You can block the SHOT, but you cannot block/obstruct the STROKE . Probably, your friend has never played Squash before. He cannot stand (on purpose) infront of his opponent to obstruct his opponent's swing of his/her racket. We shall repeat: You can block the SHOT, but you cannot block/obstruct the STROKE. SHOT = Flight of the shuttle/ball. STROKE = Swing of the racket. .
I asked this question once to a referee, and he said that you always have to make a hitting action. That would mean that simply blocking the net is a fault, as you make no hitting action. Furthermore, a guy at my club does this all the time. If I play a tight net shot, he can still manage to hit it back, almost from the floor, and move his racket so quickly to the net, that I am afraid to make a kill. Here he would be blocking my stroke, right? BUT, what if he plays a tight net shot and I am too late to hit it near the net tape, meaning I have to hit the shuttle from the bottom side of the net or from the floor. If I play a lift and he has his racket above the net (still on his side), he doesn't block my stroke, but he still blocks my shot. Is this legal? I would think not. If you look at top players in doubles when they have to play a lift from a tight net shot, the guy at the net never blocks the net, but he jumps and makes a smashing action in hope he hits the shuttle.
Even referees can be wrong. Being confidently wrong is something we humans are remarkably good at. Few players read the Laws. Of those who do, few understand them thoroughly. And except for the really big tournaments, why should the tournament officials have had any significant training? For the most part, they're just well-meaning volunteers. There's little or no financial incentive, and demand for officials exceeds supply (i.e. plenty of tournaments don't get any officials). Under those conditions, you inevitably get amateurs. Amateurs who are doing a great service to players by giving them experience of an officiated match, but amateurs nonetheless. To be exact, it has nothing to do with your "being afraid" to make the kill. It's not about how you feel. What matters is the counterfactual: if you had played the kill, would your racket have hit his racket? This, of course, is something that cannot be known for sure; the umpire must make a judgement. The benefit of the doubt, however, should go to you. (Normally, with no umpire, the players must come to an agreement. Play a let if you can't agree.) You can force the issue: play the shot anyway, and hit his racket! There can then be no question of what would have happened. However, you may prefer to refrain from this, as it could damage your racket. It's absolutely legal, but rather unlikely -- especially if you're playing a high lift, which will usually rise well above net height before it crosses the plane of the net. That's because blocking the net is useless unless the lift is very shallow: the shuttle will not be in that area of space. If he wants to intercept a higher lift, his only chance is to reach up. Moreover, if he reaches up high to play his block, then the opponent would likely have time to kill it. He needs to add some pace to the shot, so that it passes below the net before the opponent can respond -- hence the smash-style action, rather than merely attempting to block. Even then, it's really a "no harm in trying" shot: most of the time, it won't work. The higher the lift, the less chance he has to intercept it.
here's my mean reply. if you can kill and u see the racket there... KILL IT.. chances are that the completion on ur stroke will cross the net to the other side... take this change to hit his racket and his face which is probably just as close and say... "THAT's RIGHT". if you have to get the shot so low... hit it straight up with the intention of not getting it over. when opponent hits it... ILLEGAL cuz the shuttle was definitely not going to pass the net that said...none of this is typically done, because the real truth is that you just need to get more experience (and skills... because u should really get to the shot before it gets low enough that you have such a limited amount of shot selection that u have to lift) and know what shots you would do and also have some faith in ur partner who should be lending you help. when you can do that... u know that all this at the net trying to block ur returning shot is all child's play.
Breaking our rackets is not the way to prove that the law is right or wrong . Not good, not good. We only need to follow the Laws of Badminton. Breaking our rackets is not the way to prove that the law is right or wrong. .
u didn't quote the rest of my text: "that said...none of this is typically done, because the real truth is that you just need to get more experience (and skills... because u should really get to the shot before it gets low enough that you have such a limited amount of shot selection that u have to lift) and know what shots you would do and also have some faith in ur partner who should be lending you help. when you can do that... u know that all this at the net trying to block ur returning shot is all child's play."
. Now we have witnessed such an incidence at a top lever game (2011 Super Series Finals - the Saina Nehwal-vs-Wang Yihan Finals Match). To follow the story, here is the link; http://www.badmintoncentral.com/for...(Finals-Day)-Sun-18-Dec?p=1814402#post1814402 .
i think the rule is quite simple... If Saina held her racket up over the net before WYH hit the shuttle, then it's obstruction... but there is one exception.... if Saina's intention was to prevent the shuttle hitting her face, then it's not obstruction....
