Manual Officiating In Badminton
The manual provides descriptions of officiating excellence, personal appearance, uniform. The referee is the most senior official in a badminton tournament and they in overall charge of all matters which affect play and the players on and off court.
- Badminton Asia Confederation Certificated umpire shouting or making gestures, hand it over to. Manual Officiating In Badminton Hand Signals Pictures Read/Download Handbook II - 2015/16 - Laws and General Competition Regulations Section 2. Manual includes policies governing Facility Access, Facility Scheduling and Facility/Area Use.
- The referee is overall in charge of the tournament competition ensuring that the tournament is conducted in accordance with the Laws of Badminton, the rules and regulations of the BWF and any other regulations pertinent to the specific competition.
Badminton officials share the officiating roles and responsibilities during the game. Understanding the function of technical officials in badminton will help you keep control of players and spectators.
In most major tournaments, there will be at least thirteen (13) officiating officials in badminton. The list includes one referee, one umpire, a service judge, and up to ten (10) line judges.
Badminton Officials Duties: Table of Contents
Note: Technical officials have their own specific roles and responsibilities. Even so, they all share some common officiating duties and functions during a competition.
The BWF can award extra responsibilities to badminton officials, such as the supervision and the accountability to spectators. These extra duties would apply most in top international games and elite competitions.
The vital part played by the officials of badminton, includes enforcing and amalgamating authority. Guiding player appeals is also part of the roles and responsibilities of officials in badminton.
So, the question is:
Who are the officials in badminton? They are a group of individuals appointed by the sport's governing body. Their role, as functionary team members, is to officiate the games. In simple terms, they will govern over, and regulate, fouls and rules infringements.
You will see them directing rule verdicts during international tournaments. Their roles also extend to authorising competitive championships and elite televised events.
BWF Technical Officials Roles
Badminton World Federation (BWF) provides qualified and highly skilled Technical Officials of badminton for the top signature events.
The role of Technical Officials (TOs) is critical for the sport, especially at the international level. Officiating officials will get specialist materials supplied to them for all competitive matches. They documentation will include superior training materials and up-to-date resources on refereeing guidelines.
Note: Check out our badminton terminology section to learn more about the lingo used by players and the administrators.
Role of Referee in Badminton
The laws of the Badminton World Federation grant overall authority to the match referee. So, a badminton referee will have total governance during any entire tournament or formal event.
Match referees should ensure the practice schedules, facilities, playing conditions, and player's equipment meet the standards set out by the health and safety rules and official laws of the game.
All referees will have attained significant badminton qualifications in order to officiate the games. But, it is a tournament referee who establishes an appropriate panel of technical officials (where required).
The tournament referee has complete authority over any championships or international competitions. It includes those with several individual umpires or judges. That said, they all have contributing roles and responsibilities as sanctioned officials.
Note: Read more about the general appearance of badminton officials in the equipment and accessories section.
Role of an Umpire in Badminton
There are many responsibilities of an umpire in badminton. But, umpires have one main focus. That is the close monitoring and governance of all sporting activities on the court.
Note: A badminton umpire will also integrate control over any immediate spectator viewing areas.
Match umpires should apply, authorize, and regulate the laws of the game. They will supervise the service judge and line judges (details below).
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) is the governing body of the sport. As such, control administered by badminton officials, and conduct of the players, must fall under the BWF codified regulations of play.
Badminton Umpires Authority
Umpire roles and responsibilities apply to the match being played on the court they are officiating. Thus, they should enforce all badminton rules and regulations on their particular court. These rulings apply to calls and umpire hand signals relating to 'LETS', game faults, and service faults.
Umpiring responsibilities provide them with full authority in the application of any lawful sanctions during the particular match which they oversee.
Officiating officials of badminton, and their functions, have several levels of jurisdiction. They would all have control over the players and spectators. They govern the regulations of a match 'collectively'.
Umpiring assistants should include a service judge and several line judges. They will be responsible for calling service faults and line errors (in or out).
