Wheelchair Badminton: how the serve differs
The service conditions that change in a wheelchair: wheels, shuttle height and service courts.
Why read this
A wheelchair serve follows the same Law 9 as any serve, with clauses added for Wheelchair Badminton (BWF Laws of Badminton, edition in force 26 April 2025). If you do not know the standard conditions yet, start with the lesson on what makes a serve legal.
What changes
- Wheels instead of feet (Law 9.1.4.1): from the start of the service until it is delivered, the wheels of the server and of the receiver must be stationary. The one exception is the natural counter-movement of the server's wheelchair.
- Height (Law 9.1.6.1): the whole shuttle must be below the server's armpit when the racket hits it, instead of below 1.15 metres from the court surface.
- Service courts: Diagrams D and E (Law 9.1.3.1).
What stays the same
The server must release the shuttle without adding spin and the racket must first hit the base; the racket movement must continue forwards; and the server must not miss the shuttle (Laws 9.1.5, 9.1.7 and 9.1.8, with no wheelchair exception). The shuttle must go upwards and, if not intercepted, land in the receiver's service court.
Limits
- Law 9.1.6.1 adds that "Alternative Service Law 9.1.6 (b) also applies", but the edition we read prints no paragraph (a) or (b) under Law 9.1.6. We cannot say what that alternative service is: check the Para badminton regulations of the competition.
- The Laws do not define "natural counter-movement".
- The Laws give no way to measure the armpit height; it is for the officials to judge.
General practice advice: play within your limits and stop if something hurts.