The fault is the obstruction of an opponent's follow-through . It is still a fault. The fault was called because Saina has interfered with Wang Yihan's follow-through. It didn't matter whether Saina's intention was to prevent the shuttlecock from hitting her face or not. But if Saina's racket-head was more than a meter away from the net, where Wang Yihan's rachet-head follow-through was not obstructed, then a fault would not be called against Saina. The fault is the obstruction of an opponent's follow-through; whether it is intended or not intended, it doesn't matter. .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfPNeEwXfSw&feature=BFa&list=PL537988A7C8D2C9E7&lf=plpp_video 1:48 - this is definitely a fault isn't it? Ignore the poor play lol
We cannot prevent/block the follow-through of the racket-head over the net . Yes, it is a fault. When 2 players are at the fore-court, challenging each other at netplay, a fault shall be called against any player who raises his/her racket-head above the net-tape to prevent/block the follow-through of the racket-head over the net. Many BCers are still missing this point - It is allowed for a striker to follow the shuttle over the net with his/her racket-head in the course of a stroke. Any attempt to disallow the striker's racket-head to follow through over the net will be called a fault. In fact, when I am at the net and see that my opponent raising his/her racket-head to prevent the follow-through of my racket-head, I would not play my stroke, and claim a point straight away. I wouldn't want to break my racket. .
is there an official (ie BWF's) explanation as to what is or is not an obstruction? How does an official referee learn what it or is not an obstruction? How does anyone qualify as a referee? is there a test?
Yes, there is a test. If you are interested in becoming a referee (different from an umpire), contact your national badminton association for details and clinics. You will need to pass a written test and an on-court evaluation (which usually includes you being a referee for a local tournament of some sort and they evaluate how you do)
Our group started playing badminton 1-2 years ago, so we are reading this topic from the beginners stand point. Similar situations happen within our group quite often and I am still confused after reading 2 pages of posts. Please help to clarify this one more time and provide exact rule if possible: I go close to the net to return a shuttle back to my opponents court about 4 feet from the net. Therefore, my opponents' racket will not follow through and cross the net. If I keep my head under the net and only raise the racket to anticipate to block my opponent's shot, is this legal since I am not obstructing my opponent's stroke? I am also interested to know any answers to pcll99's question: " is there an official (ie BWF's) explanation as to what is or is not an obstruction?" Thanks.
Yes, it's legal. Post number 4 explains it clearly. If the opponent can hit the shuttle without fear of clashing rackets, then it's OK for you to block the shot.
Ok so I will try to make this as clear as possible, the following is the only line in the rulebook about it, however it was on my umpire exam about certain situations including this one. 13.4.2 invades an opponent’s court over the net with racket or person except that the striker may follow the shuttle over the net with the racket in the course of a stroke after the initial point of contact with the shuttle is on the striker’s side of the net; 13.4.4 obstructs an opponent, i.e. prevents an opponent from making a legal stroke where the shuttle is followed over the net; So, if the shuttle is above the net and on your side, you are allowed to reach over the net as long as you hit the shuttle and follow through (but you cannot touch the net, only go over!) If the shuttle is BELOW the net, then your opponent can have their racket by the net as long as they are not reaching over. If the shuttle is below the net, there is NO way you can reach over the net to follow through on your shot. Therefore, in that instance, they can have their racket by the net to wait for a kill.
I don't understand this part. If the shuttle is very close to the net and slightly below, and if you want to flick the shuttle to the back of the court, then your follow through will pass over the net. If the opponent's racket is so close that you can't play the flick without clashing rackets, then isn't that a fault according to rule 13.4.4? There's nothing in the rules that says it makes a difference whether the shuttle is above or below net height.
my understanding is this. If you hold your racket up at (or over) the net before your opponent hits the birdie, then it's an obstruction. am i right?
Gee everyone is complicating this. If you are trying to block a shot, you can, just don't put your racket OVER the net. The only time you can put your racket over the net is if you have followed through AFTER hitting the bird on YOUR side of the net. Yes it might distract the player seeing a racket hovering parallel to the net above him, but that is completely legal, just clear it rather than drop shot when his racket already at net height ready for the kill. The END.
