Umpiring

UMPIRING
A GUIDE TO BECOMING A BADMINTON UMPIRE
CORMAC BRESLIN
BWF Certificated Umpire
Page 1
Table of Contents
Pages
Introduction
It is an art Not a science
3 - 5
Off-court
People
7 - 8
Teamwork Off-court
9 - 11
The Game is on
Difficult situations
Ambitions & Goals
12 - 14
Using your time well Off-court
15 - 16
Socialising
17 - 18
The Court
20 - 21
The Toss
22 - 24
The warm-up and intervals
25 - 27
Score-keeping and score-keepers
28 - 29
The Net
30 - 32
Emotions & Feelings yours!
33 - 34
Evaluation from within and without
35 - 37
Cards and Warnings Warnings and Cards
39 - 41
Over-Ruling
42 - 43
Service Judging
44 - 45
FAULTS!
47 - 65
Score-sheets and Machines
67 - 70
Watch other sports
71 - 72
Appendices
Badminton Umpiring by Malcolm Croft
74 - 82
Service Judging
83 - 85
Pierluigi COLLINA The Rules of the Game

A match score-sheet
CORMAC BRESLIN
86
87 - 88
Page 2
It is an art NOT a science.
An introduction,
You are an umpire. You have sat through a course for prospective umpires. As a result
you should know the Rules (Laws) of Badminton, at least, better than most. You are still
not an umpire you are a score-keeper, probably a good one at that, Keeping the
score is one thing but keeping track of the player's positions is an additional skill and
knowing the score does not produce a ready answer to the question, during a doubles'
match, of 'are the players in the correct positions at service?'. If you are not certain
where the players should be then how can you be sure that an error has not occurred on
service with regard to the server, the receiver or both! All of a sudden, score-keeping has
become difficult and umpiring impossible.
So, let us start again. Here in summary, in essence, is what umpiring is:
Umpiring is Control and Management

This statement should be applied to all that follows.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 3
You are not in Control and therefore not an umpire if you know the Laws but cannot
keep the score, or are unsure about player positions. The same applies if you are unsure
of the Laws but are good as a score-keeper. You are getting there when you can tick all
three boxes. The most difficult obstacle to your progress as an umpire is yourself! You
have half the knowledge required you know the Laws but you do not, as yet,
understand the Laws.
The Laws are there in black and white. You need to read and re-read them many times.
Now you have learnt The Laws of Badminton.
Only by applying on-court situations to the Laws do you come to a place, in your mind,
where understanding has been achieved. You will find at this point of both knowing and
understanding, that, even though the Laws are quite inflexible when seen on paper that
they can actually be quite flexible and open to interpretation.
The above represents the easy part of Umpiring. Here we were dealing with the fixtures
and fittings. To become whole we have to include the human factor. It is the human
factor that makes it a sport. As before, it is not simply the players who provide the human
factor there is you, the umpire and the players; there is player A and player B; there is
side X and side Y. All good things come in pairs umpiring was never going to be just
an issue of learning the Laws but of both learning and understanding; never going to be
just keeping the score but also of knowing who should be where and when; never going
to be just player control but there is yourself too.
Ultimately, to umpire successfully, you have to be able to both Control and Manage the
circumstances on your court. This is akin to driving behind another car. The court and all
that is happening on it are the car in front of you and for you to achieve both Control and
Management of your driving (umpiring) you need to be able to put yourself inside the
mind of the other driver (the players / game) which is in front of you. Only then can you
have any realistic chance of knowing what is going to happen next.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 4
So, in addition to Control and Management we need to add Anticipation.
When you have all of the above qualities you are indeed an umpire and a good one at
that.
Let us move on but never, ever, forget the three essentials of umpiring, all of which are
dependant on one another
CONTROL
MANAGEMENT
ANTICIPATION
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 5
Off-court
Off-court
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 6
People
It would be hard to find a more mixed collection of people anywhere. In umpiring, we
have a group, men and women, from as diverse a range of professions and occupations
that you could wish to imagine.
There is not one ideal source for a good umpire, but the variety of professions and
occupations from which they come does have a bearing on the style of each umpire.
There is a constant call for a consistency of approach to umpiring and this, in truth, is
quite an unattainable goal. Whereas players have a common purpose and agenda,
umpires go to court with a much broader brief.
The skill of umpiring is such that an umpire should ideally go to court with a general
outline of the job to be done. You wish to make an impression at the very outset. You
are going to give confidence to the players and show them that you are competent,
organised, relaxed but, most of all, in control of yourself, the court and the match which
is about to take place.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 7
You may be a teacher by profession but to lecture or instruct the players as you would
students on a day to day basis may well be the very approach that creates a barrier
between you and a player and the game has not even started yet!
The important quality to bring with you to umpiring is experience. Players may well find
us inconsistent but that is because there are certain lines which a teacher will not cross
but an accountant will and vice-versa. This is something a player needs to both
appreciate and come to grips with.
Our professions / occupations represent those personal qualities that we excel at. It is,
afterall, how we pay the bills. It is not possible to stop being a mechanic, a teacher, a
postman or whatever our profession is because, quite simply, that is what we are. But,
we should endeavour to leave as much of our profession at courtside as is possible.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 8
Teamwork off-court
Even though many different types of person become umpires their behaviour off-court
usually falls into four categories.
Before we start though, we should all recognise that, as umpires, we present ourselves
at an event as individuals but we immediately become part of a team. Turning a group of
individuals into a team is what will contribute to making a successful tournament.
Teamwork has failed at an event when the following GROUPS form :
GROUP 1:
A very traditional group men only and women only.
GROUP 2:
Xenophobic? Probably not but it comprises like nationalities.
GROUP 3:
Similarly graded umpires.
GROUP 4:
A complete contradiction individuals, alone.
Within these Groups you will also find umpires who, drawn like staples to a magnet, are
always to be found either at, the Referees side, Match Control or Umpire Control.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 9
There is, of course, a fifth category of umpire and that is the one who mixes. This is
where you as an umpire should be striving to be. We may all fall, quite naturally, into
categories 1 to 4 but we are part of a team now and should act accordingly.
You should be aware that you are always on show and being observed by your fellow
officials.
Have another look at the groups above and now, let us imagine situations where it could
all go terribly wrong, especially, if you, by your nature, usually gravitate at events
towards groups 1 to 4.
GROUP 1:
You are the only man / woman present. Your fall back option is to default
to group 4. The result is that you have failed to become part of the
team. In fact, you have not even tried.
GROUP 2:
You are the only one from your country or region present. Even if you find
that there is someone local enough for you does it seem practical to stick
to them like a limpet for the whole event? Of course, there is always the
default of category 4! Yet again failure (!) from a teamwork and
therefore event perspective.
GROUP 3:
To stick together within similar grades, especially as you progress up the

grades will mean that you come across as being elitist and aloof. Groups
form within the team and the team is not a team anymore. This is one of
the greatest and most common problem areas at events.
GROUP 4:
You have a problem!
Why did you ever become an umpire in the first place?!
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 10
As for those who gravitate to the side of the Referee, Match Control and/or Umpire
Control, they are perceived as umpires who are pushing their own self interests over
their fellow umpires. Why do they find it necessary to endear themselves so when the
rest of the team do not?
There are also those amongst us who also find it necessary to hear themselves talking
at the Referees Briefing. It comes across as a sense of insecurity and invariably it is
only something obvious that is being pointed out, something the rest of the team were
able and capable of working out for themselves.
The aim at an event is to create a team spirit and to foster a sense of oneness. As you
can see, it is easy to de-rail this goal and we therefore should be ever conscious of how
we deport ourselves and the impact of our actions.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 11
Ambitions & Goals

