Some people today were arguing whether the back hand serve is illegal or not if th ehead of the racquet is above the waist. Can anyone definitly confirm that its not? I was using the backhand serve and mad people got pissed saying it has to be below the waist.
According to the rules 11.1.3 The server's racket shall initially hit the base of the shuttle while the whole of the shuttle is below the server's waist; 11.1.4 The shaft of the server's racket at the instant of hitting the shuttle shall be pointing in a downward direction to such an extent that the whole of the head of the racket is discernible below the whole of the server's hand holding the racket; My opinion is that as long as your serve does not violate the rules, it is legal. There is no mention of the racquet head has to be below waist.
Agreed. People tend to confuse these two rules, and combine them into one incorrect rule. Only the shuttle needs to be below the waist, not the racket head.
i have slight confusion on this issue also, but by definition in order to hit the shuttle below the waist, the head would have to be also below the waist? also defining waist is a sometimes tricky issue, below the ribs, level with hips etc etc.
Not true.... part of your racquet head may be above the waist if you use the top of the head to hit the shuttle. This is all assuming your shuttle's legally below the waist of course, and that holding the racquet this way is a comfortable position for you. http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24511
You should have seen some of the serving going on in the recent elite series tourney in Calgary - saw a couple guys serving where they were contacting th bird half way up their torso.
I have watched alot of badminton games, and it seems that the pros dont really follow these rules, or maybe im just an idiot =x
This is true, many of the games I see, it's borderline or illegal. But as I have stated previously, I don't think the powers that be will enforce the rules unless there is a decisive advantage for the server (or of the opponents complain). If there's not benefit for the server, not a big deal. At least to me.
Agree as well and very good point. I used to think that the racket head was the key. I didn't know any better and learned this from others that probably learned from others that didn't know as well. It wasn't until I read the rules, that I realized that the shuttle was key.
Also there this: 9.1.5: the whole shuttle shall be below the server's waist at the instant of being hit by the server's racket;
