Squash kill shot (Darbois Texier)

In squash, it exists a perfect killing shot which is almost impossible to catch. It occurs when the ball hit an edge of the court. In this situation the ball exits at very low speed and rolls along the wall or the floor. With Caroline Cohen and Philippe Brunet, we reproduced and studied this effect in our laboratory. A plexiglas corner, a slingshot, a hot squash ball and a high speed camera were used to carry on these experiments. We have done many tries before succeeding to observe the perfect killing shot ! (…)

https://baptistedarboistexier.wordpress.com/2015/01/12/the-perfect-squash-kill-shot/

Comment réaliser le coup parfait au squash

Une expérience scientifique décrit le comportement étrange des balles qui tapent dans les coins, secret du coup qui tue au squach.

Le MondeLaurence Girard

Les Éditions de l’École Polytechnique :: Sports Physics

L’École polytechnique a décidé de mettre à la disposition d’un large public une partie des ouvrages qu’elle édite pour son usage interne. Elles proposent ainsi une sélection de cours, d’actes de séminaires, d’ouvrages divers, de CD Rom, de vidéocassettes. Ce catalogue, qui s’enrichira au fil des moi…

Update August 2025

There also exists a kill shot in badminton, where some spin can be created with the fingers just before serving. It makes the trajectory of the shuttlecock pretty chaotic.

https://pubs.aip.org/aip/pof/article-abstract/37/8/087179/3359548/Shuttlecock-trajectory-during-spin-serves?redirectedFrom=fulltext

It has been considered an unfair practice in tournaments. The technique is now banned in the official rules!

https://corporate.bwfbadminton.com/news-single/2025/05/02/updates-to-bwf-laws-and-regulations-2