Hello, A bit of background first! I play at a fairly decent level. What I mean is that rallies can frequently go on for quite a number of shots with people effectively defending smashes and dealing with and using variation. As I ask in the title, I am wondering if my serve is ok. The serve I refer to is my doubles backhand serve. I can serve it low and short to the T as well as short out wide sometimes even to the outside tram line and my Flicks tend to be quite effective particularly down the line. Is it legal to hold the shuttle by the cork when serving? I ask this out of fear I am doing an illegal serve however it seems never to be noticed at all that I am holding the shuttle differently. You see in competitions, both league and knockout (even the odd round robin), it is always players themselves who umpire the games. I have noticed that it is rare for them to call any kind of fault. I know how I have been told to hold the shuttle but my way has been so effective!! I will definately change if it's illegal but it really is effective even against really high level players. I'm pretty sure everything else is ok, a single continuous movement of the racket, below my bottom rib (waist), not tilted at an odd angle, nor is my foot on the line Thanks guys! (and girls)
Yes, it's absolutely legal. For a backhand serve, I recommend holding the shuttle by a feather instead: this should improve your accuracy. But if you want to hold the cork, that's fine.
holding by the cork is ok, but i believe hitting the feathers on serve is not allowed - to make the s-serve ilegal. I'm not 100% sure on this though without checking the rules
Hitting the feathers is allowed, providing you hit the cork first: Hit cork only -- allowed Hit cork, then hit feathers -- allowed Hit cork and feathers together (same instant) -- fault Hit feathers only -- fault (For shots other than the serve, all four of those are allowed.)
Thanks guys, that's absolutely brilliant! Sorry I didn't back sooner, been quite busy. I understand what you say about holding the shuttle by the feather. I think for me it is one of those things where you used the wrong technique for such a while, you get quite good at it! Believe it or not my serve is considered by myself and others as the best shot in my game, so you can see why I'd be conservative towards change. It's not like my others are bad either. My philsosphy for priority in matches is serve well, put the opponent on the back foot and attack their serve and deny them time or comfort! Sadly I can't do much in the sense that here in Ireland the badminton season, including training in my case, ends for the entire months of June, July and August. Which is a pity because I really do enjoy playing!
