Did you know that badminton umpires are all volunteers that take time off from their job, to be able to umpire in these BWF events? I recently spoke to Dr David Evans, who has been umpiring for 14 years, has umpired over 1000 badminton matches and is actually the youngest BWF-certified umpire.
You may have also seen service judges doing different signs during badminton matches. Here David showed us what the most common service faults and signs are! But first, let's answer this question...
What Is The Difference Between An Umpire And A Service Judge?
An umpire's main responsibility is to oversee the match, ensure that rules are followed, and resolve any disputes or issues. They will also be in charge of keeping score throughout the match. A service judge's responsibility is more specific, as they will only monitor the legality of every serve. However, when you train to be an umpire, you are also trained to be a service judge so you will alternate between both roles during a competition.
You can learn more about what badminton umpires do here!
Most Common Badminton Service Faults & Service Judge Signs
Too High
At the point of contact, the whole of the shuttle needs to be hit above 1.15m. If a service judge sees a player hitting the shuttle above this height, they will show this sign, signalling a fault.
Fun Fact: The rule used to be that the whole of the shuttle has to be underneath the lowest rib of the player, which differs a lot across individuals so it has now been changed to be more standardised across players.
David says that this new rule has gone down well, and much fewer players are complaining about other player's serve now, which happened a lot in the doubles before!
Striking The Feathers Of The Shuttle
You must hit the cork of the shuttle first when serving, rather than the feathers. If you fail to do this, it is a fault and the service judge will show this sign. This stops people from being able to spin the shuttle when serving too.
Also, this is a rare one and David has actually never called it before in his 14 years of umpiring!
Foot Fault
There are 2 reasons that you can get a foot fault:
Either your foot is touching any of the court lines as you are serving
Or, both of your feet are not in contact with the floor when serving. When you strike the shuttle, a part of each foot has to be in stationary contact with the floor - this means you can't drag or lift any foot. However, you can pivot as one part of your foot is still on the floor.
Also to clarify, the serve officially starts on completion of the backwards movement, so part of each foot needs to stay stationary from this point onwards.
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Delay In The Forward Movement
On completion of the backward movement (which is where the serve officially begins), there cannot be any delay in moving the racket forward. This refers to a delay between the completion of the backward movement and the start of the forward movement. So, as soon as you go backwards, you have to go forwards immediately. If there is a delay, this will be a fault and the service judge will show this signal.
Not Delivered In A Continuous Motion
The forward movement of the serve has to be in one continuous motion. This means you cannot stop your racket, and then go forwards again at any point during the forward movement. If you do, this is considered a fault and the service judge will show this signal.
Other Commonly Asked Questions
Do you still need to point your racket downwards?
No, because of the new 1.15m rule, the shaft no longer has to point downwards. Now, you can hit it how you like, as long as it's below 1.15m!
Can umpires also call service faults?
Technically, an umpire can also call all of the service faults. However, it is rare for this to happen. Instead, an umpire is more likely to call a delay in the serve before a movement has been made - for example if a player takes too long to serve.
How is the height of a serve measured?
Service judges will have a device with two perspex pieces on it, each with a line on them. One line is black and one line is blue to make it easier to differentiate them apart.
Both of these lines are set at 1.15m so the idea is that when you sit in the chair and look through the device, both lines need to match up. This means the second line needs to dissappear, and the shuttle to be hit below this line, indicating that the player has hit a legal serve, below 1.15m.
These devices also have a levelling feature, and four adjustable feet so the device can be altered depending on the flooring as every hall is different. This means the device can be balanced as needed to ensure its always level!
Does the device really work?
David and I actually did a test for this, where I sat in the service judge chair looking through the device, then David stood on the court with a stick that has a line on it at 1.15m. I told him to stop when I believed it was 1.15m and we would see if it matched the line on his stick!
And sure enough, it was indeed, bang on 1.15m!
I hope you've now learned what some of the most common badminton service judge signals mean. I had an amazing time chatting with Dr David Evans, and I want to say a huge thank you to David and Badminton Wales for making it possible for me to do this! Go check out their website for all things badminton in Wales here!
I also did an in-depth look into what badminton umpires do, including the screen that they use, the different cards, and what their role involves! You can check that one out here. Or, check out the full service judge signs video below.