Hi, and welcome!

If possible, try and forget what you think others are thinking about you. You could, after all, be very wrong, try to concentrate on what you are doing.

Depending on what you have available to you at home (materials, space, etc), you could do a number of things to practise serving off court.

You could make some kind of stand, which could either have a bar on top (around 1.5 metres high) or, once you get better, make a sheet with a line cut out at 1.5 metres, with the line just wide enough to fit the shuttle through (top and bottom of shuttle). Difficult to explain, but something like what footballers do by putting a car tyre in the goal and practising hitting the ball through the tyre.

The other thing you can do, is close your curtains at home and mark (somehow) 1.5 metres high) and practise hitting shuttles into the curtain.

You need to be standing at least 1.9 metres or more, away from the curtain or serving stand.

I have made a couple of serving standings as described above, but hitting into the curtain is the easiest thing to do in terms of set up. I found that if I practised a few minutes a day, it was really noticeable when I was practising a week later, on how much better my serves had become. And just to add, a lot of people at my club have commented on how good my short serves are. Practise makes perfect I guess! 

Hope this helps you in some way, or gives you ideas on what you can do.

Hi Madhuris

Great that you are playing this fantastic game of ours.

A couple of points to remember. Make sure that your grip is correct for the shot and, most important, RELAXED. Only tighten your grip on impact for power shots.

As Paul and Pete have rightly said, PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE. It's a lot easier to identify and rectify mistakes in a practice session than in a game.

I presume you are using a backhand serve if so you need a shortened thumb grip with your thumb well up the racket handle by the shaft. This will give you greater control of the racket head. Also make sure that your stance is relaxed and try not to rush. Remember that the serve starts on the first forward movement of the racket So give yourself time to get set.   

Starting anything new can be daunting and badminton is no different.

Watching videos and looking for advise on the net is ok as far as it goes but is no substitute for hands on instruction.

It's important to find a club or environment that suits your needs and has experienced players who are sympathetic to your situation and are willing to help. Alternatively you could look for beginners courses.

There is nothing more confidence sapping than feeling that you are letting other players down, and we've all been there. If you feel that where you're playing does not fit the above criteria then find a place that does,you wont regret it.

To my mind Paul runs a fantastic badminton resource and a delve into the archives is strongly recommended.

Good luck with your game and remember that on this forum, unlike some others, contributors are out to help each other.

Roger