Rules for Playing Badminton

Badminton is a great outdoor sport. Knowing the rules keeps the game entertaining and sets all players on an equal footing.

  1. Starting

    • After a toss to decide who starts, the serving player stands on the right side of his court and serves diagonally. If playing doubles, the players stand on both sides, but the right side player still serves to the right.

    Scoring

    • The team serving can score. When the opposing side drops the shuttle or sends it out of play, the serving team scores. If the serving team does either, it passes the right to serve to the other team. After the first point, the serve moves to the left; serving switches with each score.

    Match Point

    • Matches are best of three. For doubles or men's singles, the individual games end at the first to 15. Official rules for women's singles end at 11 points. If both players have 14 or 10 points, the first team to reach that chooses whether to continue to 15 or 11, or "set" the game at 17 or 13 points.

    Faults and Lets

    • A fault occurs when players break the rules: Crossing the net, leaving the field of play or other general misconduct. After a fault, the right to serve passes to the opponents. A "let" exists for anything unforeseen by the rules. At that point, an umpire or the players can make a decision on what to do.

    End of Rounds

    • At the end of a round, the teams cross the net and trade. If the game reaches the third round, the teams switch at the middle point (six or eight points, depending on the round's ending score).