How to play badminton

How to play badminton: 5 simple rules you should know

The motto “Serve it, smash it, love it, win it” holds true with badminton.

Badminton is one of the most played sports in childhood after football and cricket that needs no formal technicalities to learn in order to have fun.

Many contradict it to be a game only amateur play.

That’s absolutely wrong.

Badminton is a serious game that needs as much as dedication one needs in other games and sometimes, even more comparatively.

Badminton is a great game to be played for fun as well fitness. It is also one of the fastest racquet games ever. After many players making it to the top in Olympics and Commonwealth, the game has been getting more attention than ever. It is no more a neglected sport and many have come up to pursue it as a career. For the players who want to know the ABC of the game will find this piece of content on “How to Play Badminton?” helpful. Badminton can be played with two or four players and the aim is to hit the shuttle-cock over the net with some rules to be followed.

So, let us look at them in detail before you take your first shot 😉

Table of Contents

Know the rules

The game has simple rules to start with.

All you need to do is serve the shuttlecock to the other side of the court without committing any faults. Anyone who reaches 21 points first wins the game. However, if there is a tie at 20 points then the game moves two points ahead. This means that the player should be 2 points ahead in such a case.

If the game goes for long, then the first player to reach 30 wins the game. To win the series the player needs to win 2 games before the opponent.

Understanding the Court

The badminton court is 44 feet in length and 22 feet in width.

The net is placed at the center of the court at 22 feet in length and should be 5 feet high from the ground.

If you are playing singles, then the width of the court will be 20 feet only as the entire court is used for doubles games. The service should be such that the shuttle-cock should reach to the other side of the court in diagonal form and within the service box on that side of the court. This way the service is considered as valid.

Game point basics

In the game of badminton each serve has a point to be scored.

Since the first serve, you start from the right side of the court. If the serving team scores a point, then the service remains with the same team and service needs to be done from the other side of the service box. If the point is won by the opponent team, then the service goes to them. However, in doubles, each team has just one service at each point. If the team makes a point only then will it get another chance but does not change sides to serve.

How do you score a point

What is the point of playing a game if you are not able to score better?

Losing a game without a tough fight is fatal. Winning with grace and a huge difference in points can be self-satisfactory. Here are the scenarios where you can score a point.

Strike the shuttle-cock right

Always look at the shuttle-cock coming your way and position yourself so that the shuttle-cock can be returned to the other side of the court without stretching yourself too much.

The shuttle cock’s round center which is made of rubber and the top has feathers on it. You should always aim to hit the center to get the shot right. Try using the racquet both sides like a forehand and a back hand. This way your game will get fast and you can reply to the shots well. Plan your shots well so that you can get the opponent away from the net to take some time in hand to get ready for the next shot.

The most important point in winning strike is a smash shot. This is a power shot which is hit just like you smash the shuttle-cock over the fence with the racquet. Time your shots to ensure that the opponent does not reply to the shot and misses it. This can be done by aiming the shuttle-cock in a place where the opponent is not present or cannot reach within a fraction of seconds.

You can get points by following such rules and master the art of badminton.

To become an ace player, you need to understand the game of your opponent and turn it to your side.

A few players are good at being either forehand strikers or a few are excellent at being backhand strikers. The lethal combination that makes for the top badminton is being a mix of both hands. Know the rules, learn the tricks and with more practice with one of best badminton rackets, you will be better with every day passing by.

The above were basic rules to play a game of badminton. If you want to take it further and make it a rewarding journey, catch hold of a coach that is renowned and popular for coaching ability and excellence mentoring skills.

So, are you up for being one of the most famous badminton players in the near future?

Go and own the court and show the sportsman spirit.

And be sure to check out more reviews and guides at BadmintonMonthly!

Badminton Rules Made Simple for Beginners (PDF Included)

This is a beginners guide for the rules of how to play Badminton. We’ll cover all areas including the basic rules, scoring, serving, differences between singles and doubles, common faults and lets.

So what are the basic Badminton rules? You and the opponent hit the shuttlecock back and forth over the net. When the shuttlecock hits the floor the point is over. The winner adds one point to their score. The game is over when the first player gets to 21 with a two-point lead. You can only hit the shuttlecock once to get it over and you can’t let it bounce.

