Badminton Competition Rules

For official competition use, a standard badminton court is 20 feet wide by 44 feet long. The net, which is five 5 feet high at the center and 5 feet 1 inch at the poles, is stretched across the exact center of the court to divide it in half. Whether you're playing in the singles or doubles format, the game begins with a coin toss, and the winning side has the option to choose the court end and either serve or receive first.

  1. Doubles

    • A doubles game has two players on each side of the court

      Two players are on each side of the net in the doubles format. The side that serves first must serve from the right half of the court, toward the other side's right half. The server serves from alternating sides of the court until his side loses a point. Then, the player on the opposing team who initially received the serve becomes the server.

    Singles

    • A singles game has one player on each side of the court

      One player is on each side of the court in the singles format. When a player's score is zero or an even number, he or she serves from the right half of the court. When a player's score is an odd number, he or she serves from the left.

    Play

    • Each badminton match consists of three games

      After a successful serve, the players hit the shuttlecock back and forth over the net. This rally continues until someone makes a fault.

      A match consists of three games, with teams changing sides after each game. The side that wins two out of three games wins the match. Each game is played either to 15 or 21 points.

      When the serving player makes a fault, he loses the point and service. When the receiving player makes a fault, the serving player gets one point and may continue to serve.

    Faults

    • A rally ends when someone makes a fault

      During the serve, a player faults if she strikes the shuttlecock at a point higher than the her waist, or serves overhand. He also faults if the shuttlecock either lands in the wrong court during the serve, is served from the wrong court or is missed entirely by the serving player. When a player intentionally distracts another player, a fault may also be called.

      During play, if the shuttlecock lands outside the court boundaries or fails to go completely over the net, that is a fault. It may not go under or through the net. A player also may not reach over the net to hit the shuttlecock on the other side of the court. The shuttlecock, in addition, may not be hit twice in a row on the same side of the court. It must go over the net to the opposite side each time it is hit. Any of these mistakes will result in a fault.

    Note

    • If the shuttlecock grazes the top of the net and still goes over it, this is not a fault. If this happens during a serve, the player serves the point again.