BWF Council Extends the Ban on ‘Spin Serve’ until After Paris 2024

The BWF Council has extended the ban on the ‘spin serve’ for another 15 months, until after the conclusion of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, in September next year.

This follows the BWF announcement of an interim ban on 12 May 2023 (linked here).

At its meeting in Kuala Lumpur today, the BWF Council carefully considered the implications of allowing this new kind of serve during the qualification periods for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

After consultation with the badminton community (listen to the feedback from the community), BWF Council concluded that it was best to continue the ban on the serve for another 15 months so it did not impact players during the Olympic and Paralympic qualifying periods.

Whilst the BWF Council encourages innovation in the sport, it determined that more research had to be done on the potential effects of the spin serve on the game. This evidence gathering should not take place in qualification matches during this important period.

The BWF Laws of Badminton, under Clause 9.1.5 of Section 4.1, now read that the server shall release the shuttle without adding spin, and the server’s racket shall initially hit the base of the shuttle.

Please circulate the enclosed to your team managers, coaches, and players.

Press Release / Contact

Please see the BWF press release on the extension of the ban of the ‘spin serve’.

Please contact Chris Trenholme, Deputy Events Director – Technical Events Management [email protected] if you have any questions on the enclosed.