Sounds simple right? Well, this is only a basic summary so if you want to learn the rules for Badminton and how to play then read on. TLDR, want the PDF? Click here to skip to the PDFs.

The basics of Badminton

Before getting into the rules let’s quickly establish the basic structure of a Badminton game.

Badminton is played indoors between two or four people. Badminton is played with racquets, a shuttlecock and with a mesh net separating the two players or pairs.

Both sides hit the shuttlecock over the net using their racquets until someone wins the point. The point is over when the shuttlecock either hits the floor, one of the players or fails to pass over the net.

If you manage to land the shuttlecock in the opponents half of the court then you win the point. If it lands outside the boundaries of their court then you lose the point and vice versa. The shuttlecock is not allowed to bounce, unlike Tennis and Squash.

There are five different categories for playing Badminton, they are:

Singles is always played with one player on each side of the court, a one-vs-one match. Doubles is played with two people on each side, two pairs of players. Doubles can be played as all ladies or all men or a combination of a man and a woman paired together against another man and woman.

So that’s the basics of what Badminton is. Now let’s take a closer look at scoring.

Scoring points, keeping score and winning the game

Scoring in Badminton is made quite simple now thanks to the changes introduced by the BWF in 2006. Badminton is rally point scoring, which simply means you can score a point on anyone’s serve. You don’t have to be the one serving to score a point.

You can score points in a number of ways including landing the shuttlecock on your opponents’ side of the court, the opponent hits the shuttlecock out or is unable to return it or your opponent plays a fault. We’ll come back to faults later.

If you win the point then you get to serve or carry on serving. If you lose the point then the opponent gets to serve or carries on serving.

Scoring a game and a match

A game of Badminton is the first to 21 points with a clear two-point lead. This means if it’s 20-20 then to win you have to be two points ahead of the other player. This can carry on all the way up to 29-29 and at that point, the player who wins the next point and reaches 30 is the winner.

In a full match, you play the best of three games to 21. After each game, you change sides of the court and if you reach the third game then you swap sides one last time when the first person reaches 11 points.

This is the basics of scoring, to learn more read our article on Badminton rules scoring.

Serving, how to serve and where to serve from

Serving is crucial in Badminton, much like Tennis it’s the only shot you have full control over. You have the shuttlecock in your hand and are able to start the rally, it’s a big advantage but there are a lot of rules around serving so I’ve made a handy checklist of the essential rules.

If you learn the technique for the forehand or backhand serve then you won’t have any trouble with playing by the rules. See the two videos below that demonstrate the forehand and backhand serve.

If the opponent misses or leaves the shuttle and it lands out then you lose the point and the opponent gets to serve. In the next sections, we’ll look at the service areas for what’s in and out for both singles and doubles.

Which side do I serve from?

To figure out who is serving is quite simple, if you won the point then you get to serve. To figure out which side to serve from is also easy, look at your score and if it’s an even number you serve from the right side of your court and if your score is odd then you serve from the left side of your court.

For doubles, this also tells you who will be serving. For example, the opponent was serving but you won the point so now you get to serve, but does your partner serve or you? Same as before, you look at the score and if it’s even the player on the right side of the court serves and if it’s odd then the player on the left.

In doubles you carry on serving for as long as you win points, you don’t alternate with your partner until you lose and regain the service again.

This covers the basics of serving so you can get started, read our full article on Badminton serving rules for all the details.

Rules for doubles

Doubles is played with four people, as we mentioned earlier this four-player setup can be either four men (mens doubles), four ladies (womens doubles) or two pairs of a man and a woman (mixed doubles).

When playing doubles you need to be aware of five things.

Let’s take a look at these points and show you how to stay on top of the rules.

Which side am I on?

The first thing you need to remember when you’re playing doubles is which side you were on when the rally started. It’s important because it determines who does/doesn’t serve or receive next.

When you start a game each player picks a side of the court to start from. After that, you just need to keep track of which side you are on. Important note, during the rally you can move anywhere, you don’t have to stay on your side, just remember which side you were on when the rally started.

