Game corruption or genius? Badminton sport under the spell of “unplayable” storage technique | Badminton

The instigator of the fuss is called Marcus Rindshoj. The young Dane, a virtually unknown player, developed a completely new storage technique: the “tornado service”.

When Rindshoj also used the revolutionary trick in competition in March, he won point after point with it. Hardly anyone managed to return the shuttle – popularly known as the plume.

Rindshoj was soon followed, also in the professional circuit, and the serve went viral.

That was not to the liking of the world badminton federation BWF. She believes that the service spoils the game – after all, it reduces rallies to three strokes at the most.

It was therefore promptly decided on Friday to temporarily ban storage. At the end of May, the suspension will be re-analyzed and, in all likelihood, converted into a definitive ban.

What is the secret of prohibited storage? “Normally, serves in badminton are played tightly on the cap of the shuttle,” Sporza journalist Christophe Vandegoor explains in Nieuwe Feiten on Radio 1.

“But Rindshoj holds the shuttlecock by the cap with his middle finger and thumb as if he is going to shoot a wad. The shuttle spins enormously by shooting away, and if you then – without too much force – hit it just over the net, you create you have an unpredictable spin effect.”

“It is almost impossible for the opponent to return the shuttle properly. And then you get match situations where the player at the service scores point after point, without resistance.”

“The BWF argues that this is extremely boring for the viewer. In addition, they are also thinking about the Games in Paris next year. If low-ranking players in the qualifying tournaments unpack with this serving technique, the table of the main tournament could be filled with the lesser gods.”

There is something to be said for keeping the sport attractive. On the other hand: shouldn’t athletes be given all the freedom and creativity to win a competition – in a regulatory manner?

“Absolutely, that’s why we’ve seen so many high-profile revolutions throughout sports history,” says Vandegoor. “Just think of the Fosbury flop in the high jump, with which Dick Fosbury won gold at the 1968 Games in Mexico City by jumping over the bar with his back first.”

“In basketball you had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s Skyhook, which was almost indefensible in the 1970s. And in ski jumping it was also revolutionary when the Swede Jan Boklov held his skis in a V-shape and floated further than the rest.”

Opinions are therefore divided, yet it seems unlikely that Rindshoj’s name will soon be mentioned in the same breath as Fosbury or Abdul-Jabbar.

Let’s wait and see what the final verdict of the BWF will be.