Between rallies is a reset, not a personal timeout.

International BWF rules, not a universal club stopwatch

This page applies the Badminton World Federation Laws of Badminton, Version 5.0 (2), in force 26 April 2025, especially Laws 9, 14 and 16. For officiated BWF-sanctioned competition it also applies the BWF Instructions to Technical Officials, Version 8.0, in force 17 November 2025, especially Instructions 5.10, 5.11, 5.13, 5.14 and 5.17.

The Laws supply the continuous-play and misconduct rules. The ITTO supplies the detailed umpire procedure, including the optional Time Clock. A national federation, league or tournament may adopt different scoring, interval or officiating arrangements, so its published regulations control any authorised variation. The ITTO generally applies to Para badminton, but its own Instruction 1.5 says specific Instructions to Para Badminton Technical Officials supersede it where agreed.

The decision path

1. Classify the stoppage: ordinary between-rally preparation, a Law 16.2 interval, an official decision, injury, unsafe court, equipment action, or another circumstance outside the players' control.
2. Check the server: once the server is in position and ready, ITTO 5.10.3 says the receiver must not unduly delay readiness.
3. Check the purpose: Law 16.4.1 forbids delay for recovery, breath or advice; a label such as “drink” or “injury” does not decide the issue.
4. Check the event procedure: without a Time Clock, quick listed actions are discretionary; with it, both sides must be ready before 25 seconds expire unless the umpire stops the clock.
5. Follow the umpire: Law 16.4.2 makes the umpire the sole judge of delay. Ignoring the direction to resume can turn a permissible action into a breach.
6. Apply the outcome: ITTO 5.10.9 calls first for a reminder; if Law 16.7 is then needed, the umpire can warn, fault, or fault immediately for a flagrant breach.

Play is continuous unless a rule permits the stoppage

BWF Law 16.1 requires continuous play from the first service until the match ends, subject to the intervals and suspensions in Laws 16.2 and 16.3 and a specific additional Wheelchair Badminton provision in Law 16.5.3. The end of a rally therefore creates the short practical pause needed to record the score and prepare the next service, not a general timeout.

Law 16.4.1 removes three common justifications for extending that pause: play must not be delayed to let a player recover strength, recover wind, or receive advice. Law 16.4.2 makes the umpire the sole judge of whether delay has occurred.

Readiness protects the receiver but cannot be used to stall

The server may not serve before the receiver is ready under Law 9.4. If the server does so, Law 14.2.1 makes the rally a let; if the receiver attempts to return the service, the receiver is treated as having been ready. This protects a genuinely unready receiver from a quick serve.

The protection is not open-ended. BWF ITTO 5.10.3 says that once the server is in position and ready, the receiver must not unduly delay getting ready for the next service. Separately, Law 9.1.1 says neither side may unduly delay delivery once server and receiver are ready. The receiver's genuine readiness and a later attempt to stall are therefore separate questions for the umpire.

For a fuller explanation of an early service and attempted return, see receiver-not-ready and service-let rules.

Delay can also occur after both sides are ready

Readiness is followed by a defined service sequence. Under Law 9.2, the first forward movement of the server's racket head is the start of service. Law 9.1.2 adds that once the server has completed the backward movement of the racket head, any delay in starting the service is undue delay.

This is different from taking too long between rallies. A player may be in position yet still breach the service law by pausing at the prohibited point in the action. The relevant first question is therefore whether the problem occurred before both sides were ready or during the service motion itself.

A quick towel or drink is discretionary

For a match without the BWF Time Clock, Instruction 5.10.4 says the umpire may allow a quick towel, a towel and drink, or a self-applied spray between rallies if play is not unduly held up and the receiver-readiness requirement is respected. The wording is permissive: these actions may be allowed at the umpire's discretion.

That does not create a fixed number of seconds or a right to visit a courtside bag after every rally. Context matters. A prompt towel while both sides reset may be acceptable; a long walk to the back of the court when the opponent is ready may be stopped. The player must respond when the umpire requires play to resume.

The 25-second procedure applies only when the tool is in use

Under BWF Instructions 5.10.5 and 5.10.8, a match using the Time Clock gives players until the clock expires to complete appropriate courtside actions and be in position and ready. Examples include towelling, drinking, applying a self-applied cold spray or ice, adjusting taping or strapping, and cutting strings.

