It was bound to happen.
“We need one more line judge for the next match at Court 3. Can you help us out?” the tournament referee asks.
You wince. You’ve played in a number of tournaments but have never tried officiating.
“Pleeeeease?” she begs.
“Oh… alright,” you yield. Anyway, how hard can it be?

You settle in your seat about a meter opposite the corner formed by the baseline and a sideline. Typically, a “friendly” tournament like this employs only two line judges – one for each half-court. Apparently, if the shuttle falls on the area distant from the line judge, the umpire or net judge could pitch in. The net judge who also doubles as a service judge is the third official on the court. The fourth is the umpire, of course. This is the minimal setup.

The official x positions of line judges for singles and doubles matches (international standards) are shown below:

It is recommended that the line judges’ positions be 2.5 to 3.5 meters from the court boundaries and the line judges’ positions be protected from enchroachment by any outside influence, e.g. by photographers, stage parents, uziseros, relatives, whole baranggay, etc.

The match starts. You do your best to keep an eye on the shuttle. The key is to anticipate when the player misses or doesn’t hit the bird because that’s when it will surely fall to the court’s surface. Hmmm… tricky. And there’s that tendency for us baddicts to watch the heated exchanges instead of guarding the lines. Many a controversial call has been made because the line judge’s attention drifted from officiating mode to spectator mode.

Then it happens. The shuttle falls near the baseline. For the umpire, it’s too close to call; he looks in your direction for confirmation. Good thing you were watching the whole thing. You flash him the thumbs-up sign. With a perplexed look he asks over the sound system, “Was it in or out?”

“IN!” you shout. You could have sworn that you heard some people snickering behind you. Others are grinning. Turns out that all you had to do was to execute a hand signal. If the shuttle lands in, say nothing, but point to the line with your right hand, you discover to your chagrin later.

What’s Your Sign?

Hand signals are practical since only the umpire uses a sound system (ideally, that is). Instead of shouting line calls, a simple but visible gesture tells it all. One exception is when the shuttle lands out. No matter how far out it lands, call “out” promptly in a clear voice, loud enough to be heard by the players and spectators and, at the same time, signal by extending both arms horizontally so that the umpire can see clearly.

Hand Signal # 3

IF UNSIGHTED (your field of vision was blocked)
If unsighted, inform the umpire immediately by holding your hands to cover your eyes

Hand Signal # 4

MISCONDUCT (warning or fault)

This is the hand signal executed only by the umpire. For any incidents of misconduct, the umpire is to call:

“Come here” to the offending player and call
“… [name of player], warning for misconduct”
or
“… [name of player], fault for misconduct”

at the same time raising a card above his head.

For the first warning, the yellow card is used. For another offense after a previous warning, the player will be faulted for misconduct and a red card is flashed this time. After a flagrant or persistent offense, the umpire shall be constrained to fault the pasaway player for misconduct with a red card again and report the offending side immediately to the Referee with a view to disqualification. When the Referee decides to disqualify the offending side, a black card is given to the umpire. The umpire shall call “Come here” to the offending player and call:

“… [name of side] disqualified for misconduct”.
at the same time raising the right hand holding a black card above the umpire’s head.
Any disqualification for misconduct shall render a player disqualified for the entire tournament or championship. Tsk.. tsk..

The following hand signals are executed by service judges. The service judge shall sit on a low chair by the post, preferably opposite the umpire. He is responsible for judging that the server delivers a correct or legal service. If not, he shall call “Fault!” loudly and use the approved hand signal to indicate the type of infringement.

Hand Signal # 5

Whole of the shuttle not below the server’s waist at the moment of being struck

Hand Signal # 6

At the instant of hitting the shuttle, the shaft of the racket not pointing in a downward direction to such an extent that the whole of the head of the racket is discernibly below the whole of the server’s racket hand.

Hand Signal # 7

Undue delay to the delivery of the service. Once the players have taken their positions, the first forward movement of the server’s racket head is the start of the service. The movement of the racket must continue forwards.

Hand Signal # 8

Some part of both feet not in the service court and in a stationary position until the service is delivered.

Hand Signal # 9

Initial point of contact with the shuttle not on the base of the shuttle.