When you or your partner is serving and you score a point then you switch sides and the person who was serving continues.

We mentioned earlier how to work this out. You only get one serve even in doubles so the team that won the last point will be serving. To determine which of the players will serve we need to look at the score.

If the score is an even number the player who was on the right side of the court will be serving. If it’s an odd number the player on the left.

Who is receiving?

Using the same method to figure who will be serving we can work out who will be receiving.

If the serving teams score is even then the receiver on the right side of their court will receive the serve. If the serving teams score is odd then the receiver is the player on the left side.

This is why it’s so important to remember which side you are on.

Serving, what’s in and out?

When serving doubles use the tram lines (the wide service lines, illustrated below) but not the backbox. An easy way to remember this is to remember the service box is wide and short.

Playing the rally, what’s in and out?

In doubles after the service has been returned then everything inside the court is considered in. The only lines you need to worry about are the very outside lines.

Doubles uses with the courts full width and length during the rally so it’s easy to figure if the shuttle is in or out. If it’s inside the court at all then it’s in, if not then it’s out.

This covers the basics of Badminton rules for doubles. See our complete guide on Badminton rules for doubles to get a complete breakdown on all the rules in detail.

Rules for singles

Compared to doubles, singles is a lot more straight forward. You don’t have to worry about who is serving because if you won the rally then you’re serving and continue to serve until you lose a point.

You don’t need to remember which side you started the rally on either because without a partner you and the other player are the only ones who can serve and receive. Just keep track of the score and you’ll know which side to serve/receive from.

What’s in and out? Serving and rallies are the same?

In doubles what’s in and out on court changes for during the service and after during the rally. In singles what’s in and out during the serve and rally is the same.

In singles, the wide boxes (also known as the tramlines) are always out and the boxes at the back of the court are always in.

Interested in learning how the more obscure rules come into to play for singles? Then check out our in-depth article on Badminton rules for singles.

Common Badminton faults

A fault ends the rally in Badminton and awards the point against the person or pair that committed the fault. There are various faults to watch out for while playing Badminton but here are the five most common.

Hitting the shuttlecock before it passes over the net

It should be quite obvious but it’s against the rules to hit the shuttlecock before it passes over the net. For the majority of the time, you never have to worry about this rule, it’s when players play closer to the net that this situation can come up.

Playing tight net shots can create a situation where one player tries to “kill” the other players net shot. They essentially try to tap the shuttlecock while it’s crossing the net for an easy point. See the video below for an example.

In the example above the player of the left has hit the shuttlecock before it crossed the net. This is not allowed as you’re obstructing your opponents shot. What people often think is that your racquet is not allowed to cross over the net but it can, as long as the shuttlecock is on your side of the net.

Hitting the shuttlecock twice

It doesn’t happen very often but you can’t hit the shuttlecock twice when trying to get the shuttle back. If you could then Badminton would quickly turn into a volleyball type sport.

It normally happens when playing doubles. Your partner or you swings for the shuttle and misses but just clips the shuttlecock whilst it’s passing then you or your partner hits it after that, this is called a double-hit but is essentially the same thing.

A player touches the net or the posts during a rally

During the rally, you’re not allowed to touch the net or posts with any part of your body, clothing or racquet. This is to stop players from disrupting play and from damaging the equipment.

Touching the net or posts after the rally is over is fine though. For example, you could be running forward to kill a shot from the net and run into the net after playing the shot, if the shuttle has already hit the floor then it is not a fault because the rally is over. However, it would be a fault if the opponent got the shuttle back or if the shuttle had not touched the ground yet.

The server commits a service fault

A service fault can be called for a number of reasons including:

Basically, anything that goes against the service rules. It’s not something to be worried too much about as a beginner as long as you have the basic serving technique covered.

The receiver moves before the serve is struck

This one can happen quite often if people are unaware. If you’re receiving serve then you’re not allowed to move your feet before the serve is struck. This is to stop players from taking advantage of the short serve.

The receiver must have both feet touching the ground when receiving serve and they must be standing inside there service box.

