Court awareness is a vital part of the game and knowing where you are on the court in relation to the shuttle can really effect the outcome of game/point. I would trust your instinct initially and let the shuttle land regardless, at least for the first couple of times, this will give you guide for the rest of the game and the ‘feel’ element that you described is then backed up with an actual result, right or wrong..If the shuttle lands out, bonus!! you’re a winner! if it’s in by a mile, you only lost 1 point at a non critical point of the game and you’ll at least know that you were wrong rather than just hitting everything in fear of losing the point.

Dobbie98 suggestion is also really important, make sure that when you’re warming up that you increase your ‘feel’ factor by leaving a couple of shuttles that you think are close to the back line and if’s there’s a notable mark on the ceiling where you’ve left the shuttle, you can then use this as a guide ‘in game’.

There are many things that contribute to feel in this situation, the sound of the shuttle off the string bed, the look of the speed of the shuttle immediately after it’s hit, the angle of the shuttle in relation to your own position on the court, temperature of the hall etc… Test the shuttles before use in a game also, if they’re fast then it might be worth leaving more shuttle then you would usually.

The shot you play if think its in really depends on how long you’ve left the shuttle to drop. The problem with playing a shot once you’ve been a little indecisive about whether it’s in or out is that the shuttle slows down and a lot of the time you might be playing the shot at either head height or below. Unless you’ve got some fairly lose strings in your racket and a big arm, whipping this shot to the back of the court could prove pretty hard and you could end up playing the dreaded half court clear. In this situation, I would personally try and play a delicate drop to the net and hope to catch my opponent out with clever placement. If you’re playing the shot early enough you can do whatever you want with the shuttle! A full length high clear or any attacking shot will work though.