Badminton: What is the new spin serve and why it has been banned by BWF in the interim

A few months back, a new variety of spin serve started doing the rounds in the badminton community. It was already being used in tournaments and was proving to be a tough one to return for the elite players. Denmark’s Marcus Rindshoj is considered to be the one to have started this trend although one cannot be sure about that. What is certain, is that it made the serve a serious weapon and shortened the rallies incredibly. Points barely lasted more than two-three shots.

On Friday, a few hours before the start of the Sudirman Cup Finals in Suzhou, the Badminton World Federation issued an interim ban on this variation.

What’s this serve?

The new ‘spin serve’ was reportedly first implemented in tournaments at the Polish Open 2023 in March.