I would say the real question at hand is still "Is it necessary for an ammendment to the laws be made in the first place." This is always going to be an ugly topic of dispute. It's like making those close line in/out calls. The best we can do as honourable players is to strive to uphold the spirit of the law, and not just sit there trying to interpret the letter of the law. That's when you start to see "caution, contents are hot" on coffee cups. After we all get tired of ripping this topic to shreds, I have a great idea for pressure-sensitive flooring. You know, to make the line calls easier and less succeptible to poor human judgement.
At some point, some ammendments will be required as more and more players complain about questionable calls. In an ideal world, the honor system should work. At the professional levels, however, players will try to gain whatever edge they can. Casual players can probably just "stick to the rules" for the sake of good sportsmanship, but at the highest levels of play some acceptable standards must be set. Try to look at tennis, for example, as they utilize the eagle eye system. Although some of the calls are bordering on ridiculous, (like 1mm of the ball clipping the line) it has now become the accepted standard on line calls.
I agree. Hawk eye wasn't part of the rules in tennis before. Too bad BWF can't afford to use Hawk eye in badminton. It would definitely help ending disputes in bad line calls. Who knows? There could even be a hawk eye-like device that could help detect the service level. This sport needs more popularity to attract more funding. Technology-wise, we're getting left behind.
Is it Hawk Eye? Got confused with my birds there for a bit, lol Maybe the HawkEye system isn't the best example for it, but the point is that they should at the very least have a more standard basis for making calls. As of now, we can look to instant replays for line calls, but we can't instant replay service faults mainly because the lowest rib isn't even visible. The only thing you could verify from replays is if it was struck really high, or if the racket head wasn't pointing downward.
tomato tomato, potato potato (ooops! didn't realize however I pronounce it, the spelling is still the same) Eagle eye ... hmmm ... maybe you were thinking of the Shia LaBeouf movie.
I don't personally think we really need a change - I just don't think it's that big of a deal. Look at the world rankings - they're dominated by asian players with an average height of about 5'8". Where are all the 6'0"+ european players who supposedly get such an unfair advantage from being able to strike the shuttle higher on their serves? (I hope that doesn't sound racist to anyone, it's not meant to.) Certainly at lower levels of play, where there aren't large sums of money on the line, I'd like to think we can leave it to players to stay within the rules.
As many people have also argued, the advantage gained by being taller should not be labeled "unfair". It's a perfectly fair athletic advantage. The main discussion is focused on players trying to cheat the service, hitting the shuttle above the bottom rib for example. The simplest solution proposed here is to make a modification to the player's shirt to indicate the proper height level for the shuttle during the serve.
To repeat myself: We need to think outside the competition box A proposed change is of no practical value unless it can be adopted by everyone everywhere, and not just by those in competition. Let's say you are playing at your club. Would you refuse to play simply because your opponent isn't wearing a marked shirt? Where I play, a great many are occasionally shirtless in play. So, what do we do? Banish them or run lines on their waists? As suggested earlier, mark the net, not the player or his attire. If that isn't practical, shift to another form for the serve - from the back!
Let's say you are playing at your club. Would you refuse to play simply because there aren't line-judges or a service judge? Where I play, a great many ribs can be seen when people play shirtless. As I have stated earlier, marking the net is useless. The net is too far away form the player, the service judge can't compare the height easily. Also, marking the net makes it mandatory to always needing a third party checking the serve. Unless you think forcing the receiver to be in the perfect position to line up the marking on the net and his opponent. A proposed change is of no practical value unless it can be adopted by everyone everywhere, and not just by those in competition.
The fair/unfair aspect of it, wasn't really what I was getting at. More that serving from slightly too high isn't going to give a player sufficient advantage to be worth worrying about. I think everyone accepts that the bottom rib is just an arbitrary measure anyway. If a player's serve is blatantly illegal, they're already going to get called on it. If it's so close that you need cameras/shirt markings etc, then I don't think it's going to be detrimental to the game if they get away with. The easy solution would be to just get rid of the rule, and replace it with something more general - eg. serve must be underhand, and in an upward direction. I really don't think any change is needed though. Or, as Oldhand didn't quite get as far as suggesting, why not make everyone play shirtless? Then the bottom rib would be visible, plus viewing figures for ladies/mixed games would surely improve
lol, Would mixdouble then become more popular?! Next week I will try to mark one of my players with strappal tape, so he can practise not serving too high! Concerning the judges and subjectivity, is it then soely a disadvantage? If A (a high player) and B) (a low player) is playing, is it then "unfair", if the judge accept a few milimeter higher than lowest rib for B), because the visibilty is vague??? Badminton is also about adapting, like if there is wind and so on, so I belive the problem for judges is more making consistency throughout the game! Attach to the body we need something more visible than lowest rib, right! I suggest for the backhand serve, that the angle between the arm with which you hold the shuttle and your body, should be agreed! Still subjective, but much more visible than the lowest rib. Just like the law, concerning the racket pointing downward! From the judges position it is much easier and consistent. It is also a rule that will help beginners making their serve more consistent, as they become more aware of holding the shuttle at the same place every time.
Shirtless!!! That's against our court rules. I would love to play shirtless especially during summer. But it's in the court rules, so we adhere. One would look stupid if he can't follow just a simple rule. Just the same as if it's in the rules to stick marker tapes to the shirts, everyone should follow. I haven't tried serving from the back. It's too much of a change. But hey! I'm open minded. If it works, then why not try it. However, there would pros and cons to this kind of drastic amendment. I still think that it would be better to take it slow. We should take it slow ... we're just ordinary people. We don't know which way to go. Take it slow, oh, oh, oh ... this time we'll take it slow (John Legend).
Golf may have started a trend - it could work for badminton! http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/b0/f...5ef9049-getty-84056244dc073_world_golf_ch.jpg http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/d1/f...7df8043-getty-84056244dc072_world_golf_ch.jpg
I may have missed this..., but couldn't you just have their shirts have a visible line across that is approximately the height for of their ribs. Have size small, medium, large, X-large or whatever, and each of the shirts incorporates a solid line across. And that line is at a similar height as their lowest rib. Simple, cheap, and I think somewhat effective.
Hello wun.sun. You might want to go over the thread again. This has been proposed by 3 BCers already http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67168&page=2
