Badminton is an indoor sport that witnesses players hurl a feathered conical shuttle across the net back and forth such that it lands within bounds. The player who commits more faults finds himself or herself at the losing end of the match.
The unique aerodynamics of the shuttle makes it a challenging equipment to hit at various angles. Professional badminton rallies are often intense, with the shuttle finding itself dropped, smashed, hit, from the baseline till the net. In other racquet sports where the playing equipment is allowed to bounce, there are scenarios where players can make a return by hitting it around the net post. Such a scene is rarely seen in badminton.
Badminton’s basic rule is to keep the shuttle mid-air. Another one of its fundamentals is the fact that players must hit the shuttle such that it crosses over the net before reaching the opponent. Thus, hitting the shuttle at an angle such that it forces the opponent to strike the shuttle around the net is nearly impossible.
According to Law 13.3.3 of the Badminton World Federation’s rulebook, it is a fault if the shuttle in play fails to pass over the net. If such a scene is to occur, then it is the umpire’s duty to stop the point in play in accordance with rule 3.31, and say “The shuttle did not pass over the net.”
Thus, a shuttle that forces the player to even think to hit an around the net shot in badminton almost always lands outside bounds. Ultimately, even if a herculean attempt is made to attempt such a shot, the shot-maker loses the point owing to the rules of the sport.