Patience, which can be difficult, and also perseverance are required if you wish to
succeed and become a good umpire.
As an individual you have to be realistic with both your ambitions and goals. One feeds
the other here and trying not to get too far ahead of yourself is so very important.
Becoming an umpire is all about stepping stones. At the start, there are many .., The
Laws, The Score, The Court, Service Judging, Faults, Lets, .
There is a progression here and it is necessary to step on each one and it will be vital
that you re-visit them, time and time again.
As you progress up the ladder, and you will, because, all the time you are gaining
experience the distance between the steps will become greater. This distance is time
and as you progress you need time to assess where you are now so as to both prove
and ready yourself for the next step.
At the start of your umpiring career it is a mad flurry of new information. You no sooner
learn how to do something than you find out that there is actually a right way and wrong
way to do it. The Toss is the simplest example of this but we will keep that for later. The
umpire with potential is going to take all that they hear and see on board. A good umpire
will try to make sense of the good, the bad and the just plain difficult. Immediately this
type of umpire will be setting themselves apart from those who think that umpiring is
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 12
about knowing The Laws and keeping the score. The other type of umpire will have set
their personal goal at a very early point in the learning process and invariably will be
reluctant, if not unwilling, to push themselves beyond this point. They are the ones who
took everything on board, in a literal way, during their first day of instruction.
An example of this is that they were told to write the score and then call it. This
instruction was given because, to start formal umpiring with a score-sheet can be such a
new thing from previous practice of standing courtside and calling only, that the new
umpire could easily forget to write the score on the score-sheet. Very soon into umpiring
you will find that it is at exactly this moment that the net gets a clatter, that a racket flies
from a hand, that a player loses the plot.
An umpire, who is progressing, pushing themselves forward, will see what has happened
above and will learn to do what they have been instructed to do, as in write and call, but
only after they have assessed the post-point, on-court situation. Many umpires never
even progress past this stage of development.
It is necessary to do and to observe the big matches and all events, regardless of level,
have them. It is not a case of ticking boxes and saying that you have been there and
done that, you need to be sure that you are comfortable with the point that you have now
arrived at, that, when you sit in the chair to start the match that this is exactly where you
should be. It is vitally important that you have done well at the level you are now at
before you push on. It is not a matter of time where you just progress once the minimum
period of a year or two are up. Such an umpire has a disaster of a match waiting for
them somewhere in the future. Such an umpire has banked nothing if this is all that they
have done. To progress, you should feel tested and you should have learned something.
Time is nothing but hours and minutes; experience is matches. Progress is doing semifinals and finals and coming away from these matches, not only feeling, but knowing,
that you were in control, not only of the match but also and most especially of yourself.
Ultimately, that you were happy with where you were.
It is possible to slip through and to progress beyond your capabilities but this can and
will only lead to a very public (and personal) disaster. You may well duck the
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 13
responsibility of service-judging or dealing with difficult players but the further up the line
you go these are the very matches that you are meant to be capable of / qualified to do.
There is no need for an umpire to progress to a point or level which, in truth, is beyond
them. There is no need for anyone to find themselves the centre of public humiliation.
This is why I believe that it is important for all umpires to set realistic and attainable goals
for themselves and to be satisfied for having achieved these goals.
Given the disparate mix of personalities involved it is not uncommon to come across
circumstances whereby your progress is stalled by others whose only remaining
ambition is to prevent fellow umpires from passing them out! You may even find that
such umpires trivialise those aspects of umpiring that you manage to deal with well, such
as service-judging, difficult players etc., - aspects that they just cannot do. Like all
obstacles you will need to go around rather than through such people.
The Grades / Levels in umpiring go something like this:
<< National >>
Local
to
Regional
to
National
to
International
<< International >>
to
Continental
to
(Accredited)
Continental
(Certificated)
to
B.W.F.
(Accredited)
to
B.W.F.
(Certificated)
Please set a realistic / attainable goal for yourself. You will find that umpiring is more
rewarding in the long run if you do this.
For instance, if travelling abroad is not for you or if it is never going to be possible to give
up the best part of a week to complete an overseas event, then it is not realistic to
expect to become an International grade umpire but it is very realistic and satisfying to
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 14
become a National grade umpire. It would also be highly wrong to hinder the progress of
those who wish to go further.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 15
Using your time well Off-court

You will find constant references to this topic throughout what I have written. As an
issue, during the tournament, you need to be always aware of time. Be it, on-court, offcourt, between sessions or en-route from your home or hotel to the hall.
You have 2 priorities. Firstly, you want to arrive in good time for the Referees Briefing or
start of play if there is not a briefing and secondly, and more importantly, you wish to
arrive in good time, such that, you are not rushed or flustered.
This, arriving on time, also applies between games and is both important and relevant to
you, the umpire, and the tournament organisation, namely, the Referee and Match
Control.
Let us prioritise here. To miss or be late for a briefing is not a disaster. It may be an
embarrassment but no more. To be late for a match is a disaster. It is as simple as that!
I wish to concentrate on circumstances within the hall itself. Here, you have control and
are responsible over how you use your time.
You must make yourself aware of when play is to take place and your duties during that
time. If you are going to have a drink or go to the toilet or eat then you need to do it such
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 16
that you know that you will be back, court-side, in plenty of time to prepare for your next
duty.
When you complete a duty it is necessary for you to confirm when and what, if possible,
your next duty will be. If you decide to take a break it is always advisable to inform
whoever is responsible, of your intentions, and also to check back in on your return. You
have to be aware that you are not just flying your own kite at an event but are actually
part of a team.
If you are lucky enough to know the court that you will be going onto next then you
should position yourself nearby. Presuming of course, that you have your score-sheet,
shuttles, service-judge etc.,
With regard to your on-court time please refer to the articles entitled The Toss and
The warm-up and intervals.
A most critical concern for you, during an event, should be yourself! By being at an event
it can be expected that your whole routine, from daily life, will be disrupted. As a result
you will either miss meals altogether or, at best, take them at quite different times. You
will be umpiring in an atmosphere that will be hotter, sometimes colder, than is normal
and finally, your sleep patterns will be disrupted.
The important point of what is being written about above is to for you to realise that it will
be so. Rather than rail against it you should accept it and deal with it. You do this by
taking regular drinks, preferably non-caffeine. You should also snack a lot and eat fruit.
Your aim is to keep the headaches away and to prevent an attack of fatigue which will
surely strike mid-game! Breaks in concentration during a match are warning signs to you
that fatigue is now an issue and you will need to fight very hard to combat it.
Regular blasts of fresh air and walks away from the arena also help immeasurably.
You should factor all of these things into how you are going to spend your time at an
event.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 17
Socialising
A very important aspect of umpiring is your ability to take a break, chill out and interact
with your peers. Whether you are waiting for a duty to come up or have just completed a
duty you need to make time, both for yourself alone and also with others.
Everyone is obviously different but I have found that when my time is regular, such as
having two matches on and one match off, rather than having sharp peaks with one
match immediately following another and troughs with nothing to do for ages at a time,
that I can last a tournament better. This becomes more of an issue the longer the
tournament that you are doing. The point here is that you are not in control of how a
tournament will progress but that you need to deal with it and to get the most value out
of the breaks when they come to you.
Whether the tournament you are officiating at is part of a day, a full day, a weekend or
longer you need to find an equilibrium with respect to how you use your off-court time.
Firstly, you should identify the best way for you to prepare properly for an individual
match in such a way that you will be at your best when you go to walk onto court.
The start of your days umpiring will probably commence with a Referees Briefing.
Obviously, by being on time for this you will also be in good time for your first match. You
should interact with your fellow officials. It is so important that the team takes shape and
that you, not only play your part in that but also that you feel that you are part of the
team.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 18
Having made the effort to interact with your fellow officials it is also necessary for you to
prepare yourself to go onto court. You will need time for yourself to ensure that you have
everything you will need, board, scoresheet, coins, pens, stopwatch, cards, etc.
Try not to find yourself going from court to sitting alone and back again onto court. More
rounded use of your time will work better. Returning to the team, your fellow umpires,
after your match will allow you an opportunity to relax, to chat, to ease tensions away. It
always helps to have a good laugh and it never looks good if you laugh alone!
Break times should be seen as an opportunity to enjoy time with colleagues and not as
an opportunity to disappear off on your own or, worse still, to disappear into yourself.
Evening meals and/or a few drinks with the team should all be part of your expectation of
an event. It is your opportunity to sit back and listen to others, to learn, to impart your
knowledge, to recount your experiences and umpiring disasters, but ultimately to relax,
to ease this day out of your system and to prepare for the next.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 19
The Game is on
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 20
The Court
From the moment a match is called, for which you are the umpire, the court is your
responsibility. You remain responsible for the court, its immediate surrounds and for all
that happens on it until such time as you have stepped away from it.
Whenever possible it is best to acquaint yourself with the hall and the courts within.
Check for possible overhead obstructions. Locate the point at which you will access the
court itself. If you are allocated to a specific court for a session then it would be
preferable if you and your kit we located adjacent to it.
Go to the umpires chair and have a look from there as to where the line-judges will be
positioned. It always helps if you look to the correct side for confirmation or
acknowledgement of a line-call. It is not unusual to find that all the line-judges are seated
in exactly the same places across the whole hall but that half the umpires chairs are
located to the left and the half to the right side of the courts. Because of this you will
have to look to a different place for the same call from one court to another. Also, as the
tournament progresses it is not uncommon for more and more line-judges to be added
and you will want to make yourself aware of their positions from the outset.
As an umpire you have time during a match. You will have a couple of minutes once you
have ascended to the chair before the match starts; you will have at least 2 one minute
intervals and 1 two minute interval. There may also be a break or two during the games
in addition to the designated ones.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 21
Use this time well. While the players are towelling down or talking with their coaches or
reflecting to themselves, always take a few seconds, and this is all it will take, to look
around your court. Check for loose items such as bottles, clothing or old shuttles, that
may be lying close to your court. Have them tidied up before play re-starts. You do not
want such items to be the cause of a let. Check for moisture on court and have it
mopped up or wiped away, again, before play re-starts.
Your intention, for your court, should be that play is as continuous as possible and,
where possible, you will foresee and prevent an avoidable interruption from taking place.
The first article that I ever read, to do with umpiring, apart from the Laws, was an article
entitled Court Management, written by Malcolm Croft. This article opened my eyes to
the skills involved with umpiring and, even though, it is from a different era, the whole
thrust and direction of what has been written is as relevant now as it was then.
Therefore, I have included it as appendix 1 and ask that you read it. Everything is
contained here to get you into the appropriate frame of mind for your time on court.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 22
The Toss
Well, here you go .
Your aim is to, ideally, get onto court before the players. This will always be the case for
you, from your first ever match as an umpire to your last.
Of course there will be times when, hopefully through no fault of yours that the players
are already there before you. Regardless of which set of circumstances prevails you
should always make an orderly and direct entrance onto court. If you have time, when
there are no players present, you can ensure that all is well with the court, that it and its
surrounds are neat and tidy and ready for play.
If you only have one side present then make some small talk with them. Break down
some of the barriers which naturally exist. Be aware that you should endeavour to do
likewise when the opposing side arrive. You should always be conscious of how you
may be perceived from outside. Your aim is to be balanced and fair and this applies
equally to the degree of chit-chat which you may have with players. Over familiarity /
friendship with one side over the other is a recipe for disaster.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 23
Again, use your time well. Even with only half of required players present it is possible to
allow a test of the shuttles to be done. You will complete the test after the toss has been
done. All the time the clock is ticking and you should not just wait and wait but, rather,
should be pro-active if the non-appearance continues and should make contact with the
Referee or Match Control to organise another announcement for your court.
Having introduced yourself to all the players, shaken hands and confirmed that the
players on court are indeed the ones named on your sheet, you can, at last, commence
the toss. Show the coin to one side and insist, if you have to, that they choose heads or
tails, black or white .
From here on out you are being evaluated and this is why I say that you insist on a
choice being made. Just imagine the ridiculous situation that would ensue if you could
not even get the players to make a choice between one side of the coin and the other?!
Finally ensure that the opposing side are made aware of the selection made.
With pen and score-sheet in hand you make the toss. Be ready for whatever choice the
winning side makes. Do not be thrown into confusion if they choose to receive or select a
side. Especially, if it is a Mixed Doubles, do not presume that the woman is either going
to serve or receive. Finally, be clear in your mind as to the choices that have been made;
click your stop-watch to commence the warm-up; tell the players how much time they
have left to warm-up and climb into the umpires chair.
One other point, a selection of sides during the toss is not written in stone and you may
well find that the player(s) who choose a side now wish to change their minds having
had the benefit of some warm-up time. This is ok but do inform the opposition
immediately. Also, it is not unreasonable to allow a change to the Server or Receiver
before the game commences but again, do inform the opposition.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 24
The essential and fundamental rule of conducting a successful toss is to have your back
to the umpires chair such that you are facing onto the court of play as you will be doing
when in the chair.
The wrong way (under any circumstances) to do a toss is when:
[*]
There are insufficient players on court, [*]
you are facing the umpires chair,
you are not even on from the court of play.
You may find yourself in a situation in a Doubles Match whereby possibly only 1
player from each side initially comes to court or that 3 of the 4 are present. Do the Toss.
You have sufficient players to make the required choices. Remember, it is you who sets
the tone for how the match is going to be carried out. Be business like.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 25
The warm-up and intervals

