Badminton
The shuttle is struck back and forth over a net and must not touch the floor; unlike a ball it decelerates sharply and practically never bounces.
Badminton looks like tennis without the bounce, and that changes the game entirely. The does not come off the floor — a rally ends the moment it lands — and it barely coasts: it dies in the air.
So a stroke from baseline to baseline demands full power, and anything weaker drops in mid-court. Distance here is not chosen; it is set by how hard you hit.
The serve is given to the defence
In most racket games the serve is a weapon. Here it is the reverse: the Laws require an upward stroke, the whole shuttle below 1.15 m, and no spin imparted on release.
The point is that the serve should not decide the rally. And so the right to serve is not an advantage in badminton but simply a turn: a point is scored on every rally whoever served it.
A score with a ceiling
A game runs to twenty-one, and at 20-all a lead of two is needed — as everywhere. But it does not run on for ever: at 29-all the next rally ends the game.
The of thirty is one of the rare rules that exists purely so that the game is guaranteed to finish.
Badminton Court
Under these rules: 5.18 m wide: play is between the inner sidelines.
A court 13.4 m long; 5.18 m wide for singles and 6.10 m for doubles.
Singles and doubles share one set of markings but use different lines: singles is narrower and deeper, doubles wider with a nearer back service line.
Net
Under these rules: The top of the net is 1.524 m at the centre and 1.55 m at the sidelines.
The top of the net stands at 1.524 m at the centre and 1.55 m at the sidelines.
The posts stand 1.55 m high on the doubles sidelines whether the match being played is singles or doubles.
Shuttlecock
Under these rules: Feathered or synthetic, with comparable flight characteristics.
A feathered or synthetic missile that decelerates sharply in flight.
A shuttle does not fly like a ball: it leaves fast and dies almost at once. So a stroke from the baseline reaches the opponent's baseline, and anything weaker drops in mid-court.
Racket
Under these rules: One per player.
A light racket for striking the shuttle.
Lightness matters more than stiffness here: the shuttle weighs almost nothing, and all the speed comes from the speed of the wrist.
The rules of singles badminton
Court and net
The court is 13.4 m long. Singles uses the inner sidelines — a width of 5.18 m.
The top of the net stands 1.524 m above the centre of the court and 1.55 m over the doubles sidelines. The posts are 1.55 m high and stand on the doubles sidelines.
Scoring
A match is the best of three games.
A game is won by the side first scoring twenty-one points.
The side winning a rally adds a point: the opponents committed a fault, or the shuttle touched the floor inside their court.
At 20-all the side first gaining a two-point lead wins the game. At 29-all the side scoring the thirtieth point wins it.
The side winning a game serves first in the next.
Correct service
A if the shuttle's flight is upward from the server's racket, passing over the net so that, if not intercepted, it lands in the receiver's service court.
Server and receiver stand in diagonally opposite service courts without touching their boundary lines.
Part of both feet of server and receiver must stay in contact with the floor, stationary, from the start of the service until it is delivered.
The server releases the shuttle without adding spin, and the racket must first strike the base of the shuttle. The whole shuttle must be below 1.15 m from the surface of the court when struck.
Undue delay is not allowed: once the server's racket head has completed its backward movement, any delay in starting the service counts as undue.
Which service court
The server serves from the right service court when their score is nought or even, and from the left when it is odd.
If the server wins the rally, they score a point and serve again from the alternate court. If the receiver wins it, they score a point and become the new server.
Sources
- BWF Statutes, Section 4.1: Laws of Badminton · Badminton World Federation Open source
Glossary of terms
- Correct service
- An upward stroke from the diagonal service court, with the whole shuttle below 1.15 m and released without spin.
- Shuttle
- The missile of the game. It flies fast and dies quickly, so the distance a stroke covers depends on power far more than a ball's would.
- The ceiling
- The cap on the score: at 29-all the next rally ends the game at 30-29.