I am new to this forum and while there are many useful postings I am struck by the number of advices based on "I watch internationals". Internationals are not always playing by the rules. It is their job to push the boundaries. There are therefore usually two questions: is it a fauilt according to the laws of badminton and is it a law that internationals adhere to. The rule that covers the scenerio is 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." Assuming that the server has not caused undue delay and the reciver has give an indication that he is ready to receive, resetting by the receiver has got to cause a delay and is therefore a fault. I think that you will find that most internationals do is to hold their hands up to positively indicate that they are not ready to receive. They can therefore take time to set as they wish (again subject to the undue delay rule). Once they put their hands down, they should not reset.
In competition, either the server or the receiver will attempt (legally, of course) to disrupt the concentration of the other. This is where based on the law, the limits of what is acceptable delay is defined by the umpire on duty. Thus, a simple answer would be that to reset the service position is legal so long as the umpire does not feel that in so doing, the server is holding a significant advantage, and that there has been no attempt to play the serve beforehand. Similarly, a request for delay in receiving (as in the receiver's raised hand) is legal as long as it is not done at a situation where the server is ready to play a serve. Sometimes it happens that once a receiver is ready, the serve is intentionally delayed further (undue delay on the server side). In which case the receiver would then break from focus and request for another delay to recompose himself, in which case the umpire would then take action (warning) on the server for the delay.