The warm-up should have started, at the latest, once you have completed the toss. If the
players were already on court by the time you have arrived then they may well wish to
start play almost immediately. As the umpire you are going to be agreeable to this but
you must first ensure that you have your score-sheet / scoring machine updated and
ready to go. It is assumed that, once you are in the chair, you are ready to start. So, in
order to buy yourself some time, complete your score-sheet before climbing into the
chair. If you are using a scoring machine then the opposite applies and the sooner you
climb into the chair the better!
Assuming that the players do make use of the warm-up time, because, this is what they
invariably do, then, please remember the tenet that you should use your time well. Have
a look around the court and mentally reference those things that will need to be tidied up
and away before you will allow play to commence. If you can get someone else, such as
your service-judge to help, all the better, but you may have to ask the players to do the
tidying up. It will probably be some of their gear, spare rackets, a bottle etc., that will be
bothering you.
Ensure that all loose shuttles have been gathered up and disposed of as appropriately
as possible. There should be a basket but there may not be. So, tidy up well. Do not
have it done such that your problem becomes a problem for an adjacent court.
Also, if you have them, make eye-contact, or at least try to, with your line-judges and
service-judge. You want to be part of the team not aloof from it. Finally, you should also
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 26
be using some part of this time to confirm, in your mind, which player is which, especially
in the case of a doubles match.
Once the time has elapsed, call time to the players at the first appropriate point. Calling
time during a warm-up rally is going to seem ridiculous to the players but as soon as
the shuttle or shuttles go to ground this is your moment. 10 seconds extra in the warmup is not going to be the end of the world. 15, 20 or more is, so, in that case you would
just have to intervene. Remember, it is your court now and you are in charge. Get a feel
for the warm-up and how it is going so that you may choose your moment well.
Formal intervals, from here on out, will start from the point at which the shuttle goes
dead and you announce game or 11-? or service over, 11-?. You start your
stopwatch as soon as you begin to say whichever of the preceding words apply.
The most important thing again is that you use the interval time well:
Look to all the players to see that all is ok with them. It would not be unusual for a
player to want to change the shuttle. My advice is to allow this but of course to
inform the opposition of your decision.
Review the court to see if mopping is required.
Look to your on-court team of line-judges and service-judge to see that all is ok.
One of them may wish to go to the toilet and now is the time to deal with the
situation - not during play.
Update your score-sheet for the next part of play, be it the next game or the
resumption of play after the mid-game interval. (*)
Between games, remember to confirm with the sides in doubles matches who is
going to serve and receive. Never presume that it is going to be unchanged.
Choose your moment before asking this question of a player / side. Try not to
interrupt the discussion between the player(s) and their coach. Therefore, let this
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 27
be one of the last things that you do. A good time is immediately after you have
called 20 seconds and the coach has left.
Finally, as the players re-enter the court, check that they have left their area /
baskets in a suitably tidy way such that you are satisfied that no problem can
arise.
The mid-game interval in the final game can create a problem for you, one nearly of your
own making.
The problem arises from the need of the players to have to change ends. Valuable
seconds are lost here and I would recommend again that you get a feel for the match
taking place on your court and be open to allowing a few (5 to 10) seconds extra for this
all to take place.
Who wants to remember a great match, possibly a final, for an umpire getting uptight,
even upsetting a player over a few seconds at this most important phase of a match
the home run. Remember, you are the umpire and it is your court. Be equally fair to both
sides and be reasonable. Everyone wants to remember the badminton and not the
official!
(*)
Please refer to the section on the Score-sheet for some further advice on this.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 28
Score-keeping and score-keepers