The clock starts when the umpire enters the previous rally's score on the scoring device and expires after 25 seconds. It is a readiness deadline, not 25 seconds of guaranteed rest: if the server is ready sooner, the receiving side must still comply with the rule against undue delay.

The umpire may stop the Time Clock when necessary, including for an extended court wipe, a dispute, or an injury. A stopped clock is official management of a situation, not time that a player has earned. Tournaments without the tool remain governed by the umpire's discretion rather than an implied 25-second allowance.

A genuine safety need is managed promptly

Players may point out where the court needs mopping, but the umpire and court attendants control the process. Without the Time Clock, Instruction 5.10.6 requires players to be back on court as soon as wiping is finished and before the attendants leave. With the clock, players must be back before it expires when wiping has finished and the clock is running.

A wet or unsafe court is not treated in the same way as a request for recovery time. If the court or its immediate surroundings need repair or are temporarily unplayable, Instruction 5.11 directs the umpire to call the Referee and suspend play until the area is suitable. The score remains and play resumes from that point under Law 16.3.

Necessary equipment actions must not become delay

The umpire decides whether a shuttle should be changed, and the change must be fair under Instruction 5.13. In a Time Clock match, a between-rally change should be completed before the clock expires; players may be reminded to request it as soon as a rally ends. Deliberately modifying or damaging a shuttle to change its speed or flight is misconduct under Law 16.6.2.

ITTO 5.10.7 specifically tells umpires to prevent unnecessary walking around the court and testing replacement rackets on court. A player may change a racket at courtside during a rally under ITTO 5.10.1, but between rallies an equipment action remains subject to continuous play; the rules do not create a separate equipment timeout.

Coaching and courtside access cannot hold up play

Law 16.5.1 permits advice only while the shuttle is not in play and until the players have taken up position to serve and receive. Advice must stop at that point and cannot be the reason for delaying readiness. A pause between rallies is therefore not an unrestricted coaching timeout.

Under Law 16.5.2, a player may not leave the court during a match without the umpire's permission if doing so causes delay, except during the permitted Law 16.2 intervals. Instruction 5.10 tells the umpire to control unauthorised court leaving and apply Law 16.7 if necessary. Courtside towels, drinks, and spare equipment should be used within the applicable readiness procedure.

Medical management is not recovery time

An injury or illness is handled carefully and flexibly under BWF ITTO 5.14. The umpire must assess severity quickly, call the Referee if necessary, and time the delay. The Referee—not the player, coach or doctor—decides whether the Tournament Doctor or anyone else is required on court, and no treatment causing undue delay is given there.

A flowing-blood injury is a specific safety case: ITTO 5.14.2 says the game should be delayed until the bleeding stops, the wound is suitably dressed, or the Referee advises otherwise. The BWF rules do not provide a fixed-duration medical timeout. Fatigue, breathlessness, cramp or discomfort may justify a quick assessment, but they do not themselves create recovery time; the officials distinguish necessary safety management from the recovery delay prohibited by Law 16.4.1.

Formal breaks have their own limits

Standard BWF play allows an interval not exceeding 60 seconds when the leading score first reaches 11 in each game and not exceeding 120 seconds between games. Those are the scheduled opportunities for recovery, drinks, and courtside advice. They are maximum durations, not time that may be added to a separate between-rally pause.

Alternative scoring systems can move the mid-game trigger, and televised matches may use mandatory fixed intervals decided in advance by the Referee. The complete timing and change-of-ends procedure is covered in badminton intervals, change of ends, and continuous play.

A quick drink without a Time Clock

Situation: after a long rally, a player steps to the courtside box for a drink. The server is not yet in position and the player returns promptly.

Ruling under BWF Laws v5.0 (2) and ITTO v8.0: the umpire may allow it. ITTO 5.10.4 makes a quick towel and drink discretionary when play is not unduly held up and the receiver-readiness rule is respected. The decisive facts are promptness and the umpire's permission—not the length of the previous rally.

The receiver relies on the remaining clock

Situation: a Time Clock shows six seconds remaining. The server is already in position and ready, but the receiver continues applying ice at courtside.

Ruling under BWF ITTO v8.0: the receiver must get ready without undue delay; the remaining display does not guarantee six more seconds. Instructions 5.10.8 and 5.10.8.3 set 25 seconds as the outside readiness deadline while preserving Instruction 5.10.3 when the server is ready sooner.

