1. bad_fanatic

    bad_fanatic Regular Member

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    I have a question, I tried searching but couldn't find the answer.

    The question is, "Is it OK to block a shuttle at the net?" Like you made a drop shot and you know that the opponent is going to clear and you stick your racket up at the net to block it (Not over the net of course).

    A guy at the place that I play does this all the time and claim that it's legal. I thought that if you're at the net, that racket has to be of some swinging motion. I mean I never see the pro putting their racket up to block a shot after a net drop.

    So is blocking at the net legal?
     
  2. gingerphil79

    gingerphil79 Regular Member

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    I'm not sure but i believe it is legal, the reason probably why pros do not do it is because their footwork and positioning is better than ours so this situation never comes up.
     
  3. msl_turtle

    msl_turtle Regular Member

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    For me i think it's legal as well.. but it's very hard to say tho.. and i agree with gingerphil about the pros that part..
     
  4. jhirata

    jhirata Regular Member

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    Blocking like that can work as interception. How could it be illegal ? o_O
     
  5. Loopy

    Loopy Regular Member

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    If the racket is in the blocking position at the net BEFORE your opponent hits, then it is ILLEGAL. It is as if you are waiting for your opponent to make the lift and all you're doing is holding the racket at the net.
    However, if your opponent hits it and THEN you make the blocking stroke motion, then it is legal.

    I hope you see the difference.
     
  6. bad_fanatic

    bad_fanatic Regular Member

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    Yeah, that's what he was doing. Sorry, I didn't mention that.

    Well he would make the drop shot, sticks his racket up at the net and wait for you to make the lift.

    Is this written in the rule book?
     
  7. Azwok

    Azwok Regular Member

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    Where did you get that from loopy? Thats a first for me, would be great if you could point out the rules the infere this.

    Moving on from that point loopy, what happens if the player at the net plays a drop shot and then moves back to his/her set position with his/her racket up but his/her opponent plays a flatter lift and hits his/her racket, is that a fault?
     
  8. Loopy

    Loopy Regular Member

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    Taken from here:
    http://www.gadebridgebc.org.uk/GBCbadminton_rules.htm

    It is how you interpret the ruling that makes the difference. When your opponent sees you with the racket held blocking the net, he may see that as an obstruction.
     
  9. Loopy

    Loopy Regular Member

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    No it's not a fault, because the player isn't obstructing anything. The difference lies in where the racket is held before your opponent makes the lift or drive and how it is viewed from the opponent's point of view. When it is held very close to the net, as bad_fanatic describes, that is seen as an obstruction. However, if it is held farther away from the net (and I am purposely being vague here), it cannot be seen as an obstruction.
    bad_fanatic's case is pretty obvious. Anything else I think is legal.
    However if he did the blocking motion after the other did the lift, then that is legal.

    But, I'm not a rules official, so you might want to wait for Gollum or other prominent members on this take.
    (But I know the rules of Golf, and these are even harder to interpret :p )
     
  10. bad_fanatic

    bad_fanatic Regular Member

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    That kind of make sense in a way. Your opponent putting his racket up at the net before you can make a lift is kind of obstructing.

    The thing is that, I've seen so many times in the pro circuit that they have the opportunity to block the shot at the net, and the lift would be right into the racket. But I've never seen it done once. You might argue that the pro always position themselves so that blocking at the net is useless. But there's time where they can just block at net and get the easy point, but they never do it.

    I see them jumping up and trying to intercept it, but never a block at the net.
     
  11. mojopin

    mojopin Regular Member

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    i guess at pro level, standing at the net with your racket held up is stupid because your leaving huge gaps in the court for them to play into. I do it out of habit sometimes, and its only ever worked once or twice. It would probably be more beneficial to step back and be ready for any shot.
     
  12. super__gao

    super__gao Regular Member

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    no man, blocking is 100% legal. as long as your racket isn't over the net when you are blocking then it is fine.
    blocking = anticipation, as in the blocker is anticipating that his/her opponent is going to lift the shuttle. the opponent doesn't even have to lift it, they could do a cross court net shot instead :cool:
    mind you, blocking almost never works, chances of you lifting right into your opponents racket head isn't very high.
     
  13. Shifty

    Shifty Regular Member

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    if the contact point is past the net, then it's legal, although really stupid. i'd just lift away from him, towards the other side. at that close, there's no way he can react in time to move the racquet. he's praying and hoping for an intercept. so make the lift away from him.
     
  14. silentheart

    silentheart Regular Member

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    1) there was a debate on this subject before. it is legal as long as person doing the blocking, his/her racquet do not intrude over the net before the contact.
    2) pro don't do it because it is useless. Most of the pros can lift the shuttle from a hairpin net drop to the back court and the shuttle drop down vertical. If you try to block on that one and touch the shuttle, that is over the net. If you try to block a return hairpin drop, either your racquet will be over the net first or you will touch the net. Take you pick, you lost the point.
     
  15. chris-ccc

    chris-ccc Regular Member

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    Clashes of rackets

    Hi bad_fanatic,

    Care has to be taken to explain this.

    Firstly, we have to define "SHOT" and "STROKE".

    SHOT = Flight of the shuttle.
    STROKE = Swing of the racket.

    You can block the SHOT, but you cannot block/obstruct the STROKE.

    If the shuttle is very close to the net, then there are 2 relevant laws here;
    (1) Your opponent must hit the shuttle with the point of impact on his/her side of the court.
    (2) Your opponent is allowed to have his/her racket head to follow through over the net into your side of the court.

    If your racket head is so close to the net that it prevented your opponent from doing the follow-through with his/her racket head over the net into your side of the court, then it is illegal.

    Usually the umpire makes the decision by judging whether the rackets will clash or not.

    My advice is... still block the shot, but block it further away from the net, so that no clash of rackets can occur. It is then a LEGAL BLOCK. But it's easier said than done.

    BTW, please refer to this thread located at:
    http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35128


    Cheers... chris@ccc
    ***
     
  16. bad_fanatic

    bad_fanatic Regular Member

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    Thanks Chris. To my understanding from the other post and from what you're saying, blocking is legal as long as it not to close at the net where it'll interfere with the opponents follow through of the racket. If so then it's a violation of rule 13.4.4 (Obstructing). You can block, but at a good distance away from the net. Correct?

    Well I don't block at the net, it's my opponent so I have nothing to worry about. I just wanted to clarify things up.

    Thanks again.
     
  17. chris-ccc

    chris-ccc Regular Member

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    Laws of Badminton: 13.4.4

    Yes, correct.

    From the Laws of Badminton, 13.4.4 says that you cannot obstruct an opponent's stroke (forward movement of the racket) followed over the net.
     

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