This is where we invariably start. Some do not get much beyond this point. Those who
go on to try umpiring are those who find that they can manage to keep the score and
also to keep track of where the players should be. This aspect of keeping the score was
always an important issue on the old, 3 games to 15, system and remains so with the
new, 3 games to 21, rally-point system.
The critical point of keeping the score is actually the announcement of the score. Your
purpose, as a score-keeper, is to inform. By doing this clearly and audibly you will be
helping yourself to keep the players from drifting into incorrect positions at service.
No one likes to make a mistake, even less so publically. Even though you are the only
one keeping score on court you are not alone. This is more so when you announce, to
the court, the latest score, in a good, loud and clear voice. The advantage here is when,
for one reason or another, you get it wrong. As I said, you are not alone. The players will
also have heard you and they too keep the score. You will be corrected.
There is no shame in making a mistake. The art is to correct your position and to make
the right announcement. The making of a mistake might be a sign that your
concentration is waning and that you need to get it back on track.
It is an important lesson to learn that one is never alone in whatever role they are
fulfilling on court. When you are keeping the score there can also be your score-sheet,
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 29
courtside scoring devices flippers or electronic, and these can and should always be
referred to for reassurance. Finally, there are the players.
If, for some reason, you completely lose track of the score it is better to consult than to
carry on. Having consulted, probably with the players, you then can carry on in an
assured (but chastened!) manner.
The important point is that you will be right. You will gain more respect for doing this than
for insisting that the wrong score is the right one!
If you have survived such a catastrophe you should take yourself away from the action
for a while and endeavour to understand why and how things went so horribly wrong.
It is an early rule to learn on your journey to becoming an umpire in that you can only
learn from your mistakes and should always do so.
Finally, remembering to and always endeavouring to make a clear audible

announcement of the score to the court and its surrounds is vitally important. One who
announces the score to his score-sheet is just a score-keeper. Whilst, to be an umpire,
you must, of course, keep the score but you must also keep control of the court in front
of you and this can only be done if you are looking at and communicating with those that
are on or near to it.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 30
The Net
The net is the one part of the court that you should regard as being yours. You own it
and therefore you are responsible for it. You can even go so far as to regard it like a
piece of your living room furniture and as such you would not allow people to put their
feet up on it and therefore you are going to take care of it.
The point will be made time and time again, but, in truth, I cannot stress it enough.
This is the area / the aspect of umpiring where you can, quite quickly distinguish a good,
or potentially good umpire from a poor / mediocre one.
One has to be fair though. Learning to watch the net rather than follow the shuttle is an
acquired skill one that has to be learned.
Whenever there is action near or about the net you will always be called upon to either
make a call (it can only be fault) or to confirm that no offence has taken place. To be
able to do this you need to have watched the net during and after the play there.
You have to train yourself.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 31
We have all played; we have spectated and consequently we, quite naturally, follow the
shuttle. As an umpire, following the shuttle is a fatal error. Like all good rules there would
have to be an exception and I will come to that in a while.
Initially, you are mainly concerned that the shuttle is hit on the correct side of the net.
Also, that the player hitting the shuttle is not being impeded from making a complete
stroke by his opponent. Therefore, you have to evaluate that there is sufficient room on
the receivers side of the set to allow the striker to follow through, over the net, with their
racket after having struck the shuttle. The strikers racket should also, where necessary,
have sufficient room to follow through under the net too.
All this time, you are also looking for any contact with the net or the posts by the players,
their rackets and / or their clothing.
The primary rule is that, whenever any of the players is close to the net, you keep your
eyes fixed on that net.
The test comes when the shuttle is lifted or cleared away from the net during close play.
This is where you need to stay focused on the net as this is when it is quite likely that a
player can collide with or strike the net. Just imagine how useless you will look if you
have followed the shuttle on its airborne journey to the back of the court and miss the
obvious collision between player and net.
You need to watch the net until such time as the player or players have moved a
sufficient distance away from it. Then, and only then, can you bring your focus onto the
court as a whole.
As soon as the shuttle hits the floor you can and should expect the players to seek
confirmation from you as to the validity / legality of a point when the action has
happened close to the net. You will be asked to confirm whether the shuttle got over the
net or not; whether the shuttle had crossed the net before it was struck; whether a player
had hit the net or not. At such a moment you do but need to be writing your score-sheet
but do need to be ready to address the players question. This is the most vital of times
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 32
and for a player to have confidence in you he needs to talk with you and not to the top of
your head.
I did say earlier that there is an exception to the rule of watching the net rather than the
shuttle and it occurs only when you think that the lifted shuttle can actually hit the roof or
an over-hanging beam or cable. You need to see this happening in order to call fault or
let, whichever is appropriate.
When you calculate that the risk of hitting some over-head obstacle is greater than the
risk of a fault occurring at the net then and only then, should your gaze follow the shuttle
skyward.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 33
Emotions & Feelings - yours

As an umpire there is a need to contain and manage your emotions and feelings but also
to express them as well.
You should do the latter whilst always bearing in mind the former. For an umpire to
umpire a match well it is necessary for him to live the match, to become one with the
match.
Every match is important to somebody. Take an extreme as an example, 21 0, 21 0.
It might take less than 15 minutes to complete this rout. It may have started out as a
competitive affair but would soon have become a procession. Regardless of the event,
Mens Singles, Womens Singles etc., you need to show that you are interested and to
umpire the match knowing that you have a job to do and one that needs doing well. You
may consider the voice level at which you are calling the score. It would be cruel and
probably only add insult to injury if you called each and every score at full volume. The
player who is winning well is fully aware of the match situation and the losing side does
not need the added humiliation.
You should also be able to live the points and to be able to recognise key moments for
what they are. It should be possible for you to smile, to wince, to grimace especially
when luck decided to play a part in the winning and losing of a point. The important
aspect of living a point is that you will want to finish smiling, laughing or whatever as
soon as the next point is about to commence.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 34
By showing that you recognise the situations that have developed on court you show to
all that you are human rather than robotic. You draw a line under your mild emotional
outburst for the simple reason that, what was funny one particular instant is not funny 1
minute, 2 minutes later. The effect of not living each point individually will undermine
your credibility in the eyes of the players.
There will also be occasions when you will have to show that you too can get annoyed. If
a line is crossed by a player then you may have to display a level of annoyance in
accordance with the level of the transgression. The important point though, as with the
above, is that your feelings and demeanour need to, and must, return to an even level.
This happens when you have made your point and play is recommences afresh.
The important factor for umpiring is that when all is breaking down around you, that you
must remain calm. You should have an equilibrium about you that supports the
expectation that you are in control of both the game and yourself.
Finally, you are in the wrong business if you go onto court with preferences or bias.
These emotions and personal feelings you leave at home.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 35
Evaluation from within and without

The best and most accurate evaluation of your performance as an Umpire or ServiceJudge will come from within - from yourself. There will be obvious indications from the
Court that you have just vacated but it is necessary for you to be completely honest with
yourself.
You will find, during your career as an Umpire, that there will be plenty of people, fellow
umpires included, who will be only too willing to criticise your on court performance.
Sometimes this criticism is unfounded and sometimes not.
Just be honest with yourself as to how you have done. Dont make excuses but do put
the Match into context. For example, were there things going on, on-court? Was the
Match a tense affair? You need to assess what you did, when you did it and also what
you did not do. Could you have acted earlier? Why did you not act earlier?
In particular, if you feel that you could have done better and believe me, you will know
the answer to that question as you are making your way off Court, then you need to
learn from the experience for the next time. It is not a case of looking for sympathy. It is
about being honest with yourself. You will grow and continue to grow throughout your
career if you take this path. Otherwise you will stagnate. You will have drawn a line
which you will not cross. This is your level and you should accept it, but, most
importantly you should also accept and respect that others are willing to go beyond this
point and they will, as a result, naturally progress further.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 36
I was once advised to avoid seeking outside evaluation on my umpiring. Evaluation by a

friend is not likely to be realistic enough whereas someone less disposed towards you
may not like see you in the fairest of lights. There is nothing wrong with seeking an
opinion on a particular incident but it is imperative that you listen to the view being given.
You may or may not ultimately agree with the answer but DO listen.
Please bear in mind that no one gets it right all of the time and an Umpire is best gauged
by how he recovers from and learns from his mistakes. You will never have a perfect
performance but you may well come close. There will be other days when it was only
your experience that saw you through and you will be thankful then for all the errors
made and lessons learned.
There are occasions when your performance will be evaluated and you will not have
much choice in the matter. I am referring here to the Assessment process, be it formal or
informal.
It is important to be aware that you are in an assessment situation but it is of primary

importance for you to concentrate on the Game, the Match, the Court and the Players
which is all happening in front of you. You are on court to Control the circumstances that
are there. You are NOT there to put on a performance for an Assessor.
Of course the Assessment should be important to you but if you try to Control the
Assessment you will not have total Control of the match. Control the match and the
assessment will look after itself. Lose control of the match and the assessment will go
the same way too.
It is usual for Assessors to give you advice. This is advice that is unsolicited. Often the
reason for giving you some advice is to bring you back down to Earth again. You may
have done very well and have passed and yet there is still something.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 37
On other occasions you may also receive on-going advice during an assessment.
It is important that you listen to what is being said to you and the context in which it is
being given. It never does any harm to acknowledge what has been said to you. Maybe
you will follow up with an opinion of your own in time, and maybe the less said the better.
If you get something wrong, and you should be one of the first to know, then denial is
not the route to take. Put your hand up, admit it and seek advice from an experienced
umpire.
In essence, to evaluate (yourself) you need to be honest with yourself and to learn from
your mistakes.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 38
Difficult situations !
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 39
Cards and Warnings Warnings and Cards

