how long can one take to serve?

**decoy** · 01-27-2011, 03:23 PM

I am not sure if their is a rule about this or not. But is it against any rules that when you have the shuttle and are about to serve how much time are you allowed before you actually start the motion of your serve? Im sorry if im not explaining this question well enough please help.

**LD rules!** · 01-27-2011, 03:30 PM

Are you meaning time between points ? Or time in which you stand with the shuttle ready to serve ?

**LD rules!** · 01-27-2011, 03:31 PM

if it's the 2nd option, I don't think there is any specific rule as to the time taken, but I presume it's at the umpires discretion as to how long you take to serve.

**decoy** · 01-27-2011, 03:51 PM

What I mean is that my friend to whom I play with a lot takes the shuttle once im in my ready position and he waits like 10-15 seconds before actually starting his swing so I didnt know if there was a rule against that or not.

**extremenanopowe** · 01-27-2011, 06:13 PM

haha.. u do the same back to him... but longer.. see how he reacts..

**Sampat** · 01-27-2011, 09:29 PM

I saw recently in the Malaysia open, umpire giving warning to a player for taking long time to serve..so I hope here should be some rule definitely.

**alexh** · 01-28-2011, 01:42 AM

Originally Posted by decoy

What I mean is that my friend to whom I play with a lot takes the shuttle once im in my ready position and he waits like 10-15 seconds before actually starting his swing so I didnt know if there was a rule against that or not.

The rule is "neither side shall cause undue delay..." (Laws of badminton rule 9.1.1). But they don't say how many seconds is an "undue delay", so it's at the discretion of the umpire. I've heard people say that up to five seconds is reasonable, but that's not an official rule. 15 seconds is definitely too long.

**keigo911** · 01-29-2011, 01:54 AM

yes, there is no specific time frame listed down, coz it's kinda hard for the umpire and service judge to look at stop watch and the players. Therefore it's up to the umpire decision. In typical case, it's about 5-7 seconds, counting from the moment when both sides ready to serve and receive. Usually, umpire use heart count/finger count.

Originally Posted by alexh

The rule is "neither side shall cause undue delay..." (Laws of badminton rule 9.1.1). But they don't say how many seconds is an "undue delay", so it's at the discretion of the umpire. I've heard people say that up to five seconds is reasonable, but that's not an official rule. 15 seconds is definitely too long.

**K1NGK0N** · 01-30-2011, 10:04 PM

There is no Hard & fast rule..but anything more than 5 sec will 'unnecessary delay'

9. SERVICE
9.1 In a correct service,
9.1.1 neither side shall cause undue delay to the delivery of the service once the server and the receiver are ready for the service. On completion of the backward movement of server’s racket head, any delay in the start of the service (Law 9.2), shall be considered to be an undue delay;

**chris-ccc** · 01-31-2011, 05:13 AM

Originally Posted by K1NGK0N

There is no Hard & fast rule..but anything more than 5 sec will 'unnecessary delay'

9. SERVICE
9.1 In a correct service,
9.1.1 neither side shall cause undue delay to the delivery of the service once the server and the receiver are ready for the service. On completion of the backward movement of server’s racket head, any delay in the start of the service (Law 9.2), shall be considered to be an undue delay;

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Sooner or later the Laws of Badminton will be more specific - regarding 'unnecessary delay'.

Today, umpires make sure that during intervals, a stop watch is triggered to make sure that no more than the specified time allowed is being misused.
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**alexh** · 01-31-2011, 05:06 PM

Originally Posted by chris-ccc

Today, umpires make sure that during intervals, a stop watch is triggered to make sure that no more than the specified time allowed is being misused.

This applies to the interval between games and to the mid-game interval, right? They're not using a stopwatch between every single point?

**taneepak** · 02-01-2011, 12:01 AM

It all depends on what is undue delay. My understanding is that undue delay means any delay longer than necessary to deliver a serve. This means that if the receiver is ready, the server must serve immediately and a serve starts with the first backward movement of the server's racket. This also means that there should not be any delay after the back swing of the serve and the forward movement of the serve must be immediate.
So undue delay applies to these two areas.

**chris-ccc** · 02-01-2011, 04:10 AM

Originally Posted by alexh

This applies to the interval between games and to the mid-game interval, right? They're not using a stopwatch between every single point?

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Correct. Currently stopwatch is only being triggered at intervals occurring at mid-game and between games.
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**Matt** · 02-01-2011, 04:03 PM

Yes that is crorect. It is about 5 seconds - any longer is a delay of game.

**raceto21** · 01-06-2012, 06:01 PM

any updates to this question? people still agree its still "just" 5-7 seconds?
varying your initial service stroke can be an effective strategy in controlling the pace of the game.

**CantSmashThis** · 01-06-2012, 08:45 PM

There is no definitive answer. It is all up to the umpire on how long it really takes for it to be considered a delay of game. The umpire certainly doesn't have a stop watch or count in his head how much time has passed. It is all up to the judgement of the umpire to if it feels like quite has time has passed.

So the answer to this question varies, from umpire to umpire.

**chris-ccc** · 01-06-2012, 09:00 PM

Originally Posted by CantSmashThis

There is no definitive answer. It is all up to the umpire on how long it really takes for it to be considered a delay of game. The umpire certainly doesn't have a stop watch or count in his head how much time has passed. It is all up to the judgement of the umpire to if it feels like quite has time has passed.

So the answer to this question varies, from umpire to umpire.

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Most umpire would warn the players by saying "Play on, Play on".

If them players do not, probably a warning card should be shown to them.
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