If I have my way

Discussion in 'Rules / Tournament Regulation / Officiating' started by AlanY, Jul 29, 2011.

  1. AlanY

    AlanY Regular Member

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    If I have my way I would like to experiment a few ideas to tidy up the badminton rules.

    1) First one is to deal the annoying antics of some players raising their hands to indicate that they are not ready to receive service.

    Let’s have a fixed time, say 10 seconds, for both the server and receiver to get ready and, say 3 seconds afterward to deliver the service.

    The main point is both players get 10s to prepare, and to serve/receive within the 3s period after that. During the 10s period the players can do whatever they wanted, within reasons. They can have a quick drink; talk to their double partner (not coach, I will get to that later) or change racket etc. And they have the right to serve within the next 3s, even their opponents turn their backs! Obviously the 10/3 seconds is just a number that can be adjusted.

    May be a red/green LCD panel by the umpire’s chair to remind them when to serve.

    2) I would also propose to introduce a time out, say 30 seconds, per game for each side in addition of the mid game interval. Both sides can exercise the TO anytime during the game, like the mid game interval the players are allowed to consult their coaches during the TO.

    Apart from the mid game interval and the time out there will be no more unscheduled tower breaks, mopping of floor etc. Hopefully this will eliminate or reduce the tactical time wasting some players employed especially during the crucial time of the match.

    3) About the silly thing that one player likes to change the shuttlecock and the other doesn’t.

    One option is only the server can decide to change the shuttlecock or not. If the other doesn’t like it, win the next point then it will be your chance.

    The other option is to have a ‘new’ shuttlecock for every point. After every rally you get a new one from the service judge and all the ‘used’ ones will be examined later. If they are good as new they will be the ‘new’ shuttlecocks for the next game.

    Personally I prefer option 1 but option 2 should be do-able at least from QF onward.

    4) The Laws of Badminton
    9.1.5 The whole shuttle shall be below the server's waist at the instant of being hit by the server's racket. The waist shall be considered to be an imaginary line round the body, level with the lowest part of the server's bottom rib;

    I will get rid of this unenforceable rule that based on an imaginary line nobody can see but can only guess, including the service judge. Unlike a bad line call, the service judge can make a bad decision based on his/her guesstimate (biased or not) that nobody can challenge and even the umpire cannot overrule.

    I will just have a simple rule that the server's racket at the instant of hitting the shuttle shall be pointing in a downward direction. If someone developed a serve that the point of impact is about head height, so be it. As long as the same rule that apply to all, you have to deal with all kind of shots during a rally anyway.​
     
  2. dlp

    dlp Regular Member

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    1. I like the idea of a limit, but the umpires just need to be stricter from the start
    2. Possibly although there are now up to 5 coaching breaks a game, used to be possibly 1
    3. Not a big problem
    4. No, if I could serve off my chin I would drive the shuttle down everytime, my partner would stand next to me at the front and there would be no game.
     
  3. AlanY

    AlanY Regular Member

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    you do mean 5/a match, dont you?
     
  4. AlanY

    AlanY Regular Member

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    for 2) It's mainly to stop players asking for unscheduled breaks (towering down, mopping floor etc) to interrupt the flow of the game. They can either call for a TO or do it quick within the 10s as in 1).
     
  5. dlp

    dlp Regular Member

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    Sorry yes 5 a match. You can't prevent mopping, especially if a player dives, and toweling is generally kept to a minimum nowadays. But I agree certain doubles pairs will serve, their opponent hits in the net. They then high five one or twice, walk around a bit discuss, walk around, tap hands again....
     
  6. CantSmashThis

    CantSmashThis Regular Member

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    For Rule #4, I want people to do me a favor. I'm an umpire myself (so I do service judging) and this is how I judge where your lowest rib is. Stand up straight, and put your arms straight down. Your lowest rib should be where your elbow is. Please tell me otherwise if it's not. So I don't really take a guesstimate of where your rib is, I'm pretty sure most people's lowest rib is where their elbow meets, unless they are missing ribs.
     
  7. dontmakeme

    dontmakeme Regular Member

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    2.I think that the unscheduled towel down and floor mopping should stay because having a wet floor could cause problems like slipping which may cause severe injuries.
     
