I haven't been playing long, and found out recently that if only the feathers land inside the court it is counted as out. I've looked over the rules, and I don't see where it says that the head must land inside the court. The first question is what is the definition of a shuttle? Is it everything including the feathers? Here are the relevant parts of the rules: 2.1 The shuttle shall be made of natural and / or synthetic materials. From whatever material the shuttle is made, the flight characteristics generally shall be similar to those produced by a natural feathered shuttle with a cork base covered by a thin layer of leather. 2.2 Feathered Shuttle 2.2.1 The shuttle shall have 16 feathers fixed in the base. 2.2.6 The shuttle shall weigh from 4.74 to 5.50 grams. 3.3 if in play, the shuttle: 13.3.1 lands outside the boundaries of the court (i.e. not on or within the boundary lines); It looks like the feathers are considered part of the shuttle, after all the 4.74 to 5.50 grams rule obviously includes feathers. But if this is the case, how could a shuttle be out if just the feathers land in the court?
The head of the shuttle is the part that counts for where it lands. A shuttle will almost always land on its head if not always. Sent from my LG-H930 using Tapatalk
Looking at official BWF tournaments.. players will be given 2 challenges in each set to determine whether the shuttle is in or out. Upon request, hawkeye will come into play where the video review will always show where the head of the shuttle lands in the court, instead of the feather.
Can you provide a reference to the rule that says this? The rules, specifically §13.3.1, say It shall be a fault if the shuttle lands outside the boundaries of the court, and do not specify which part of the shuttle. So the point of contact is the one that counts (HawkEye graphics do show an area instead of a point, but this has no relation to the actual rules, as the graphics are just for entertainment). I agree that in practice, this is always the base of the shuttle, but it doesn't necessarily have to be.
The lawbook section 2 provides the definition of shuttle. Yes. You are thinking too much. Try keeping it simple. Extending your depiction, this will be a 'let' condition. That is, not OUT, not IN. Hint: This is when the feathers have separated from the base, so even though the collective weight is in range, it is no longer a shuttle, as the feathers are not affixed in base (L2.2.1). Many players play spinning net shots, tumblers, chops, and myriad others so that the shuttle will not stabilise. This is when the first contact of the shuttle with the court surface will be feather(s).
I went for line judge training as a volunteer for the Australian Open. They taught that it makes no difference which part of the shuttle lands in.
You could have just read the posts here and would have learned the same thing, albeit earlier, avoiding all that hassle of training and volunteering!