These are the most common faults, for a complete guide on all the faults in Badminton then check out our Badminton faults article.

Badminton lets, replay the rally

When a let is called the current point is replayed, nobody wins or loses the point but the server restarts the point again. Lets can be called for a number of reasons, here are the three most common lets to know about.

The server serves before the receiver is ready

The rules of Badminton state that the server must wait until the receiver is ready. It wouldn’t be fair if you could serve before the opponent was ready.

People often have little routines for when they serve and when they get ready to serve. For some players, this can be frustrating because they feel they’re taking too long to get ready.

One caveat with this is that if the receiver attempts to return the service and misses they cannot call a let. They attempted to return it so were ready enough to receive.

An unforeseen or accidental situation occurs

This is a little cryptic but it boils down to common decency. Unforeseen and accidental situations can include:

This rule is to protect the payers on the court from carrying on in situations that could be unsafe. Such as a player tripping on a shuttlecock from another court.

The shuttle gets stuck on the top or in the net when passing over

This is very rare and I’ve only experienced it once or twice in all my years of playing. See the video below for an example where the shuttlecock gets stuck on the top of the net.

It can also happen where the shuttlecock rolls over the net but gets stuck in the net before the player hit it. These are both lets every time. The reason is that the other player had a chance to get it back before it got stuck.

People often don’t realise this but it’s important to know for that one in a million situation.

Lets don’t happen very often but they’re important to know. To learn about all the situations where lets occur see our guide on Badminton lets.

Badminton rules PDFs

The BWF provides a nice PDF covering the simplified rules of Badminton and also the full appendix which covers the Laws of Badminton in full. Download them, they’re free.

You can also visit the BWF Corporation website to see all the statutes that cover governance, ethics, judicial process, rules of the game and technical regulations. These don’t really apply to play everyday Badminton but they’re interesting to read.

How many serves do you get in Badminton? You only get one serve in Badminton, it’s the same for singles and doubles, but if you win the point you get to serve again and again until you lose a point. If the opponent is serving and you win the point then you get to serve but if they win they carry on serving.

Who serves first in Badminton? At international play, they flip a coin and the winner of the coin toss can choose to serve first or not. In everyday Badminton, people tend to throw the shuttle up in the air and see who it points to when it lands.

If you found this article helpful return the favour and share it with a friend. If you feel I’ve missed anything out or have other advice, please leave feedback and share your help with others below. Thanks again for reading.

Written by Liam Walsh who lives in Manchester, England. Working as a Software Engineer but moonlighting as a dad, Badminton player/coach and creator of BadmintonsBest.

Related Content

This is the complete guide to lets in Badminton. We’re going to breakdown what a Badminton let is and explain all of them mentioned in the Badminton rules. You’ll learn when to call a let during the game to avoid any disputes.

All Badminton Faults Explained (with Videos)

In this guide, we briefly explain what a Badminton fault is, then we’re going to breakdown and explain all the Badminton faults in the Badminton rules. You’ll understand what the rules are and how to avoid being faulted.

About

Hi 👋 I’m Liam. I’ve been playing Badminton for over 17 years. Second only to my family, Badminton is my biggest passion in life. If I’m not with family I’m either playing or watching Badminton with the mission to be the best I can be. I’m a qualified Badminton coach with a UKCC Level 2 Certificate from Badminton England. This site is where I can share what I’ve learnt from playing, coaching and from watching the best in the world! BadmintonsBest.

Badminton: How to play, rules, and all you need to know

Find out more about the racket sport which has featured at the Summer Olympics since 1992.

Badminton is set to be one of the big draws at Tokyo 2020 with two-time defending world champion Kento Momota hoping to win Japan’s second Olympic title in the sport.

Chen Long and Carolina Marin will defend their singles titles in Japan with golds also up for grabs in men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles.

While badminton is most popular in Asia, it also attracts great interest in Europe with players from Denmark among those regularly challenging for top honours.

Want to learn more about badminton? Here’s a look at the rules and equipment you need to play, plus a brief history of the sport at the Olympic Games.

Badminton: The fastest racquet sport in the world

The basic rules of badminton

As outlined by the Badminton World Federation (BWF), here is a simplified rundown of the rules of badminton.

