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The Badminton World Federation (BWF) had temporarily banned the ‘spin serve’ for Sudirman Cup and Malaysia Masters saying it had a ‘negative impact’ on the game. They had added an amendment to 9.1.5 of Section 4.1 of the BWF Laws which now stated that ‘the server shall release the shuttle without adding spin’. The Federation as per the latest update has extended the ban for 15 more months which means the serve will be illegal at the Paris Olympics and the Paralympics.
BWF Secretary General Thomas Lund reiterated that BWF welcomed innovation, but more evidence was needed on the potential effects’ before its normalization. The spin serve involves the shuttler holding the cork of the shuttlecock in between his or her thumb and middle finger and spinning it with a carrom strike motion before sending it across the net with the racquet. It was first started by Danish doubles player Marcus Rindshoj who scored a lot of points using it at the Danish Open.
The BWF said in a statement, "After consultation with the badminton community, BWF Council believed it best to forbid the ‘spin serve’ for another 15 months so as to not impact the Olympic and Paralympic qualifying periods and the Games themselves." Supporting the ban, the Badminton Association of Malaysia President had earlier said that the service could ‘kill’ the game and will be applied from the Thailand Open 2023. The Thailand Open will start in Bangkok, Thailand on Tuesday, May 30.
