BWF to start testing new experimental service law from March 2018

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) will start new rule; the racquet to be at the fixed height of 1.15 meters above the surface of the court at the instant of being hit by the server’s racquet. BWF is intended to start testing of this Experimental Service Law from March 1st, 2018, including at the TOTAL BWF Thomas & Uber Cup Finals 2018 in Bangkok and at the TOTAL BWF World Championships 2018 in Nanjing.

At the recent meeting by the BWF Council in Montego Bay, Jamaica, the finalisation of arrangements for this implementation was among decisions made by the members.  One of the other decisions at the meeting was by the development department, which is the approval of USD 6 million by the international federation to support capacity building within its continental confederations over the next six years.

The first event of the new BWF tournament series at which this experimental law will be introduced is the All England Open Badminton Championships 2018; all Grade-1 events will undergo this testing except the BWF World Junior Championships.  The change of the proposed rule will be brought before the BWF Annual General Meeting in May to give effect to this testing.

BWF President Poul-Erik Høyer said, “The serve is an integral part of badminton. Over the years, we have been looking for ways to improve how the service laws are applied.”

“Therefore, after various investigations and deliberations, the Council has determined to implement this Experimental Service Law in an effort to improve the application of the service laws at BWF tournaments. We hope this will yield positive feedback from our membership,” he added.

On the other hand, BWF will be hosting training workshops for BWF Umpire Assessors in Kuala Lumpur in January followed by holding training courses by the BWF Umpire Assessors at the continental team championships in February; the training includes how to use the measuring devices that will determine service height.

“As our sport grows globally and the demands for resources increase, it is crucial that we equip our confederations to deliver projects effectively to our member associations,” noted Høyer.

“Our objective is to ensure confederations can offer tailor-made services to our membership to propel badminton’s development at a regional and national level.”

BWF, on the account of focusing to develop players outside of the court, explained, “We want to help players develop commercial best practices as well as to understand how they can market themselves better as commercial properties; essentially how they and badminton can benefit from their on-court success. This will involve elements such as social-media management, language training, media training and how to maximise their commercial value to sponsors,” by  BWF Secretary General Thomas Lund.