
In Physics of Fluids, researchers use computational fluid dynamics and aerodynamic experiments to explore the phenomenon of the controversial badminton "spin serve." The researchers used simulated the trajectories of a shuttlecock during serves under three conditions: without pre-spin, with pre-spin in the direction of the shuttlecock's natural spin, and with pre-spin against the natural spin. They found that the shuttlecock undergoes three phases during the serve: the turnover phase, the oscillation phase, and the stabilization phase.