  8. amleto

    amleto Regular Member

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    no you cant. it is a rule that the shuttle must go UP.
     
  9. dlp

    dlp Regular Member

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    The suggestion was that if someone could serve above head height this would be allowed, this implied that the wording that said the shuttle would go upwards would be disregarded, even if it was not serving off the chin with topspin so the shuttle only travelled marginally upwards would make the serve unreturnable in many cases and there would be almost no rallies.
     
  10. Mark A

    Mark A Regular Member

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    I've previously suggested putting some tape on the players' shirts at the bottom of the rib cage (or dye, whatever) before the match starts. No excuses then:D.
     
  11. jamesd20

    jamesd20 Moderator

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    This doesn't really help the umpires though because no one has there elbows pinned to their sides when serving.
     
  12. AlanY

    AlanY Regular Member

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    the problem re. #4 is most players probably know where their lowest rib is but that may not be the same imaginary line for ALL the umpires/service judges.

    just another thought, during the warming up all the players will perform their tightest serves in front of the umpire/service judge and will be told that if it was legal or not. At least all the players should have an indication of what is acceptable for that particular match.

    workable or not?
     
  13. CantSmashThis

    CantSmashThis Regular Member

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    But players eventually will have their arms down to do something. Once that happens, the service judge will notice where his elbow is, and will make in his mind that imaginary line needed to know where their lowest rib cage is. It will be in their head for a while, and sometimes there will be like something on their shirt near where that imaginary line is so they can easily remember where to look at.

    Once established, we will remember where to look out for, there might be some slight uncertainty, but that's how it is in this sport. One person might call a shot in, but then to another it'd be out.
     
    #13 CantSmashThis, Jul 31, 2011
    Last edited: Jul 31, 2011
  14. CantSmashThis

    CantSmashThis Regular Member

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    In my post above, I pointed out to you where most people's lowest rib cage is. That's how I, as a service judge, determine where it is.
     
  15. AlanY

    AlanY Regular Member

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    i dont think its a problem if all the players know this is how you intrepreted the rule. but i bet you that not all service judges adopted lowest rib = elbow. at least not officailly, otherwise it will be in BWF's rules book.

    personsally, i think it is be better to use elbow or any other that we can see rather than the lowest rib (imaginary line) as the official guide.
     
  16. jamesd20

    jamesd20 Moderator

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    But that isn't solving the problem, you are still dealing with an imaginary line that is difficult to accurately assess, and as alan says unlikely all judges will agree.

    NB. my elbows appear to touch my hips.

    Mark's idea of a line on shirts is interesting, but difficult to manage as every t-shirt would have to be checked everytime they were worn.
     
  17. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    wasn't there some talk last year of bwf considering a standard max service height, regardless of player height?

    this would be more easily and more importantly, objectively, enforceable

    if this subjective issue is resolved, now along with the new replay challenge for close line calls, bmf would seem a little less anachronistic... other than the short skirt fiasco, that is... :p
     
    #17 visor, Jul 31, 2011
    Last edited: Jul 31, 2011
  18. dlp

    dlp Regular Member

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    Service height- some of the top Asian players in MD are 5 foot 6, (168cm), some of the Europeans are 6ft plus (184+), so even within the current rules some players are serving 15cm higher than others, yet we still see many shorter players winning, so its not a big issue. Of course some service judges are not as strict as others, I think the constant delays are the bigger problem.

    ANy solution involving a set height and technology would of course be unworkable at below national level, so you would have 2 sets of rules, so I wouldnt be in favour
     
  19. alexh

    alexh Regular Member

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    This one is tricky. I've seen players dive for a shot they know they can't reach, just so they can get the floor mopped and slow down the match. But how do you prove it was deliberate?

    The current rules do allow umpires to penalise players for deliberately delaying the play (16.6.1). But the rule generally isn't enforced. I can just imagine the arguments if umpires suddenly started being strict about this.
     
  20. extremenanopowe

    extremenanopowe Regular Member

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    Anything can be staged. The coach can plan a schedule on when to take a break and when to ask him to dive or get stomach ache. ;)
     

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