Badminton scoring system

All singles and doubles matches are the best-of-three games. The first side to 21 points wins a game.

A point is scored on every serve and awarded to whichever side wins the rally. The winning side gets the next serve.

If the score is 20-20, a side must win by two clear points to win the game. If it reaches 29-29, the first to get their 30th point wins.

Winning a point

A point is won if the birdie (shuttlecock) hits the ground in the opponent’s half of the court, including the lines.

A point can therefore be conceded if a shot goes outside the court boundaries, if the birdie hits the net or passes through/under it, or if a player strikes the birdie twice with their racket.

Players must wait for the birdie to cross the net before playing a shot, and while you can follow through over it, touching the net with your body or racket results in a point being conceded.

Insane 34-shot badminton rally in Beijing

How to serve in badminton

The birdie must be hit below waist height, with players serving diagonally into their opponent’s service box. Both players must remain stationary until the serve is made.

In singles, the server starts from the right service court, and will serve from that side every time they have an even amount of points. A player serves from the left every time they have an odd amount of points.

Each player will retain serve for as long as they keep winning points.

In doubles, the server will start on the right-hand side and keep serving, while alternating sides with their team-mate, so long as they keep winning points.

If the receiving side takes the point, they assume serve. Going forward, the player who did not initially serve for each team will only assume the service once their side has won a point as the receiving side.

What is a badminton court’s dimensions?

In singles, a badminton court is 13.41m (44ft) long and 5.18m (17ft) wide. The width extends to 6.1m (20ft) in doubles.

The net is 1.55m (5ft 1in) high at the ends and 1.52m high (5ft) where it dips in the middle.

A serve must pass the short service line, which is 1.98m (6.5ft) from the net.

Beyond the short service line, there is a line which runs down the middle to split the left and right service courts. There is also a doubles service line 0.76m (2.5ft) in from the baseline.

That means each service court (four in total) is 3.96m (13ft) long and 2.59m (8.5ft) wide.

The badminton birdie (shuttlecock)

The birdie, also referred to as the shuttlecock, is badminton’s unique ‘ball’.

The cone-shaped projectile is formed using feathers or a synthetic material which are attached to a cork or rubber base.

The birdie’s shape means it will always fly cork-first once struck, and remain so until hit again.

Made up of 16 feathers, the birdie is between 62-70mm long and weigh between 4.74 and 5.5g. The tip of the feathers should create a circle with a diameter from 58-62mm, with the cork/rubber base 25-28mm in diameter and rounded at the bottom.

Is It Possible for a Badminton shuttlecock to travel faster than 500 kmph?

Badminton at the Olympics

A regular fixture since the Barcelona 1992 Summer Olympics, badminton now has five disciplines at the Games after mixed doubles was introduced at Atlanta 1996.

Indonesia claimed both singles golds on badminton’s Olympic debut courtesy of Alan Budikusuma and Susi Susanti, with Republic of Korea taking the two doubles titles on offer.

China has since emerged as the sport’s dominant force with a total of 18 gold, eight silver and 15 bronze medals ahead of Tokyo 2020.

Korea is second with seven gold, six silver and six bronze medals, with Indonesia third on six gold, seven silver and six bronze medals.

Denmark, Japan and Spain have one gold apiece with India looking to women’s world champion and Rio 2016 silver medallist PV Sindhu to earn her nation’s first badminton Olympic title.

Gao Ling is badminton’s only four-time Olympic medallist thanks to two mixed doubles golds in 2000 and 2004, and bronze and silver in women’s doubles at those Games.

Badminton: How to play, rules, and all you need to know

Find out more about the racket sport which has featured at the Summer Olympics since 1992.

Badminton is set to be one of the big draws at Tokyo 2020 with two-time defending world champion Kento Momota hoping to win Japan’s second Olympic title in the sport.

Chen Long and Carolina Marin will defend their singles titles in Japan with golds also up for grabs in men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles.

While badminton is most popular in Asia, it also attracts great interest in Europe with players from Denmark among those regularly challenging for top honours.