The purpose of the Yellow and Red cards is to express, in visible terms, to both the
players and the audience what you are simultaneously doing verbally.
The ideal way to give a card / issue a warning or fault and that is to have the offending
player standing as near to your chair as you can get him, and facing you.
You undermine yourself if you, for instance, issue the warning to the back of the players
head. As an umpire your ship is now sinking fast. You dont have the required control of
the situation at hand and without control you are not umpiring.
So, back again to the purpose of giving a card / issue a warning. An act of great
indiscipline may have been committed by the player or he may have crossed a line in the
sand beyond which your tolerance cannot go. You want to reinstate some degree of
civility and decorum to proceedings on your court. You want to wrest control of the game
away from the offending player and back to yourself.
The question you have to ask yourself is this,

Will the giving of a Yellow or Red card do this?
I will come back to this.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 40
If you find yourself giving a card, either because you have them or as an automatic
response to a situation during a match then I would argue that your reasoning is flawed.
It is written in [LAW 16. Continuous Play, Misconduct & Penalties] that it is a fault for
misconduct if a player wilfully damages the shuttle such that it needs to be changed. So,
in front of you, the rally of the match takes place; shot and counter-shot; over and back
until the shuttle clips the top of the net, possibly even hangs there for a fraction of a
second and trickles over to one side or the other. The losing player walks up to the
shuttle and FLATTENS it!
Of course, straightaway and without the slightest hesitation, you reach into your pocket
and take out the card of your choice, be it Yellow or Red.
No! No! No!

Straightaway and without hesitation YOU THINK.
You put yourself in his shoes. Maybe, if this had happened to you, you would have bitten
the net rather than shout at it and still stood on the shuttle! You must have a feeling for
the game. You must consider the consequences of your actions. You are just about to
give a card to a player who is already feeling a degree of frustration. What can you
possibly achieve under such circumstances other than to alienate yourself totally from
the player, the match and the audience?
Control is gone here but by talking, and of course you should calm the situation down; of
course you should make your point that this is not an acceptable way to carry on. As with
giving a card you do this face to face.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 41
After the match evaluate the situation that played itself out on your court. Did the issuing
or non-issuing of warnings help you to reinstate control? Use this as a major tool in your
own self-evaluation. If you felt that control was restored then you probably did well. If not,
then you need to look deeper into what happened on your court and possibly when it
really happened and this will eventually lead you to the point of when and how you could
have dealt with things earlier and better.
If there is physical or verbal violence on court then you must give a card but it would be a
rarity if such incidents ever occur in isolation. If you are alert and doing your job, if you
are aware of where a match is, then you have been forewarned and can therefore avert
the train crash.
I believe that words (talking) are key and that cards should stay in your pocket until their
use is a necessity and a must.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 42
Over-Ruling
This has been another of the very good innovations to The Game in recent years.
In the past, it was either necessary to live with an error or to go through a procedure of
trying to influence, subtly and without actually telling them, be it a Player or Line-judge,
to accept or change a decision that they had given. This method failed when no change
was forthcoming and the Umpire had no option but to look useless in the chair and to
insist on carrying on regardless. The main issue here was that your Control was gone
because the Match had been hijacked by a bad decision and you were left in a situation
of having irate Player(s) on your court.
OK, so we have moved on. Life has become better for us UmpireS because we have
now got this club in the bag. But, having it puts a greater responsibility on our shoulders.
We have to:
expect to have to use it,

use it properly,
recognise the consequences to overall teamwork.
Every time the shuttle crosses over the net and goes to ground a call has to be made by
someone responsible for the adjacent line or lines. This person can be a dedicated Linejudge, a Player or even yourself, the Umpire. As the Umpire you are expected to be able
to confirm the accuracy of or to over-rule each and every line-call. Be prepared for this
responsibility as soon as you say Love All, Play. A line-call is correct, not when it is
made but when you have agreed with it.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 43
Just because we can over-rule does not give us the entitlement to do it. It is not a power
play here between the Umpire and his fellow Officials or the Players. You may have
immediate doubts about a line-call but a Players body language may or may not confirm
your suspicions.
Also, whenever you have a Service-Judge you should try and work as a team whereby
he will give you subtle indications to confirm whether a shuttle has landed in or out. This
is especially helpful for those lines that are furthest away from you. This indication might
be all you need to confirm your own doubts.
Do not be surprised if you find that it is necessary to over-rule yourself! You only have a
fraction of a second to make your decision about the call you expect to see indicated.
You will find that your immediate reaction was probably correct and should, confidently
but not arrogantly, either confirm or over-rule, the call made, to both the Line-judge and
the Player(s). Never ever over-rule a Line-judge as a reaction to a Players protestations.
Either YOU saw it or YOU did not.
It is always a major blow to the sense of teamwork on court when you find yourself overruling a fellow official. You need to be aware of this and to consciously work to bring that
individual back on board. No one wants to make a mistake and no one would want it to
be so publically highlighted. You were correct to over-rule but should be conscious, both
during and after the match, of this individuals feelings. Also, you do not want a strike or
a mutiny to take place so you only over-rule where an error occurred and not just
because you can!
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 44
Service Judging
I have written extensively on this subject before and the piece itself is included as
appendix 2.
Since releasing my article on the subject of Service Judging The Laws have changed. In
my opinion the art or skill of doing this job has not, so the article, though dated, like the
one on Court Management, stands the test of time.
Service Judging has been described as the sleeping duty. To go along with this we
would be falling into the very trap I wrote so much about. So, all that I can advise is that
you go onto court to Service Judge in a realistic frame of mind. If you do not, you will
suffer the consequences.
Not only have The Laws changed with regard to service but there has also been a sea
change in the attitude of the players to the nature of the service being delivered to them.
Quite simply, it is still a fault, if a serve is delivered (initial contact) from above the waist.
You only have to look at serves in general and you would believe that the waist, and
where it is, too has been re-defined. This, though, has not happened.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 45
What has become acceptable to the players is that a serve, delivered to them, should be
returnable. This creates the situation where a serve, obviously above the waist, but
tapped (I am not a technical person but I am sure that you get the picture!) over the net
will be accepted. On the other-hand, a serve driven from the same point, with regard to
the waist, will not be acceptable. Hence, you the Service-Judge, can ill-afford to sleep!
Especially in Doubles matches you will have to balance the books. It is always best to
call the serves as you see them from the off. You can then see from the players next
service if your call had the desired effect. You can also weigh up all of the serves
together and opposed to one another.
For a start, with the above approach, you avoided the blinding flash scenario of your
eyes being opened late on in a match because you have obviously shown your
existence by calling earlier in the match. Also, you have weighed up the serves
collectively and are now able, with confidence, to make a decision to call further, or not,
based on what is being done.
Of course, you must stay vigilant. If a player strays over a line in the sand that you have
mentally drawn then you are going to call fault. You will especially watch all the serves at
the key stages of game-point and match-point.
Read and re-read the Laws on Service. Picture in your mind the Faults that are being
outlined there. Sit at the back of court and watch and evaluate serves that are being
delivered.
Finally, do not delude yourself into believing that, just because very few service faults
are called, fewer and fewer service faults are being committed.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 46
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 47
Faults
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 48
Law 13
FAULTS
It shall be a 'fault' .......
Please be aware that there are times,
when a Fault occurs during a Game,
that you call FAULT!
and there are times when you do NOT!
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 49
Law 13 - FAULTS
13.1 if a service is not correct (Law 9.1)
Please refer to the chapter entitled Service Judging - pages 44 - 45
and also to Appendix 2.
In essence, the Laws on Service are quite clear and it is up to you to

learn them and to be able to visualise how they apply. Then, you
need to have the confidence to make, or not to make, the crucial call.
The article referred to in Appendix 2 deals with the confidence issue

and survival techniques needed to survive in this most tricky of roles.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 50
Law 13 - FAULTS
13.2 if, in service, the shuttle;
13.2.1 is caught on the net and remains suspended on it's top;
13.2.2 after passing over the net, is caught in the net; or
13.2.3 is hit by the receiver's partner.
In 13.2.1 and 13.2.2 above, you have a situation detailed which, 'during play'
(as distinct from 'in service') would be a LET.
Of course it is a FAULT 'in service', because the serve has failed to reach the
front service line on the receiver's side.
If the shuttle was to pass over the net but land between the net and the front
service line on the receiver's side the required call, by you or whoever is
responsible for the line call would be OUT! but in the case of 13.2.1 and 13.2.2
above, a call of SERVICE OVER will suffice. To call FAULT! and then
SERVICE OVER would be excessive.
13.2.3 can create problems or, more specifically, a situation requiring a decision
from you. Invariably, such an occurrence is simply a 'FAULT' which is more likely
to happen at the less skilled end of the game. It is usually just a simple mistake,
an instinctive reaction, but it could also be the case that the receiver's partner
has noticed an error in the service set-up, be it an incorrect server or possibly
even an issue with the receiver. If such was the case you should be thankful that
it was noticed and be open to playing a 'LET'.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 51
Law 13 - FAULTS
13.3 if, in play, the shuttle;
13.3.1 lands outside the boundaries of the court

