BWF to trial serve clock at select tournaments in 2026

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alien9113

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Badminton-BWF to trial serve clock at select tournaments in 2026

A time clock which will allow players 25 seconds between each rally will be tested by the Badminton World Federation's (BWF) Council at certain World Tour tournaments from the 2026 season, the governing body said on Wednesday.The new regulations state that the server must be ready to serve...
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A time clock which will allow players 25 seconds between each rally will be tested by the Badminton World Federation's (BWF) Council at certain World Tour tournaments from the 2026 season, the governing body said on Wednesday.
 
Walk to courtside, change shuttle, walk to opposite courtside, towel head and arms, check racket, have a drink, get floor mopped, touch hands with partner...once...twice, prepare to serve, turn around and touch hands again, signal serve tactic to partner, serve. I've seen it!
 
scamp said:
Walk to courtside, change shuttle, walk to opposite courtside, towel head and arms, check racket, have a drink, get floor mopped, touch hands with partner...once...twice, prepare to serve, turn around and touch hands again, signal serve tactic to partner, serve. I've seen it!
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I wonder if those will count into the 25 seconds.

How will BWF implement it?

After umpire announces the score?

After player passes the shuttle over?

So line judges only have less than 20 seconds to mop the court if the player dives? That has safety impact.

Lots of unknown details.

What's the penalty for overshooting it? Yellow card? How many players will cry foul if they get a few red cards and lose points for delays?
 
I think it's a good idea to quantify the delay rules, and I'm very interested to see how this will play out!
I'm assuming timing counts from the umpire updating the score (AFTER any line call challenge!), until the serves or is clearly ready to serve but is waiting for the opponent. I'm assuming any mopping at the end of time will not result in blaming the player, but the player still has to be ready immediately after; thus waiting on court, not at the equipment box.

Assuming the normal escalation of penalties: verbal warning, Yellow, Red, and Black cards. But seeing the differentiation in how often verbal warnings are used before a Yellow card is shown, perhaps a direct Yellow will eventually be better for fairness.
 
I really don’t like the inconsistency of verbal warnings given to players. There should only be one warning and then a yellow card. One warning is reasonable. Two verbal warnings before a yellow card has the potential to make more delays. A yellow card itself is a warning as there is no loss of a point.

The interesting thing is in doubles. Does the warning apply to the pair or an individual player? The yellow card so given to the pair.
 
BWF should also fix the inconsistency of verbal warnings before issuing yellow cards. There's no standard to this.

It's still very unclear how BWF intends to implement the countdown timer, and again, this is discretionary due to various scenarios, such as mopping, medical timeouts.

For some situations, this can also lead to undue delays, e.g. after a medical timeout, if both players on both sides still choose to max out the 25 seconds.
 
alien9113 said:
BWF should also fix the inconsistency of verbal warnings before issuing yellow cards. There's no standard to this.

It's still very unclear how BWF intends to implement the countdown timer, and again, this is discretionary due to various scenarios, such as mopping, medical timeouts.

For some situations, this can also lead to undue delays, e.g. after a medical timeout, if both players on both sides still choose to max out the 25 seconds.
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It shouldn't be hard to implement. It works pretty fine in tennis. The shot clock is started as soon as previous point is finished. If the shot clock reaches 0 but mopper is still busy mopping the court, or in the case of medical timeout, the shot clock is irrelevant and play will resume as soon as mopper is ready/medical time out is over.
 
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BWF is introducing a 25-second Time Clock between rallies to make matches faster and more consistent. New regulations clearly define what players can and cannot do between points.

  • After a rally ends, the server has 25 seconds to be ready to serve.
  • Players do not need to serve within 25 seconds – just be in position and ready.
  • Countdown clock beside the court shows the time.
  • Players must watch the clock themselves.
    • The receiver also has 25 seconds.
    • However, once the server is ready (even if under 25 seconds), the receiver cannot delay.
    • What happens if someone is slow?
      • The umpire may call undue delay.
      • This can lead to a warning, yellow card or red card.
      • What does ‘ready’ mean?
        • In serving/receiving position
        • Both feet still and on the ground
        • Server holding the shuttle
        • Receiver’s hand down
        • Players looking at each other
 
What can a player do in those 25 seconds?

  • Talk to coach
  • Towel off or drink
  • Tie shoes
  • Self-apply cold spray or other treatment
No umpire permission needed for these. However, if a rally is lost, the player must follow the umpire’s instruction promptly.

Shuttle change and mopping

  • Shuttle changes must be requested immediately and completed within 25 seconds.
  • Short mopping keeps clock running; long mopping stops the clock.
  • Players must be ready to resume as soon as mopping finishes.
When else can the umpire stop the clock?

  • Disputes
  • Referee intervention
  • Injuries
  • Long IRS (challenge) decisions
  • Any unexpected situation

 
There is still a Grey area about " blocking the shuttle" when the opponent tries to kill the shuttle at net. Some umpires give it a go while some point it out as fault. This issue is way more important than non badminton related issue like ' time delay". BWF is always mute when comes to this.
 
Baddyforall said:
There is still a Grey area about " blocking the shuttle" when the opponent tries to kill the shuttle at net. Some umpires give it a go while some point it out as fault. This issue is way more important than non badminton related issue like ' time delay". BWF is always mute when comes to this.
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This is very subjective, and ultimately, depends on what the umpire saw.

Not sure if there would be solutions to this
 
One thing I don't see addressed is the receiver returning the shuttle. Can you delay 20s to return the shuttle and give the server 5s to serve? Who gets the warning then?

In my opinion the receiver should be required to immediately return the shuttle before doing anything else and it should be solely the server's decision to ask to have the shuttle changed. And if the server goes to pick up the shuttle at the net the receiver should not be allowed to touch it. I never understood why apparently a lot of people think it's the receivers right to snatch the shuttle away from the server and run around with it to waste time.
 
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