There is great importance in the functional duties and roles played by the service and line judges. But, the umpire in badminton can use discretion and overrule calls or signals made by refereeing assistants.
The umpire should announce the score to the players and to the audience after each point. The same duty would apply as the scores change throughout a match.
Another function of the umpire is to record any incidents of misconduct committed by the players and to report infringements to the referee.
Note: As a rule, championship organizers would provide badminton umpiring equipment and clothing.
The jurisdiction of umpires in badminton exists from the moment they enter the court. That means they have control even before a match starts. It would continue until the game has finished - reporting to and acting under the authority of the referee.
Umpire in Badminton Duties and Decisions
- A badminton umpire signals for, records, and then reports all incidents of player misconduct.
- In most cases, badminton umpire hand signals will be directed to the players while seated on a high chair.
- Umpires in badminton must enforce all game laws and court rules.
- A badminton umpire calls decisions on service faults, lets, and any other player faults.
- Throughout the game, the umpire must announce the match score to the players and to any watching audience.
Note: Check our Pinterest badminton section for some great pictures of players and equipment.
What if an umpire chooses to appoint officiating officials in badminton? In fact, appointing any particular service judge and line judges is another role and characteristic of the umpire.
Match umpires can appoint a team of judges at their discretion - explaining how to officiate badminton on his or her court. They also have authority to replace them (after consulting with the tournament referee).
Responsibilities of a Service Judge
A popular question is: what is the role of a service judge in badminton? In fact, they have two important roles:
- Calling service faults
- Keeping hold of, and handing out, shuttles
It would not be uncommon for the umpire to delegate some of their own duties to a service judge. Typical examples include:
- Checking shuttle speeds and the height of the net
- Making sure the position of the poles is correct
Even so, the chief role for a service judge is watching over the server and checking whether the serves made are legal.
The service judge will sit on a low chair, located at the middle of the court (directly opposite the umpire). But, the role of the service judge would go to the umpire if no service judge has been appointed.
Note: Don't be fooled in thinking the service judge has an easy job. In fact, monitoring the badminton serve is an important, and sometimes controversial, aspect of the game. Hence the need to dedicate a judge to that particular role.
Badminton Line Judge Responsibilities
There are several functions for a line judge in badminton. They are responsible for monitoring the service, side lines, and baseline during a match.
The role in the game is such that a line judge must decide and announce - by verbal call and hand signals for badminton - whether the shuttle has landed inside or outside of the boundary lines.
Line judges have the responsibility of calling a shuttlecock IN or OUT. Whereas, the chief task of a service judge in badminton is calling any service faults committed by the players.
Note: Learn more about badminton court size, net height, and line markings in the technical section.
Badminton Officials and Player Appeals
Players can appeal decisions made by service or line judges. If it happens, the umpire should provide a ruling on any protested calls. The outcome may result in them upholding or overturning the original call.
Umpires in badminton should consult the tournament referee if they are unsure how to rule any particular appeal. All player appeals should reach an amiable result before the match resumes at the next serve.
Related Guides:
Badminton officiating tool kit
Badminton frequently asked questions
Health and safety rules in badminton
Badminton Officials and their Duties Explained
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What are the steps to becoming a recognized Badminton umpire, eventually at the Olympics?What resources are helpful in becoming a (good) umpire?
1 Answer
Before becoming an international umpire, you must first acquire the highest national qualification. In large countries, in order to become a national umpire, you must first acquire the highest regional qualification. Peruse your country's national and regional federations' websites to find out more - note that many may use the term technical officials (TOs), which also encompasses referees and line judges.
The courses and tests of the Badminton associations will cover everything you need to know, but may only be offered annually. Fortunately, there are a number of things you can do right now in order to become an excellent umpire:
First of all, you should familiarize yourself with the Laws of Badminton. You may know the basics from playing, but there are some prevalent misconceptions or simply ignorance about the finer details. Note that your federation's translation/adaption of the Laws may introduce important additional notes. For instance, the German Laws add default rules for the shuttle hitting the roof, and specify minimum free space around the court.