(i.e., not ON or WITHIN the boundary lines)
What could be simpler to understand? When the initial contact by the shuttle with
the court surface is outside the relevant boundary lines, be it during service or
rally play, then the shuttle is out and a point has been scored.
A subsequent collision with the net by a person or racket is of no consequence

to the point as the shuttle has now gone dead.
Be careful if the shuttle lands at a point where two lines intersect. Being outside
one of these lines is sufficient.
Yet again, the correct call by the responsible official, be it yourself, a line-judge or
a player is OUT!
'FAULT' is never called.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 52
Law 13 - FAULTS
13.3.2 passes through or under the net;

Again, this is quite an easy FAULT to administer. The only worry that you should
have with regard to this FAULT whilst you are sitting in the umpire's chair is to do
with the possibility of the shuttle actually passing through the net and you missing
it.
It is quite a rarity nowadays for such a thing to happen and it is a moment well
spent if you have a good look at the net before you climb into your chair.
A shuttle passing through the net would warrant a call of FAULT! but it is
generally more than obvious that the shuttle has passed under the net, so, calling
the score should suffice.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 53
Law 13 - FAULTS
13.3.3 fails to pass over the net;

What could be simpler? The shuttle either does not even make it to the net or it
hits the net and falls to the court on the striker's side. Of course, the shuttle could
also get caught up in the net on the striker's side and this, too, amounts to the
same thing.
It is a FAULT in all of the above situations but there is no need for you to call
FAULT!. All you need do is to call the score as it now stands.
The problem that can arise for you with this Rule is when the shuttle, either,
strikes the net post and somehow manages to crawl it's way around the post and
into the receiver's side or, if the shuttle has been hit from outside the court
boundary and returned to the receiver's side. In the first case the shuttle clearly
has not passed over the net and in the second you need to be very alert to the
possibility that the shuttle could pass outside the bounds of the court and not
physically over the net (or it's supports).
If either such situation should occur you will need to call 'FAULT!' immediately
and can also expect to have to explain why you have made such a call.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 54
Law 13 - FAULTS
13.3.4 touches the ceiling or side walls;

In the instance of the shuttle touching the side walls during it's flight is quite
simply OUT!. There is no need to call FAULT.
For the most part, when a shuttle touches the ceiling you need to clearly call
FAULT! - good and loud. There may be circumstances when some part of the
ceiling is a LET. It may be a cable, a protruding bar, whatever. The Referee will
have brought this to your attention at the initial Briefing and you need to be
prepared to distinguish between the ceiling and the obstruction and therefore
between calling FAULT! or LET!.
Please also refer to 13.3.6 on page 55.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 55
Law 13 - FAULTS
13.3.5 touches the person or dress of a player;

This is one of those 'key' FAULTS which you need to be watching for at ALL
times.
In many instances, the affected player will dispute your call. So, you will need to
be sure, to be certain.
The call, which of course is FAULT!, is easy to make but can be very awkward
and difficult to explain. Invariably your call of FAULT will come out of the blue
with the rally still going on. It is quite likely that the viewing public will not
understand why you have stopped the game in such an abrupt way and the
players may well be equally confused.
Therefore, be ever vigilant for this FAULT; be sure of your call and never back
down under protest from the players. If you are sure you saw the FAULT then it
did happen; you have to call FAULT! and you have to stick to your call.
Please, though, use your common sense when it comes to the instance of the
shuttle being smashed into an opponent. The shuttle invariably falls to the floor at
the (hit) players feet. There may even follow some feverish swishing at the
offending shuttle by the player, out of pure frustration. Do NOT call FAULT! obviously it is a FAULT but just call the score.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 56
Law 13 - FAULTS
13.3.6 touches any other object or person outside the court;

(Where necessary on account of the structure of the
building, the local badminton authority may, subject to the
right of veto of it's Member Association, make bye-laws
dealing with cases in which a shuttle touches an
obstruction).
There are countless possibilities here. The shuttle could even hit a microphone
attached to the net pole. In this instance you should call FAULT!. But, if the
shuttle hits you, the Service Judge, your chair, lands in one of the Player's
baskets then use your head and let common sense prevail just call the score.
There is no need for you to be pedantic. Part of your job description, as an

umpire, is to keep those playing and those watching informed of what is going on.
The patently obvious does not need to be explained!
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 57
Law 13 - FAULTS
13.3.7 is caught and held on the racket and then slung during
the execution of a stroke.
When the above occurs it is a FAULT and FAULT! should be called
immediately.
As FAULTS go, it can be quite a difficult FAULT to call. You will have to
distinguish between a stroke which contains all of the above which is of a single
continuous movement and one which is made up of broken movements.
At the end of the day, this is a judgement call so you need to be 100% certain of
what you saw. If you are certain, call FAULT! ; do not dither; stick to your call
and most importantly be prepared and expect to have to explain your call to the
offending Player.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 58
Law 13 - FAULTS
13.3.8 is hit twice in succession by the same player. However, a

shuttle hitting the head and the stringed area of the
racket in one stroke shall not be a FAULT.
Effectively, the situation which is occurring here in front of you is one where the
player stops the shuttle with his racket with one stroke and then hits it again with
another stroke - just picture the shuttle being teed-up and then hit, just as in golf.
This occurs most frequently at the net where a player puts up their racket as a
block but the shuttle does not have enough kick in it to rebound back over the
net. The player then just hits the shuttle again.
You should call FAULT!. All that has occurred is perfectly obvious but if it
happened at a crucial point in the game and you just presumed the situation, the
offending player might just presume that he has got away with it.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 59
Law 13 - FAULTS
13.3.9 is hit by a player and the player's partner successively.

Obviously you, the Umpire, need to see this FAULT occur but, so often it can be
quite obvious to all concerned but the Umpire, that there has effectively been a
double-hit by one side.
You may have to make this call purely on instinct alone. The more noise that
there is around your court only makes detection far more difficult.
So, if you feel that shuttle has been clipped by the front player of a doubles pair
look quickly to see if there is any reaction from your Service Judge and/or the
opposition. Use their reaction as confirmation of your own suspicion rather than,
and never, as a source for your call of FAULT!.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 60
Law 13 - FAULTS
13.3.10 touches a player's racket and does not travel towards

the opponent's court.
On many occasions the shuttle will actually fall to court on the receiver's side. In
this case it is simple for you as the umpire. There is no possibility of dispute and
all you have to do is call the score.
The problem arises when the shuttle, having clipped the receiver's racket,
continues on and actually lands outside the court area.
Also, in doubles, it happens quite frequently that the player to the front will clip
the shuttle and it will continue on it's flight back towards the receiver's partner.
The ideal situation with regard to calling FAULT! or not doing so is to find a
balance between doing so every time a FAULT occurs and only when it is
necessary to do so.
So, in doubles
always call FAULT! as soon as you see/hear the first touch taking place,
if the shuttle looks like it is going to travel anywhere near or beyond the
boundary lines always call FAULT!,
and if the shuttle just goes to the floor within the court, call the score.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 61
Law 13 - FAULTS
13.4 if, in play, a player;
13.4.1 touches the net or it's supports with racket, person or

