or brush. A net shot is played off anything else. Off a **drop** it can be either: a fast drop, like the slices, usually comes back as a block. Both land short, so a high reply to a smash is never a block.
- **Brush or net.** Speed decides it. A brush is a **much faster** shot: a quick swipe across the shuttle that sends it down and away. A net shot is soft and slow, played to stay close to the net.
- **Lift or clear.** Position decides it, not trajectory. A **lift** comes from the front court. A **clear** comes from the back court.

## What can follow what

A shot is decided partly by the one before it. Some families can't be played off others, so when a family doesn't fit the shot before it, one of the two is wrong. The common case: a clear, smash or drop can't be played off a drive, so a shot that drew one of those was really a **flat push** (a lift).

| Shot before | The reply can be | The reply can't be |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Short serve | Drive, kill, net, lift, brush | Clear, smash, drop, block |
| Long serve (flick included) | Clear, drop, drive, smash | Lift, net, block, kill, brush |
| Drive serve | Drive, kill, lift, block, brush | Clear, smash, drop, net |
| Clear | Clear, drop, drive, smash | Lift, net, block, kill, brush |
| Lift (flat push included) | Clear, drop, drive, smash | Lift, net, block, kill, brush |
| Drop | Drive, kill, net, lift, block, brush | Clear, smash, drop |
| Drive | Drive, kill, lift, block, brush | Clear, smash, drop, net |
| Smash (half smash included) | Drive, lift, block | Clear, smash, drop, kill, net, brush |
| Kill | Drive, kill, net, lift, block, brush | Clear, smash, drop |
| Brush | Drive, kill, net, lift, block, brush | Clear, smash, drop |
| Net | Drive, kill, net, lift, brush | Clear, smash, drop, block |
| Block | Drive, kill, net, lift, brush | Clear, smash, drop, block |

Where a shot was hit from isn't recorded separately; the family carries it. A high, deep reply to a smash is a **lift** even from mid court, because a clear can't be played off a smash.

## Variants

A refinement on some families. Every **serve** has one. On other families it's optional, and left blank when it isn't clear.

| Family | Variant | What it is |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Serve | Short serve | Low over the net, landing near the front service line |
| Serve | Long serve | High and deep to the back of the service court. A flick serve is long |
| Serve | Drive serve | Flat and fast, aimed past the receiver rather than over them |
| Drop | Reverse slice | A drop cut across the shuttle in the reverse direction, so it breaks the opposite way to a cut |
| Drop | Cut slice | A drop sliced across the shuttle, faster and steeper than a plain drop |
| Smash | Half smash | Still steep and attacking, but generally just an arm flick rather than the whole body |
| Net | Spin net | A net shot struck to make the shuttle tumble over the tape |
| Lift | Flat push | A lift pushed flat and fast to the back, rather than lofted. A clear, smash or drop can be played off it, never off a drive |
| Lift | High lift | A lift lofted high to the back of the court |

## Striking side

The side of the body the shot was played from: **forehand**, **backhand** or **around the head**. Around the head is an overhead on the backhand side with the forehand face, so it's neither of the other two.

## Direction

Where the shuttle went, read from the striker's own position, not from the camera.

- **Straight:** stays in the tramline it was hit from.
- **Middle:** down the centre of the court.
- **Cross:** crosses to the far side.

**Hit from the middle of the court:** back down the middle is middle. Anything else, the centre line decides. A shuttle landing on the same side of the centre line as the striker is straight; on the other side, cross.

## Contact height

Recorded on net-area shots only: **net**, **lift**, **drive** and **block**. It's how high the shuttle was met, the difference between taking it early and letting it drop.

| Value | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| Above tape | Met above the top of the net |
| Above net midline | Met in the top half of the net |
| Below net midline | Met in the bottom half of the net |
| Below net | Met below the bottom of the net, low to the floor |

## Serve placement

Where a serve went across the receiver's half court, in three strips running out from the centre line: **middle** (nearest the centre line), **body** (at the receiver) and **wide** (toward the sideline).

## Deception

Marked when the racket starts one shot and changes into another, a double action. It's marked whether or not it beat the opponent, and not just because someone got caught out by an ordinary shot: the deception is in the swing, not the result.

## How a rally ends

Every shot is **in play** except the last one in the rally, which is a **winner**, a **forced error** or an **unforced error**. Which one isn't judged by eye: it follows from who serves next and from the shot before the error. The rules are in [How GGAB tracks a match](https://www.getgoodatbadminton.com/docs/data-methodology#whats-worked-out-by-rule).

## Related guides

- [How GGAB tracks a match](https://www.getgoodatbadminton.com/docs/data-methodology)
- [Glossary](https://www.getgoodatbadminton.com/docs/glossary)
- [Pro Comparisons](https://www.getgoodatbadminton.com/docs/pro-comparisons)