The server serves while the receiver is unready

Situation: the receiver has not taken a receiving position and makes no attempt to return, but the server serves anyway.

Ruling under BWF Laws v5.0 (2): call a let under Laws 9.4 and 14.2.1; the same server serves again and the aborted rally does not count. If the receiver attempts a return, Law 9.4 treats the receiver as ready, so the receiver cannot then obtain a let merely by claiming unreadiness.

A cut starts bleeding

Situation: a player's cut is visibly bleeding after a rally and the opponent is ready to continue.

Ruling under BWF ITTO v8.0: this is managed as the specific blood-safety case in Instruction 5.14.2, not automatically as time-wasting. The game should be delayed until the bleeding stops, the wound is suitably dressed, or the Referee advises otherwise. The umpire times the delay, and the Referee controls who may come on court.

There is no universal stopwatch for every match

Outside a match using the BWF Time Clock, the Laws do not assign a fixed between-rally count. The umpire considers what is happening, whether it is necessary, whether the opponent is ready, and whether the player responds promptly to instructions. Because Law 16.4.2 makes the umpire the sole judge, players do not gain extra time simply by labelling a pause as towelling, equipment adjustment, or injury.

In an unofficiated club match, players should apply the same continuous-play baseline and agree practical necessities in good faith. The formal BWF card procedure assumes appointed officials; players should not invent card sanctions or award themselves misconduct points.

A reminder can escalate to warning and fault

ITTO 5.10.9 directs the umpire to remind a player who violates Instructions 5.10.3–5.10.8 that play must be continuous. That reminder is match management, not yet the formal yellow-card warning. If necessary, the umpire then applies Law 16.7 to a breach of the interval, recovery-delay, court-leaving or misconduct provisions.

A formal warning is shown with a yellow card and does not change the score. If the side has already been warned, the umpire faults it; a flagrant offence or breach may be faulted immediately without a prior warning. ITTO 5.17.4 uses a red card for that misconduct fault.

The red-card fault gives the opponent the rally and one point under Law 7.3; service changes too if the opponent was receiving. The umpire must immediately report the faulted side to the Referee. Law 16.7.2 empowers the Referee to disqualify the side, with the black-card procedure set out in ITTO 5.17.5. See badminton misconduct and penalty cards for the complete procedure.

Six claims that overstate a player's time

• “Everyone gets 25 seconds after every rally.” No. That procedure applies only when the BWF Time Clock tool is operating, and readiness may be required sooner.
• “A drink is always allowed whenever the shuttle is dead.” No. Without the Time Clock, a quick drink is subject to the umpire's discretion and must not unduly hold up play.
• “The receiver alone decides when the next serve can happen.” No. The server cannot serve before readiness, but the receiver must not unduly delay once the server is in position and ready.
• “A long rally earns extra recovery.” No. Law 16.4 expressly prohibits delay to recover strength or wind.
• “Every delay must receive a warning first.” No. A flagrant breach can be faulted immediately.
• “Court wiping is a player timeout.” No. Officials manage a necessary wipe and require prompt readiness when it is complete.

Wheelchair badminton has one additional interval provision

BWF Law 16.5.3 says a wheelchair badminton player may be allowed to leave the court for one additional interval during a match in order to catheterise. A BWF-appointed Technical Official must accompany the player. This is an express, limited exception to the ordinary court-leaving rule—not a general extra medical or recovery timeout for every Para badminton player.

For a Para badminton event, also check whether specific Instructions to Para Badminton Technical Officials apply. Under BWF ITTO 1.5, any agreed specific clauses supersede the general ITTO clauses.

BWF source material

• Badminton World Federation, BWF Statutes Section 4.1 — Laws of Badminton, Version 5.0 (2), in force 26 April 2025 — Laws 7.3, 9.1.1–9.4, 14.2.1 and 16.
• Badminton World Federation, BWF Statutes Section 4.1.1 — Instructions to Technical Officials, Version 8.0, in force 17 November 2025 (BWF-issued document hosted by Badminton Denmark) — Instructions 1.5, 5.10, 5.11, 5.13, 5.14 and 5.17.

Source note: checked against the two documents above on 12 August 2026. The Laws control the international baseline; the ITTO controls the described BWF officiating procedures. Tournament prospectuses and national regulations may supplement or replace procedures within their own jurisdiction, particularly scoring-dependent intervals, use of the Time Clock and Para badminton instructions.