Want to learn more about badminton? Here’s a look at the rules and equipment you need to play, plus a brief history of the sport at the Olympic Games.

Badminton: The fastest racquet sport in the world

The basic rules of badminton

As outlined by the Badminton World Federation (BWF), here is a simplified rundown of the rules of badminton.

Badminton scoring system

All singles and doubles matches are the best-of-three games. The first side to 21 points wins a game.

A point is scored on every serve and awarded to whichever side wins the rally. The winning side gets the next serve.

If the score is 20-20, a side must win by two clear points to win the game. If it reaches 29-29, the first to get their 30th point wins.

Winning a point

A point is won if the birdie (shuttlecock) hits the ground in the opponent’s half of the court, including the lines.

A point can therefore be conceded if a shot goes outside the court boundaries, if the birdie hits the net or passes through/under it, or if a player strikes the birdie twice with their racket.

Players must wait for the birdie to cross the net before playing a shot, and while you can follow through over it, touching the net with your body or racket results in a point being conceded.

Insane 34-shot badminton rally in Beijing

How to serve in badminton

The birdie must be hit below waist height, with players serving diagonally into their opponent’s service box. Both players must remain stationary until the serve is made.

In singles, the server starts from the right service court, and will serve from that side every time they have an even amount of points. A player serves from the left every time they have an odd amount of points.

Each player will retain serve for as long as they keep winning points.

In doubles, the server will start on the right-hand side and keep serving, while alternating sides with their team-mate, so long as they keep winning points.

If the receiving side takes the point, they assume serve. Going forward, the player who did not initially serve for each team will only assume the service once their side has won a point as the receiving side.

What is a badminton court’s dimensions?

In singles, a badminton court is 13.41m (44ft) long and 5.18m (17ft) wide. The width extends to 6.1m (20ft) in doubles.

The net is 1.55m (5ft 1in) high at the ends and 1.52m high (5ft) where it dips in the middle.

A serve must pass the short service line, which is 1.98m (6.5ft) from the net.

Beyond the short service line, there is a line which runs down the middle to split the left and right service courts. There is also a doubles service line 0.76m (2.5ft) in from the baseline.

That means each service court (four in total) is 3.96m (13ft) long and 2.59m (8.5ft) wide.

The badminton birdie (shuttlecock)

The birdie, also referred to as the shuttlecock, is badminton’s unique ‘ball’.

The cone-shaped projectile is formed using feathers or a synthetic material which are attached to a cork or rubber base.

The birdie’s shape means it will always fly cork-first once struck, and remain so until hit again.

Made up of 16 feathers, the birdie is between 62-70mm long and weigh between 4.74 and 5.5g. The tip of the feathers should create a circle with a diameter from 58-62mm, with the cork/rubber base 25-28mm in diameter and rounded at the bottom.

Is It Possible for a Badminton shuttlecock to travel faster than 500 kmph?

Badminton at the Olympics

A regular fixture since the Barcelona 1992 Summer Olympics, badminton now has five disciplines at the Games after mixed doubles was introduced at Atlanta 1996.

Indonesia claimed both singles golds on badminton’s Olympic debut courtesy of Alan Budikusuma and Susi Susanti, with Republic of Korea taking the two doubles titles on offer.

China has since emerged as the sport’s dominant force with a total of 18 gold, eight silver and 15 bronze medals ahead of Tokyo 2020.

Korea is second with seven gold, six silver and six bronze medals, with Indonesia third on six gold, seven silver and six bronze medals.

Denmark, Japan and Spain have one gold apiece with India looking to women’s world champion and Rio 2016 silver medallist PV Sindhu to earn her nation’s first badminton Olympic title.

Gao Ling is badminton’s only four-time Olympic medallist thanks to two mixed doubles golds in 2000 and 2004, and bronze and silver in women’s doubles at those Games.

How to play badminton step by step guide for beginners

Published by Sahil on

One of the beauty of this sport is that it is easy for a beginner to learn but hard to master. This statement is only true if you have a geniune person to guide who will give you a blueprint for starting your journey, so for all those beginner i have written this step by step guide on how to play badminton.

