Hi all. In Denmark there is an unconfirmed rumor going on, a new service rule; On service (shuttle hit), the racket head must not be any higher than 120 cm from the ground. No matter the size you are. A red line across the net at the height off 120 cm from the ground, shall help being a guideline. Can anyone (un)confirm this? Best regards
does that rule only apply to denmark leagues? as far as i know,bwf, hasn't revealed any new amendments to the current service rule.
Probably only applies to Denmark, because they have some of the tallest badminton players in the world, especially as compared to Asia.
maybe they have peaked at my suggestions on BC http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74685&highlight=service&page=2 /T
This rumors seems to be confirmed here in Italy: the service has to be executed not higher than 1.10 mt from the ground (it's 1.10 and not 1.20). It's some sort of experiment for this year (2010): in december someone will decide about preserving this rule or not. I'm sure of that because i'm a referee (and a player too xD) and i received a notification of this changing from the italian federation ^_^
That makes no sense if you are a short player...and no sense if you're really tall too. Why make a silly rule like that when the height of a badminton player is like 175cm +/- 25 cm?
Because 50cm is a huge difference in serve-height??? Or maybe because it is quite hard to officiate and see the "waist" or "lower rib" under the shirts.. The silly rule is really to base serve on player height.. Should we allow bigger rackets for bigger players as well /T
I suppose by having this rule will help make the service judge's job to be less subjective (in trying to determine someone's "waist line") and more objective (by placing a horizontal "service" line on the net that will be applied to all players regardless of waist height).
I think this rule would discriminate against "short" people, if you get what I mean. I've seen one "short" person play baddy a while ago, and although he wasn't tall, he played extremely well for his height. He was probably around 4 or 3.5ft...not sure. I'd feel kind of messed up going up to him with a measuring tape ><
^^ Actually on the contrary, IMHO, this new rule would "discriminate" against taller players! And the flip side is that it allows shorter players to serve higher than their waist(!) as long as it is under the 1.1 or 1.2m rule, thus allowing them to serve on equal footing with taller players.
Oh shooot. i misread. I thought it said it minimum height was 1.1m/1.2m. but then again, that wouldn't make sense...@_@
I totally agree It isn't discrimination but equality IMHO, such a rule will make things a lot easier for almost everyone, from the players to the service judge. Moreover, now short and tall people will serve at the same height and that sounds right to me ^^
I would agree only if this rule applies as a companion to the old rule. A serve must still be executed below (or at) waist level (regardless if the waist level is lower than 120 cm). For example if a short player has a waist level at 110cm, then this is the highest he/she can go for. I believe a serve above waist level will give the serve an advantage of a quick flick serve. A taller player must also server at waist level, however if his/her waist level is higher than 120cm than the server must be lowered at 120cm max. I imagine a serve at a higher position gives the serve an advantage of a flat drive serve which is practically saver from opponent's attack.
Maybe the Danes are thinking far into the future when players wil average 7 to 8 feet tall. Then this new rule makes more sense than the old below the waist rule.
I don't see the logic here. How would a short person serving at 120cm have an advantage over a taller person also serving at 120cm?
That would defeat the (suspected) purpose of this new (rumoured) rule. By defining the maximum height for service, it removes the need for the line judge to estimate the position of the server's waist.
Good point alexh, I guess one of the advantages for a short player serving above his/her waist is he/she can flick the bird saver and more dangerously during a serve. It also gives the serve a better hand positioning (assuming its a backhand serve) which gives more options for the bird placement in comparison to a serve below waist level. On the other hand, a taller server (assuming his/her waist is higher than 120cm) IMO will have a slight disadvantage because he/she must lowered the serve hence the whole body positioning will also change, perhaps need to bend a little bit more. Imagine a 2m tall player having to serve at 120cm