In some clubs, some opponents are sort of intermediate level, and stand quite a bit behind the service line when returning serve, as otherwise they find they struggle to get a flick serve. I don't know if that makes it easier or harder to get my low serve(if they're far forward then it comes to them very fast they have to react quickly with their racket, and if they are further back then they might be late), but anyhow, that's not the question...that's just some background to help build a picture of the scenario. When I serve, in doubles, I usually stand very close to the service line(fine), and I can do a low serve that is much harder to return, by extending my arms out far over the service line. Say it's a good serve and the shuttle lands just on or a little past their service line. When I do that, extending my arms out when serving, the opponent has much less time to react. Often they don't even know how that serve came so quickly, so they don't do it back to me!. Is there any rule against a server doing that? My arms are an ok length, but if a player has really long arms then the advantage is even greater!
@Cheung is right, this is allowed. The only rule concerning the positioning during service is §9.1.3: The rule you propose (no part of player or racket over the line) would be very hard to judge - in effect, you'd need two additional server and receiver judges, probably with yet another apparatus. In any case, servers and receivers standing within their courts with arms/rackets outside them is not a problem; good players always do so: If the players in your group struggle with good serves, they need to work on their reaction skills, or maybe move a little bit to the back. If the players in your group struggle with good receivers, they need to work on their serve quality.
Good to know! Always thought I didn’t really have the right to extend my arms further than the service line.
@phihag good pic. I might have done the following sometimes. (in addition to extending my arms out), I think perhaps one can get the shuttle starting quite a lot further forwards by leaning forwards. The player in the pic is still upright.. I wonder why he doesn't lean forwards to close off more distance, considering that it seems like it would be legal to do so?
You can do that. But each player has a optimum hitting point. The closer you get to the net, the more upward momentum you need and that is quite difficult to control when you still need the shuttle to travel to the opposite service line.
To keep flick service possibility. Too much guarding in front of service area will be punished with a flick service in these days.
It wouldn't be a good idea if you want to hit a low serve that should be as tight as possible to the net and still travel far enough over the opponent's service line to avoid giving away a 'loose' serve that benefit the receiver. The closer the shuttle to the net when it is hit, the higher the shuttle would need to go above the net to get pass over it and to the opponent's service line. For friendly matches, a few loose serves might not really do much damage. But for top rank world players, one or two loose serves could be crucial. All double players (especially men) are all too ready to pounce every shuttle down when they are in position to receive (and hence often get tricked by a sudden flick serve).
