Hi all, its my first time posting so I am taking this opportunity to salute everyone that roam these forums. OK this happened to me a couple times when I am playing certain players in my club. They call a faulty service on my part and I am not sure why but this mostly happens when I serve a short drive in the corridor. One say that I am hiding the shuttle the other that I am hitting it the wrong way. OK here is a detailed description of what I do when I am serving : I use the backhand service I place my racket in front of me than I place the shuttle right in front of my racket as it touches my racket slightly. My hitting motion is like a pivot of my racket around the arm axis that holds my racket. There is a back and forth motion but my arm doesn't move only my wrist does. I drop the shuttle the moment my racket hits it so it's practically in my hand when the contact takes place. I don't push the shuttle or shove it there is a real hit and the head of the shuttle is hit first. I can vary my shuttle placement by playing with the importance of my follow through done by my wrist. Why would this represents a faulty service? I have a few ideas but I'd like to get your opinions even though I am fully aware that it isn't easy when you haven't seen me serve. Here's what I think : 1) My racket head is sometimes a bit too much in a upward angle when I hit the shuttle, this would go against the law of badminton on service. 2) The shuttle is not out of my hand when my racket hits it. The contact between my hand - shuttle - racket is pretty simultaneous 3) None of the above and the persons I am serving to don't like to get caught with their pants down. (Note here, those commenting my service are generally 2 categories above me.) Any hints could be useful really, if I am to play the game I want to play it right.
Shouldn't be illegal if its under your waist. Its probably because they think you hit the shuttle in the skirt/feather/shirt, w.e. If its not, tell them and they will probably understand.
I thought about that, it does happen from time to time but not on a regular basis and when it does it's pretty obvious because the shuttle adopts an erratic way of moving during its flight. If fault was called when this happen I certainly wouldn't argue.
As far as I can tell from the description, it doesn't seem illegal. Also, their critiques of your service really don't make sense. After all, 'hitting it wrong' isn't an illegal serve. Given how non-specific their critiques are, it's probably a unique serve and they are thrown off by its unconventionality, and therefore assume it has an illegal element. Which may or may not be true, but I don't think it's related to the reasons they identified, though it's pretty hard to tell from non-visual description.
You may be right, it's a bit unconventional as a method of serving but so far it has been working great for me. Honestly, I have a hard time discerning between faulty manoeuvres and bruised egos. My short drive service is particularly efficient against players that like to wait for service mid court and beside the center line. Obviously, when the shuttle is directed in the corner formed by the short service line and the side line, it leaves them with a lot of ground to cover and if you have a moment of hesitation it's too late. The comments I get on my service mostly come after such a service.
That sounds a lot like what I was imagining. If your drive serve comes from the same form as your short serve, and they're only complaining about your drive serve, then I'm sure their comments are nothing more than poorly veiled cries of, "Argh, how does he/she do that??!!"
from ur description, nth seems wrong really. it doesnt sound illegal. maybe u can check with ur seniors/coach. ask them to take a closer look n they might be able to help.
(1) when you place the shuttle right in front of your racquet, where is the shuttle in relation to the waist? At this point, is it above the waist? how far above the waist? (2) Is your racquet head angling downwards such that it's discernibly below the whole of the hand?
Yes my racket head and the birdy are well bellow my waist line. In fact, the arm that holds the birdy is pretty much stretched to its maximum length. My racket head is also pointing downwards.
The only thing I can think of that your opponents may think is not right is that your pushing/throwing rather than striking the feather due to the close nature of your hand/feather/racquet, all you could do is show them (from closer than the otherside of the net) your service, but it does sound like sour grapes if you ask me.
You may have a point here. I thought as much but looking at many players serve, good amateur and top end players I have noticed that the birdy is almost pratically in their hand when it's hit with the racket. It's not like the birdy is dropped then hit with the racket, it's more like the racket takes the birdy out of their hand. Well I don't know you may a valid point here.....
Illegal Serve? Has anybody seen the video of MD betwen South Korea and Indonesia. Download this video and see for yourself: Hadiyanto L./Chandra AY(Indonesia) vs JUNG JS/LEE YD(Korea) G3 dl, 144MB: http://www.mediafire.com/?am2u2qubmjy Now I am not sure if my eyes are failing me but look at Chandra of Indonesia...I believe his service is illegal as the birdie is struck way above his waist almos as high as his sternum. What is your opinion. Is he getting away with illegal serve. Thanks.
I believe the waist is considered as the lowest part of your ribcage, which is really close to the sternum.
I must admit he seems to serve pretty high and even though it's not easy to tell from the angles we have on his service I would have a tendency to call his serves on the high side really. It's certainly not my case though, I hit the shuttle a lot lower. I'd say that I make contact at my hips hight.
Mmm, Well after watching that video thoroughly and freezing some frames on the serve part, I guess that my service might be illegal after all. They players in that video do drop the birdy before they hit it but it's done so quickly and just before the racket hits it that it's almost impossible for a human eyes to see it at normal speed. I had the impression that the birdy was still in their hand when hit by the racket but it's not the case from what I can see. So in this regard my serve is not legal but the funny thing is that it's not what was reproached to me. Also, all they players in that video serve pretty high almost at sternum hight. I could probably benefit from this myself if it's no fault. It's a lot easier to serve at that hight than 15 to 20 cm lower.
I watched over again...still I think that the serves are pretty high, very much illegal. I guess we need more eyes to have a thorough opinion on this. By the way the sternum would be about a good 5-6 inches above the lowest rib, so it is way above the waist
Well I have a small ribcage. ^^ But if Candra really serves that high, it would be considered a fault, although the call is another thing. I think at club level, everyone obeys the rule. I would feel a bit uneasy if someone kept serving sternum height.
It is illegal if you don't contact the shuttle on the base first. Most of the time the shuttle fly irratically when you contact the feathers first. If the drive serve can be driven to the opponent's face when he's standing at the service line, it's too high a contact point.
I agree with the first statement. But for the second, what if the guy was a Yao Ming and didn't duck down? Poor him, then.