I was playing singles with a friend last week and was surprised to hear him say that a flick long serve (I don't know what to call it but I fake a slow swing then flick on impact to hit long) is illegal. So, is it? I'm not 100% sure since I've never had coaching in badminton.
http://www.badmintoncentral.com/badminton-central/content/view/82/56/1/7/ Throw the book at him, it seems from the way you describe it that it's perfectly legal. The only thing you gotta watch out for is that 9.1.7 the movement of the server’s racket shall continue forwards from the start of the service (Law 9.4) until the service is delivered; Meaning, so as long as you start slow, then flick, but without "recocking" the racket with a "backwards" motion, it's totally legal.
How do you know it is not illegal? There is very little information given about the serve other than it is a slow flick! He might be hitting it above waist height and that is what the receiver means, also the top of the racket head might be higher than the lowest part of the hand, not forgetting one foot might be moving, and the ever likley he might have a foot on the line or outwith the boundary area. There are a few things that could be wrong with a service, make sure everything is within the guidelines and then take it from there. By far the best thing to do is to ask him why he thinks it is illegal and then try and take it from there.
Yes, sorry for not specifying what he actually pointed out to be illegal. But no, it wasn't any of those things, it was just the fact that I was swinging slow then fast at the last moment, there is no stop in the swing and there is no racquet 'recocking' which is partly why I was so surprised to hear him say that. And the only reason I was hesitant to correct him was that he's had numerous badminton lessons in the past whereas I have none.
Perhaps you jolt too much on your flick which made him to believe that you took two independent strokes? Most players won't complain if you have a smooth serve, even if you change the speed in the middle. If you have problems with your opponent saying your serve is above waist level, tuck in your shirt. At the old place I used to play at, most of us had half our shirt tucked in to avoid confusion. I don't see that anymore over here. Is that a thing our small little town did or what?
illegal serve? your serve should look like one continuous motion for it to be legal. if it's not one continuous motion, i think most referees would call it a fault. starting slow and speeding it up with a flick would work, as long as you do it in one smooth motion. my personal favorite is serving short on a seemingly long serve motion in singles.
Serve hi can you tell me a body fake is allowed during a service ? was playing a tourney and my opponent kept moving his body while he was serving - is this allowed ? he was not lifting his legs or dragging them .. just swaying his body was if like a jerk ... thanks