Badminton terminology

Has it ever happened to you that you are watching a badminton game and commentator suddenly used a technical badminton terminology and you failed to understand or your coach said something that you don’t know.

Well don’t worry in this article i will be telling you some basic badminton vocabulary words  that is used by professionals, which will help you to understand badminton more clearly.

Back when I first started playing badminton, I could not figure out what the “LUV ALL” term meant. I was perpetually confused, but I never bothered asking people. Makes sense right?t wasn’t until I watched a professional match on YouTube that I finally learned what this meant.As the First server was serving the official said Luv All. My brain nearly popped as my mouth opened up to belt out an “ohhhhhhhhh” that lasted for at least 7.5 seconds. Then I said to myself “LUV ALL means that both players scores are 0-0”.

Most Commonly used badminton terminology

Terms related to court in badminton

Back Court :- Area which is behind the doubles back service line.

Box Play :- A type of play where the players hits the shuttle in a box

And shuttle which lands outside the box is out.

Base Position:- When you are playing a singles game, your overriding objective is to return each shot to the relative safety in the center of the court where the base position is located.

Baseline :- Back boundary line at each end of the court, that runs parallel to the net.

Half Court :- Badminton court is divided with a middle service line, and if players plays on one part of their court than it is called half court.

Hall:-  A big arena where multiple court are there for players.

Court:- It is the place where matches are played in badminton same as in tennis.

There are different types of court

• Wooden
• Synthetic
• Marble
• Concrete

On International level Synthetic court are used

One Intresting fact about synthetic courts , the more thinner they are the better there quality will be, I learnt this thing from a Yonex dealer my coach was purchasing a mat from them and they showed Different variety and one thing we noticed that as he was going to higher range mat it was getting thinner, after asking he explained that it is not the thickness of mat which create cushion.

Front Court:- It is the area which is before the service line , you can check this article for more information.

Terms used for different shots

Clears:- If a player hit the shuttle from his back of the court to his opponent back side of the court then it will be known as clear

Sweet spot:- The center section of the racket stringing where the response is uniform and hence offers maximum play ability.

Near the rim of the racket the string becomes more rigid and less responsive, an effect that varies depending upon closeness to the rim.

The extent of the sweetspot depends upon racket design, the string chosen, and generally varies inversely with the tension used in stringing the racket.

Shots hit outside of the sweetspot are less predictable and impart less energy to the shuttle so it is desirable to hit most shots in the sweetspot.

Beginning players hence benefit from looser stringing which yields larger sweetspot.

Short Service:- When the player serve behind the front service line then it is called short service.

Smash:-  Player hit the shuttle from a high point to his opponent court diagonally with power is called smash.

Some types of smashes

• Half smash
• Full smash
• stick smash

Drop:- Those types of slow shots which are played from back of the court to net area of your opponent.

Drop Shot:- These are more fast and sharp badminton shots..Drop shots are those type of fast shots which are played from back of the court to net area of opponent.

Dribble/Net shot:- Dribbling(net drop) means when you reply to your opponent net shot with a more tight net shot(here net shots means player are playing net to net).

Kill (mainly from net):-The net kill is a useful skill to end a rally when if your opponent executes a poor quality net shot (net shot that is too high).

Flick:- A quick wrist and forearm rotation that surprises an opponent by changing an apparently soft shot into a faster passing one; used primarily on the serve and at the net.

Parallel/Drive/Counter Attack:- When the player hit the shuttle and it travels in a straight line.

Service:- First shot played during a rally both in singles and doubles , learn more in detail

Wood shot:- A legal shot in which the shuttle hits the frame of the racket.

Stroke:- A movement of the player’s racket with an intention to hit the shuttle.

Feint:- Any deceptive movement that disconcerts an opponent before or during the serve; also called a “balk”.

Terms related to rules of badminton

Carry:- An illegal tactic, also called a sling or throw, in which the shuttle is caught and held on the racket and then slung during the execution of a stroke.

Deuce:- In badminton happens when both players score are equal on game/match point after this player need two consecutive points to win the match/game.

Advantage:- When a player has scored a single point after deuce and he/she needs one more point to win the game.If player having the advantage loose a point than the score will be back on deuce. , more scoring rules

Faults:- A violation of the playing rules, either in serving, receiving, or during play (see common faults).

Long Service Line:- In singles, the back boundary line. In doubles a line 2 l/2 feet inside the back boundary line. The serve may not go past this line.

Luv , Love:- When the score of a player is 0 then it is also called love or luv , i don’t know the spelling but the pronunciation is love. learn more about scoring system

Let:- When lets occurs, players who served serves again. The following are considered lets:

• A shuttle, after passing over the net, becomes caught in or on the net except during service;
• Shuttle hits an obstruction that hangs over the court and is lower than the recommended 24-foot ceiling height;
• During service, the receiver and server both fault at the same time;

Equipment Terms

Racket:- The main equipment required to play badminton mainly made from carbon graphite.

Birdie, Bird:- Another name of shuttlecock.

Terms in Badminton for Officials

Line Man:- There are the officials who tells the chair umpire whether the birdie was in or out.

Service Judge:- In badminton there are two Empire one is Chair Umpire and second is service umpire whose job is to see whether players are serving or receiving shuttle according to rules prescribed by BWF.

Chair Umpire:- Official which the scoring and take final decision just like in tennis.

Other Important Terms

Rally:- this occurs when the players hit the bird back and forth several times before one side scores a point.

Set:- Badminton is a best of 3 game means who wins 2 out of 3 game wins the match and each game is called a set.

Like Set 1 , Set 2 , Set 3

Stance:- The position of one’s body and feet while waiting for the opponent to hit the shuttle.

Can be very important since improper stance can give unwanted clues to the opponent and make quick effective response more difficult.

Classic improper stance for beginners would be flat-footed with weight on heels., learn more in detail

Straight game:- A win in consecutive games with no lost games.

Shuttler:- Badminton players are also known as shuttler.

Unforced errors:- When your hit a shot out or wrong in a neutral situation, means that you made mistake not because of any shot made by your opponent.

Comment down below which term you have never heard of

Remember badmintonisgreat.com if you face any problem in your badminton career.

Thank you for reading…….