Official Badminton Rules & Regulations

Badminton is played worldwide as a recreational and competitive sport, and traces its origins back to ancient Greece and Egypt. The sport became popular in England at the start of the 20th century and eventually became an Olympic sport. In 2009, the Badminton World Federation governs the sport, and the rules adopted by the BWF apply to both competitive and recreational play.

  1. Basics

    • The object of the game is to hit the shuttlecock over the net and onto the ground within the opponent's side of the court. The court is 44 feet long by 17 feet wide (singles) or 20 feet wide (doubles), and is bisected in the middle by a net that is 5 feet off the ground in the middle and 5 feet 1 inch off the ground on the sides.

    Equipment

    • Shuttlecocks are made of a rounded cork base covered with either leather or plastic, with 16 overlapping goose feathers embedded into the cork. Recreational players typically use shuttlecocks with plastic or nylon skirts for durability. Many modern racquets are made of ultra-strong titanium, which gives the racquet strength, but makes it extremely lightweight. Ashaway Kevlar is becoming popular, according to officialbadminton.com, because they design racquets based on match strategy and doubles play.

    Serving

    • Serving is done from diagonal sides of the court, starting from the server's right side to the opponent's left side, according to the Badminton World Federation's official Web site. The sides alternate after each serve. Singles players serve from behind the baseline. Doubles players serve from behind a line two feet inside the baseline. A serve that hits the net and lands in the opponent's side of the court is considered a let and service is repeated. Both players must have both feet on the ground and remain in their service court, which is 13 feet from the doubles service line toward the net, until the serve is hit. The player receiving the serve cannot move until the shuttlecock is struck. The shuttlecock must also clear the short service line, which is 6 feet 6 inches from the net, or the serve is a fault. Only underhanded serves are permitted.

    In play

    • Play continues until the shuttlecock either hits the ground inside the court or out of bounds. The shuttlecock may only be hit once, unless a player is attempting a slice shot, in which case it can be struck twice. If the shuttlecock hits the ceiling, it is considered a fault. If the shuttlecock hits the net and lands on the other side of the net, no let will be called and it is considered a live play.

    Scoring

    • Badminton matches have two scoring formats: service and rally. Service scoring means that only the player or players on serve may score. Rally scoring means a point is awarded to the winning player or players after each serve. Matches are a best-of-three format, with each game played to 15 points for men or 11 points for women. At the conclusion of each game, players must switch sides. In the third game, players switch sides after a player reaches eight points in men's play, six points in women's play or 11 points in rally play.