Badminton World Federation extends ban on 'Spin Serve' until after Paris 2024

Kuala Lumpur: The Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Monday announced the extension of the ban on the new unplayable 'spin serve' until after the conclusion of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games in September next year.

Earlier this month, BWF issued a temporary ban on a new 'spin-serve' that has had the attention of the world's top badminton players.

"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," the badminton world governing body said in a statement.

"The BWF Laws of Badminton under 9.1.5 of Section 4.1 now reads that the server shall release the shuttle without adding spin, and the server's racket shall initially hit the base of the shuttle," it added.

BWF Secretary General Thomas Lund reiterated that "BWF welcomed innovation in badminton" but added that "more evidence was needed on the potential effects" of the serve before introducing it full scale.

The new spin serve was first implemented in tournaments at the Polish Open 2023 in March by Danish doubles player Marcus Rindshoj in the second round of the tournament. Since then, the innovative trick created a rage in international badminton with players across the globe trying their hand to learn this new technique.

In the spin serve technique, the server traps the cork between the middle finger and the thumb and tries to put a spin to it with a carrom strike motion before sending it across the net with the racquet. Spinning the cork before hitting, it produces an unthinkable spin which makes it difficult for the player on the receiving end to pick up.