dress;
Please refer to the chapter entitled 'The Net'. This is one of the key decision
areas for you as an umpire. It cannot be stressed enough how vigilant you need
to be whenever there is play or a player near the net.
It is, quite simply your job to ensure that, if the FAULT as described in 13.4.1
above occurs, you see it happen and to immediately call FAULT!. It is also
advisable to make a hand signal displaying what has occurred.
Quite frequently the net will be seen to move when a player or shot have been
quite close. You should also and just as equally as above be able to distinguish
that no contact has taken place.
You can only fulfil your duty by paying complete attention to this area of court
play.
Finally, the call is either FAULT! or nothing at all.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 62
Law 13 - FAULTS
13.4.2 invades an opponent's court over the net with racket or
person except that the striker may follow the shuttle over
the net with the racket in the course of a stroke after the
initial point of contact with the shuttle is on the striker's
side of the net;
It seems so simple doesn't it? But it is not!
Simply put, a player has to strike the shuttle on his side of the net but can, in the
course of completing the stroke, follow the shuttle over the net into his
opponents side with both his racket and person but without ever making contact
with the net.
It has become a part of double's play that the player at the front will try to
intercept an oncoming shuttle with a strike. Invariably it is a play and miss shot
but on many occasions the player's racket will cross over the net in the follow
through. Crucially though, no shot has been made because contact with shuttle
has not occurred.
You can be pedantic and, of course perfectly correct by the Law, and call
FAULT!. You will stop play and then have to set about explaining what you
have just done. This is going to be a very difficult thing to do and I would
recommend against so doing.
The exception though would be if you perceive that the play and miss shot at the
net was actually done so as to distract the opposing side. Then you immediately
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 63
call FAULT! (Law 13.4.5) and explain in no uncertain terms what you have
seen happen.
Law 13 - FAULTS
13.4.3 invades an opponent's court under the net with racket or

person such that an opponent is obstructed or
distracted; or
As in 13.4.2 above, a player must strike the shuttle on his side of the net but can,
in the course of completing the stroke, follow the shuttle under the net into his
opponents side with both his racket and person but without ever making contact
with the net, or the player, opposite.
More often than not such a stroke takes place when there is close net play from
both sides. Therefore the player about to receive the shuttle could be just as
close to the net as the player playing the stroke.
You need to be particularly vigilant to observe that the acceptable follow through
neither makes contact with or potentially distracts the receiving side. Such
incidents occur when the return shot is actually a drop shot which too is also
close to the net.
Quite simply, you either call FAULT! or say nothing.
Making a hand signal to display what has happened, in the case of a FAULT
occurring, will greatly help you to explain the situation to all concerned, players
and spectators alike.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 64
Calling FAULT! followed by the score and being impassive will not work!
Law 13 - FAULTS
13.4.4 obstructs an opponent, i.e. prevents an opponent from

making a legal stroke where the shuttle is followed over
the net;
As in 13.4.2 above, a player must strike the shuttle on his side of the net but is
entitled to follow the shuttle over the net into his opponents side with both his
racket and person but without ever making contact with the net, in the course of
completing the stroke, The onus is therefore on the receiver to allow this to
happen.
If you perceive that the receiver has deliberately attempted to restrict a follow
through, generally done by pushing his racket close to and/or above the net, then
you call FAULT!. Make an explanation of your call through words and gesture
to the offending side.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 65
Law 13 - FAULTS
13.4.5 deliberately distracts an opponent by any action such as

shouting or making gestures;
Players are allowed to shout, call loudly, change rackets, slip, fall and slide
during rally play.
If you perceive any of the above actions to have, either deliberately or

inadvertently, caused a distraction to take place to the opponents, then you call
FAULT! and again explain why.
It is quite possible that you, as the umpire, may find some or all of the above
actions distracting but you should only look at it from the point of view of the
opponent(s)..
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 66
Law 13 - FAULTS
13.5 if a player is guilty of flagrant, repeated or persistent offences
under Law 16.
LAW 16.6 A player shall not:

16.6.1 deliberately cause delay in or suspension of, play;
16.6.2 deliberately modify or damage the shuttle in order
to change it's speed or it's flight;
16.6.3 behave in an offensive manner; or
16.6.4 be guilty of misconduct not otherwise by the Laws
of Badminton.
Please refer to the chapter entitled Cards & Warnings : Warnings & Cards.
In the case of both 16.6.1 and 16.6.2 above you will already have given a Yellow
Card (Warning) to the offending player/side. A further offence, against any of the
above 16.6.1 to 16.6.4 will result in a second Yellow Card (Warning) and this
automatically becomes a Red Card (FAULT).
As for 16.6.3 and 16.6.4, it is quite possible that you may bypass giving a Yellow
Card (Warning) and just go directly to a Red Card (FAULT). This will all depend
on the severity of the offence committed.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 67
The important aspects of administering a Red Card (FAULT) is that you remain in
control of yourself and that the offending player should be standing in front of you
as you make the required announcement of
Player X, FAULT for misconduct.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 68
Score-sheets and Machines

There are a number of systems in use for recording the score. The most essential of
which is the score-sheet but there are flippers too and sometimes these have to be used
by the umpire in conjunction with a score-sheet. There are also electronic devices and,
given the change to the Rally Point scoring system in recent years, this method is
heaven sent!
It is essential that the umpire is completely comfortable with the recording system to be
used. The last thing that you need to do is to panic when, and if, a crisis moment arises.
With both the written score-sheet and the electronic devices it is possible to see a picture
of what should be the case on court.
The presumption above is that you have maintained an accurate version of events onto
your score-sheet. The crisis moment arises when you look at the court or the players
look at you and the question is asked as to whether or not everyone is in the correct
position given the score?
Firstly, you simplify the situation by confirming the score. Given that the score is correct
you then have to confirm that the player about to serve is correct. Finally, the server can
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 69
only serve to the player who should be in the right box when the score for the server is
even and to the player in the left box when the score for the server is uneven. The,
should part of the above check is easier than it may seem. It is possible to see from the
score-sheet, when looking at the current score for the receiving side that this player has
to be in the box (left or right) which is appropriate to their score. By default, their partner
must be in the other box.
The above, as a mental check, should be carried out by you each and every time a serve
is about to take place.
You can only do the above checks with confidence if you have made it your business to
fix in your mind, the identity of, at least, one player from each side before play has
started.
The worst possible situation that can befall you, as a score-keeper, is that you lose the
score. It is not unusual for one side to question the score that you have just announced.
The problem really arises when both sides disagree with you!
Ploughing on, regardless, at this stage is not a good move. You need to stop
proceedings and to evaluate what is being said to you. If you are 100% certain that you
are right and that your score-sheet, the score and player positions, backs you up then
confirm this to the players and carry on. But if you have the slightest doubts and all the
players are saying one score and you another the simplest and most practical solution is
to agree and to apologise to the players; amend your score-sheet or device accordingly;
and proceed from there.
Also, it is good to remember that you may have other sources to refer to, to confirm the
correct situation on court. These can be independent scorers with flippers, your service
judge or electronic display boards. The important thing is not to panic.
Such a situation occurring is an obvious warning to you that your attention span is
drifting and failing. Fatigue has, in all probability set in and you will have to be extra
vigilant to survive to the end of the match.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 70
Back to the score-sheet though. Regard it as you map. It is, and has to be, one of your
priorities to keep it updated. When you are starting out as an Umpire, you will be
instructed to put the score on the score-sheet first and to call the score subsequently. My
hope is that you will soon see that there are drawbacks, quite serious ones with this
practice. Players do not lose the plot whilst playing but they do, when the shuttle goes
dead (please refer to Ambitions and Goals for more on this topic).
Like any advice that I will give, it is not that there is a right way only. For sure, there is a
wrong way and that is the way that we are told at the outset. It is about balance. I
personally think, and from experience know that, it is better to call (the score) first and to
write subsequently. This method gives, the umpire, time to survey the situation
developing on court and to maintain Control by intervening or not; calling the score or
writing it first whichever option is best suited to the situation before you.
So, when recording the score, your over-riding priority remains that of maintaining
Control of the proceedings on your court and also that of recording and announcing the
score. Learn to choose your moment.
The point of return to court after the interval at 11 is where, in Doubles, Players are more
inclined to go to the wrong box, be it Server or Receiver or both but most likely it will be
the serving side. This happens, in the main, when a side gets to 11 on their opponents
serve. It is therefore critically important that you anticipate and monitor the situation as
the Players return to court after the interval.
I have found that the best way, for me, to achieve this is to transfer the score from the
games first row to the games second row during the interval. I do this regardless of the
score, be it 11 - 0 or 11 10 or anything in between. An example of a completed scoresheet is included as Appendix 3.
The oft-cited worry is that you could run out of room on the second row if the game goes
all the way up to 30. Well, this is possible, of course but it has not happened to me yet. If
it did though you could always finish the scoring in the games first row, where there
must be plenty of space. It may not be regulation but it is hardly a Cardinal Sin either!
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 71
A score-sheet should not be a mess but it does not need to be neat either. The number
between the 4 and the 6 must be a 5 (S) sic., .It may not look like a 5 but, logically, what
else could it be?!
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 72
I also write an L and an R beside the Players names on each row. I do this for reference
and reassurance and I want the score-sheet, a working document, to work for me too.
Therefore, in moments of crisis, only have to look across one row for all the information
that I will require the Players name; the game score; who is serving; to whom; and
which side the respective Players are on.
It is quite shocking and surprising how easily your mind can just go at times. Having a
quick, easy and reliable system to get back on track is essential for these moments.
Finally, learn the following codes that you will need to put on your score-sheet should
incidents such as Injury, Discipline, the Referee etc., occur during your match:
Situation
Note / Alphabet to be used
Warning (for misconduct)
Fault (for misconduct)
Referee called on court
Suspension
Injury
Disqualification by the Referee
Disqualified
Retired
Retired
Service court error corrected
When your match is completed it will be necessary for you, even when using an
electronic scoring system, to sign and submit a completed score-sheet to the Referee.
If there have been incidents such as injury (I) or cards (F and/or W) then you should
supply further detail such as elapsed time, the nature of the injury or the indiscipline.
Having started out as you map the score-sheet becomes like a golf scorecard it does
not tell many stories but it is the official record.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 73
Watch other sports

