Service Judge: Legal Serve or Fault?

Groups of three: one serves, one receives and one is the service judge using the official rules. Students learn what makes a serve legal and practice serving without faults.

How to play

1. Demo and explanation: the shuttle is hit below 1.15 m from the floor, both feet still and on the floor, serve diagonally, and hit the base of the shuttle first (5 min).
2. Trios on half courts. Server, receiver and judge with a card listing the four faults. Five serves, then rotate (8 min).
3. The server deliberately commits a fault on one serve in five; the judge has to spot which one (5 min).
4. Live serves: after the serve, three shots are played and the judge calls legal or fault (5 min).
5. Group share: which fault slips by most often and how to avoid it (2 min).

Rules

• The judge calls "fault" or "legal" out loud and says why.
• The server accepts the call without arguing; one replay is allowed to settle a doubt.
• Nobody crosses into the next court for a shuttle during play.

Variations

Adaptations

• Deaf or hard-of-hearing students: the judge uses agreed signals (arm up = fault, palm down = legal).
• Wheelchair users: they serve from the chair; the feet rule becomes wheels still.
• Hesitant students: start as judge with a visual card before serving.

Learning goals

• Know the service faults in the rules.
• Serve legally across the diagonal.
• Officiate fairly and accept calls.

Equipment for a class of 25

• badminton rackets: 28
• shuttlecocks: 30
• badminton nets: 5
• cards: 10

Teacher tip

Mark 1.15 m with tape on a tall cone or the wall as a visual reference. Note that the 1.15 m rule is current; older videos show the waist rule.

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