Badminton Rules: Can the racket cross over the net during play?

Question: While in play is your racket allowed to lean over the net to hit the shuttle or do you have to wait till the shuttle reaches my side of the net

Answer:
Hi Douglas, thanks for your question.

Yes you have to wait until the shuttle reaches your side before you can hit it.

When a badminton rally is in progress, you are not allowed to hit the shuttlecock until it reaches to your side of the court.

This means that you cannot place your racket over the net to hit the shuttlecock unless it has crossed over to your side of the court. Otherwise it will be a fault.

When the shuttlecock has crossed over to your side of the court, you are allowed to place your racket over the net towards your opponent’s side of the court as you retrieve the shuttle.

However, your racket must not make contact with the badminton net or else it will be a fault too.

This rule becomes especially important when you perform the badminton net kill.

The net kill requires you to hit the shuttlecock as early as possible at the net area (preferably when it just crosses over to your side).

As such, there is a high chance that players might take the shuttlecock before it reaches their side of the court.

There is also a chance that players might accidentally hit the badminton net during a net kill.

An Example from a Professional Tournament

The video below shows you a phenomenal badminton net kill performed by Peter Gade against Taufik Hidayat.

It was that amazing net shot that ended the rally between them.

In the video, Peter Gade’s racket passed over to Taufik’s side of the court as he executed the net kill.

However, the umpire did not call it a fault because when Peter took the shuttle, it had already travelled pass to his side of the court.

Watch the replay of the rally in slow motion (towards the end of the video) to see clearly.