It is very worthwhile to watch how a Referee works in other sports. I will take Soccer and
Rugby Union as examples.
Personally, I love Soccer whereas I would not be a dedidicated fan of Rugby. Rugby
though, offers a great insight into proactive refereeing and this is an area that we, as
Badminton umpires, can definitely learn from.
In Badminton, the umpire cannot obviously converse with the players during points but
he can and should do so between points, especially as a method of helping to prevent a
situation from developing into something much worse, something that will definitely
compel him to issue a formal warning.
When you go onto court your intention is to become one with that specific match and
being able to recognise issues and deal with them subtly through the use of well-chosen
words here and there will enhance your standing with those on court and ultimately
make your life, in the chair, easier.
You will be afforded plenty of opportunities to chat. The players will need a drink, to
towel down, have intervals etc., It is a simple maxim but so true, use your time well.
There is nothing to stop you having a quick word, it might only be the players name,
when a shuttle is driven back, in frustration, under the net by the point loser to the point
winner. With nothing being said here it is inevitable that the same players actions will be
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 74
worse next time. After all, your lack of action, has signalled to the player that your
tolerance bar is higher and this is the next limit that he will start from and go beyond..
Soccer is not as dramatically different from Badminton as it would seem. At least,
controlling the game is not.
As in Soccer, there are plenty of incidences of Referees (Umpires) giving cards for
retaliatory fouls. This mainly comes about because the original foul was not seen to have
been dealt with.
Pierlugia Collina (Soccer referee, Italy) was the total perfectionist. He dealt with issues
early. Players wanted to make their mark early (usually defenders on forwards), so did
he. It was not unusual to see him with his arm around a players shoulders (to keep him
there) and a quick word being spoken to acknowledge, to that player, that he had seen
what had just happened and that was going to be the end of it. The player had been
warned but no cards had to be used. This should be an example to us.
Now watch a Soccer match. You should be able to predict the problems that are going to
happen and also who is going to be the victim and the aggressor.
Collina also invested time on researching his upcoming match. There is nothing to stop
us, as umpires, from preparing ourselves mentally too. His book is entitled The Rules
of the Game Le Mie Regole del Gioco it is worth reading it as part of your
preparation to become the complete umpire (see appendix 3).
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 75
Appendices
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 76
Appendix 1
Badminton Umpiring
Court Management
by
MALCOLM CROFT
(Scotland)
IBF Certificated Umpire
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 77
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 78
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 79
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 80
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 81
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 82
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 83
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 84
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 85
Appendix 2 Service Judging
SERVICE
JUDGING
<< CPB 03/05 >>
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 86
Introduction
Umpiring versus Service Judging 2 sides of the same coin.
It has become quite the norm to regard the role of Service Judge to be less than that of
an Umpire. The truth is that the roles, though inter-dependent, are different. Umpiring is
in the main about presentation whilst Service Judging is about delivery, delivering a
judgement. It has also become acceptable to think that one can be an Umpire, and a
good one at that, and either not be a Service Judge or possibly be an ok Service Judge.
In essence, a reluctant Service Judge: a Service Judge without conviction.
We are all Umpires, therefore, we also Service Judge. We should face up to the job of
Service Judging and give it the respect that it deserves. We should also be very realistic
about the job itself and especially how the time spent in the loneliest chair in the hall is
likely to develop as we, along with the Players, Umpire and Lines-people, become an
integral part of the match: in effect as we make the decisions demanded by our very
presence in that chair.
We should not be under any illusion about the situations that can, and invariably, will
occur.
We should meet the challenge of being a Service Judge head on. It is true to say that
we, Service Judges, do indeed know what we have to do, and also what is expected of
us in this role but we are not necessarily equipped to face up to the pressures that
always develop as time progresses in a match. We do not seem to be aware of the
situations that are developing right in front of our eyes. We are shown the Rules of
Service, the Faults and the Signals. We are rarely, if ever, shown what to expect or how
to cope.
For some reason we seem to have come up with a defensive mechanism which often
involves basic inaction and a collection of excuses as justification. Typical excuses are:
I could have called every one but obviously did not! It was marginal but I let it go! It
was difficult to get a clear view so, nothing was done! It looked a bit high but I let it
go!
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 87
Of course we must be fair to the server. It is not our function to call faults just because
we can and are empowered to so do. Equally, we are not entitled to concoct excuses to
justify our inaction
This document provides an outline of what you could experience and some possible
coping strategies. So, this is a start. It is definitely not the end of the matter or even the
only way to survive in that chair. Hopefully though, we will approach the role of Service
Judge with open eyes and especially with purpose.
This document is available online here too.
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 88
Appendix 3 The Rules of the Game
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 89
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 90
CORMAC BRESLIN
Page 91

Umpiring

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Umpiring

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

UMPIRING

A GUIDE TO BECOMING A BADMINTON UMPIRE

It is an art Not a science

Ambitions & Goals

Using your time well Off-court

The warm-up and intervals

Score-keeping and score-keepers

Emotions & Feelings yours!

Evaluation from within and without

Cards and Warnings Warnings and Cards

Score-sheets and Machines

Watch other sports

Badminton Umpiring by Malcolm Croft

Pierluigi COLLINA The Rules of the Game

It is an art NOT a science.

Umpiring is Control and Management

So, in addition to Control and Management we need to add Anticipation.

Teamwork has failed at an event when the following GROUPS form :

A very traditional group men only and women only.

Xenophobic? Probably not but it comprises like nationalities.

Similarly graded umpires.

A complete contradiction individuals, alone.

To stick together within similar grades, especially as you progress up the

You have a problem!

Why did you ever become an umpire in the first place?!

Ambitions & Goals

The Grades / Levels in umpiring go something like this:

<< National >>

<< International >>

Using your time well Off-court

The wrong way (under any circumstances) to do a toss is when:

There are insufficient players on court, [*]

you are facing the umpires chair,

you are not even on from the court of play.

The warm-up and intervals

Review the court to see if mopping is required.

Score-keeping and score-keepers

Finally, remembering to and always endeavouring to make a clear audible

You have to train yourself.

Emotions & Feelings - yours

Evaluation from within and without

I was once advised to avoid seeking outside evaluation on my umpiring. Evaluation by a

It is important to be aware that you are in an assessment situation but it is of primary

Cards and Warnings Warnings and Cards

The question you have to ask yourself is this,

No! No! No!

expect to have to use it,

In essence, the Laws on Service are quite clear and it is up to you to

The article referred to in Appendix 2 deals with the confidence issue

13.3.1 lands outside the boundaries of the court

A subsequent collision with the net by a person or racket is of no consequence

'FAULT' is never called.

13.3.2 passes through or under the net;

13.3.3 fails to pass over the net;

13.3.4 touches the ceiling or side walls;

Please also refer to 13.3.6 on page 55.

13.3.5 touches the person or dress of a player;

13.3.6 touches any other object or person outside the court;

There is no need for you to be pedantic. Part of your job description, as an

13.3.8 is hit twice in succession by the same player. However, a

13.3.9 is hit by a player and the player's partner successively.

13.3.10 touches a player's racket and does not travel towards

13.4.1 touches the net or it's supports with racket, person or

13.4.3 invades an opponent's court under the net with racket or