Afterwards, make sure to read and understand the Instructions to Technical Officials (ITTO) and the Vocabulary. Again, make sure to consult your local federation's adaption - most notably, national-level matches are typically umpired in the local language, so you need to know the local-language translations of the vocabulary. Laws, ITTO, and vocabulary form the basic knowledge you need for umpiring.
There are, however, a number of other regulations you should be aware of. Look through your federation's and BWF's regulations for
- Code of Conduct for umpires (in short, being impartial and avoiding any impression to the contrary, notably betting)
- Umpire regulations, covering structure of the TO organizations, details of umpire education and testing, expense handling etc.
- General competition regulations of your tournament, which cover player's clothing and minimum standards you may have to check (e.g. court mats), result reporting, among many others. You can have a look at the GCRs for international tournaments, but national regulations are likely to be different.
- Player's code of Conduct, which describe potential misconduct by the players
In addition to the regulation, there is some training material and more complete written advice; I'm aware of the BWF Umpire Training Manual and BWF umpire training tips. The book The Art of Umpiring also offers some unique perspectives, albeit being rather short and general.
In order to get a feel for umpiring, the correct vocabulary and much more, you can simply watch the umpires at a tournament. While the BWF channel shows very high-level play, umpiring is typically different at lower levels where you don't necessarily have a service judge, let alone a dozen line judges or an Instant Review System. As such, it is highly advisable to visit national-level matches, and not only enjoy the game, but also take note of the umpires. Of course, you can also watch the umpires at low-level tournaments, but be aware many of them may be inexperienced and thus prone to errors themselves.
To pass your umpiring test, you should also try umpiring a couple of matches beforehand, for instance in your own club. If you are feeling somewhat comfortable doing that, try recording yourself and spotting all the (minor) mistakes, for instance vocabulary inaccuracies or an incorrect score sheet.
You can employ software like the badminton umpire panel¹ to verify the precise notation in the umpire's score sheet and correct vocabulary - simply input your match and press a to show/hide umpire announcements, and s to see the score sheet.
Finally, in order to be an umpire, you'll need a couple of utensils and clothing. Since you should now be aware of your federation's regulations, look up whether and how the federation distributes them; you may have to buy some yourself. These are:
- Umpire shirt. For higher levels, you usually need to buy (or sometimes are provided with) a specialized shirt or sweater.
- Long black trousers - my fashion-cognizant colleagues tell me this should be no problem in most households.
- Black socks.
- Black shoes. Since you'll be stepping in the player's area and on court, these must be clean - if possible, get a pair for umpiring only.
- A coin to make the initial selection (if you're unsure of how that works, it's time to review §6 of the laws, the ITTO, and the umpire training tips). Any coin will do, but many umpires prefer specialized coins for clarity when dealing with non-native speakers. I have seen shuttle/racket coins (instead of tails/heads), but personally prefer primary colors (white/blue, white/black, yellow/black etc.) since these will be very easy to distinguish, and color names are understood by most non-native speakers.
- Red and yellow cards. Yellow and red penalty cards can be bought at many online retailers. If you're umpiring without a referee, you'll also need a black card, which is somewhat harder to acquire. I used a 3D printer to make a nice black card; you can also repaint a white or even yellow card.
- A stopwatch to measure interval and interruption lengths.
- A clipboard to hold the score sheet, unless an electronic scoring system is provided (very rare at lower levels).
- A 2 meter stick in order to check the net height.
Officiating In Badminton
If you have any additional questions about laws or umpiring, you can ask them right on this site. Despite being essential for high-level competition, Badminton umpiring can be hard and and ungrateful. However, you also get to experience the sport at a highest level up close from a unique perspective. Best of luck!
¹ Disclaimer: I am the prime developer of bup, the linked software. If I ever become aware of any other software that can do the same, I'll add a link here as well.