Hitting the shuttle with finesse and a light touch so that it only just clears the net and falls into the front quarter of the court will force your opponent to lunge in close to the net and hit the shuttle up defensively. This provides the perfect opportunity to attack with a smash. There's two types of shot that aim close to the net. Net shots, which are played up close by the net with a big lunge and racket up as high as possible to meet the shuttle next to the net, and then also drop shots, which are played from overhead or underarm from further back in the court, where you reduce the backswing and angle the shuttle over the net.