OK. Is it legal to make any exaggerated body movements before/during service to put the opponent off? Well, when you serve high (in singles) you tend you hold the shuttle up to the opponent, almost showing him the shuttle, and telling him you're going to serve it high to the backcourt. Now when you make contact with the shuttle, your eyes follow the path of the shuttle, which is obviously very high, up, and towards the ceiling. Now say you do the same, but you decide to short serve. So you still look up to the ceiling area, and your opponent will look up trying to search for the shuttle high in the air, but it falls short. Is this allowed?
awesome thanks Cheung. I got called fault when I did it, so i wasn't sure what was illegal about my serve. (either racquet-head higher than wrist, or the whole serve) now that you've cleared it up thanks hehe. It's a relatively low-percentage serve, as you're looking up, and you can't see if your racquet actually comes in contact with the shuttle.
If your racquet follows those rules (not above wrist, higher than waist, one forward motion), it's not a fault. I use this serve myself perhaps a couple of times in a match. It can really catch somebody off guard. The most common reply to cover would be a shot to the net as this is the easiest shot to play when off balance, so you should get ready for a kill at the net. (I have used this serve in some umpired tournaments in HK without problems - [and the umpires have their umpiring certificates]) Against those very good players, you may not be able to fool them completely but it's a good way of disturbing the opponent's rhythm when used judiciously. Obviously, you must have disturbed your opponent so much, he/she called a fault though there's no reason other than that of being embarassed (which is not a reason to fault!). It's true that it's a low percentage serve, BUT with practice it can be better. One nice thing is that it is a serve that doesn't have to skim the net too closely.
Hi all, Wait wait, i thought the serve was meant to be in one smooth action. I do not believe you are allowed to pull the racquet back, wait, and then hit, or anything like that. The rule is you serve in one action, and that you do not hesitate during the service to 'dummy' the serve.. Matt
It is indeed one smooth motion swing Matt. In Singles, pple do pull back their racket (and wait for oponent to get ready or whatever) and this is just the position in which they will start their serve.
i think they mean exaggerated movements by seeming to make a powerful stroke, but making a soft one.. it DOES have to be one continuous stroke, you can't just swing your racquet around... but you can slow it down considerabley..
Just to clarify Matt's Question. The rules state one continuous stroke. It says nothing about the speed of the stroke. In a flick serve, we suddenly accelerate the motion. however, how about deceleration? If we start a fast stroke and then slow it down just before impact, it is still legal as the motion is still continuous. If you serve with one smooth swing, 'smooth' implies that the racquet must not stop which is true. However, deceleration only means 'slowing down', it doesn;t mean 'stop'!!!
but you may not give any effects in your shuttle that i know but with your eyes you may do everything just no magic
actually, i find a good way to know where the shuttle is going is to look at the opponents eyes.. cuz sometimes they glance at where they will serve.... of course, don't run their before they hit it, cuz they might be fooling you...
Thanks All Hi, Thanks all it's just the very first question my the thread maker got me confussed. Started to panic then when people said it was allowed. I now know what you mean by this exageration, and yes it does work, and work well. Thing is do not look up at the ceiling as you hit the bird, chances are you will miss it because you are not watching the shuttle! Matt