So how do you start?

Master the Basics

Badminton is played indoor

Sometimes you may have seen people playing badminton in a park or in their backyard but originally badminton is an indoor sport.

It is because the shuttlecock is very light and the flight of the shuttle can be disturbed with wind that is why in international circuit badminton is played in a hall with height of ceiling up enough to avoid the shuttle touching the ceiling.

Also it is not just playing indoor but you also should be playing on proper surface like synthetic mats or wooden court, the reason for it is, in badminton a lot of pressure is exerted on your knees espically while lunges and these surfaces provides better cushion to you legs.

Basic equipment needed to play badminton

if you are just starting out in badminton then there are some basic badminton equipment that you need to play it in your garden, or in a badminton court or you are a recreational player and want to play with your family, friends, children then these are the equipments you will be needing to set up your own badminton playing environment.

answer your question quickly these are the equipment needed in badminton

To know more in detail about the standard of these equipment keep reading this article

Different types of category in badminton

In badminton there are 5 types of discipline played with different rules and regulations

How a point is scored in badminton

Now as per the latest badminton rule a point is scored by player whenever a rally ends

Different ways a rally ends in badminton

Scoring rules in Badminton

In badminton a simple scoring system is followed which is best of three set of 21 points.

which ever player win 2 sets in total wins the match.

The Badminton 21 points scoring system started in the Thomas / Uber cup 2006.Current scoring system in Badminton approved by bwf is Best of 3 sets where each set is of 21 points. In this scoring system point taker will make service just like in tennis except bounce is not allowed in badminton.

Which shuttle is IN and which is OUT

In the above diagram I have colored the area which is considered as IN for singles match it means that whichever shuttle is landing in that color area is considered as valid, some players have this confusion, what if the shuttle is landing on the line, now whether it is in the colored area or landing on the line it is considered valid according to BWF rules.

For service in singles shuttle landing in colored area is valid and yes ON the line shuttles are valid.

One thing to know that service are always done diagonally if you want to know more about service rules then click this link.

For doubles (during rally) shuttle landing anywhere on court is valid include shuttle landing ON the line.

For service in doubles shuttle in colored area is valid as shown in picture above and service is done diagonally meaning serving person should serve to same colour area in opponent’s court.

Note:- Who will serve in doubles is a light complicated so read this article.

Some Faults in Badminton to know

Every sport has some kind of faults, In badminton there are number of faults that you should know to avoid giving away free points.

I will not be able to explain each and every fault in detail because it is not a short topic so if you want to know in more details read this article.

Badminton faults types

Service fault, when your service is not done according to rules prescribed by BWF then it is a service fault like double action of racket, delay in serve, movement of body, position of racket etc.

Receiving fault, if while receiving player moves even before his opponent has made serve then it’s a fault!.

Contact fault, when your body touches the net during a rally then it is a fault!.

Crossing net fault, when your racket cross over the net which disturb your opponent shot then it is a fault!.

How to hold a badminton racket

Forehand grip

First step in learning how to play badminton is to know how to hold a badminton racket its the basics of starting in this sport.

Below in this picture you will get the idea of how to hold a racket.

This is a forehand grip, Just hold the racket like you are doing a hand shake to a person (while keeping in mind these things):

Backhand grip

In back hand grip (for underarm clears) player hold the racket by placing the thumb on racket so that it will make 180* degree angle with the face.

Below is the picture of badminton backhand grip

These two types of grips you need to look forward as a beginner in badminton, just practice these grip by Changing the grip quickly forehand to backhand and vice-versa.

Different types of badminton shots

If you want to know in broader sense types of badminton strokes then these are

Types of basic badminton shots

Improve your Game

Wall practice to improve strokes

(If you want to know different types of strokes in badminton check out this Article.)

This exercise improve your speed of shots and increase control on the shuttlecock.

To do this exercise you need

make this more challenging as you progress.

Physical training in badminton

You need to focus on strength training instead of making buff muscle.

Here is a basic workout that can follow to achieve minimum physical fitness required to compete in moderate:

Badminton Footwork

Learn how to play badminton By watching

Conclusion on how to play badminton guide