Simple Badminton RULES

Like in any sport, it is important to familiarize yourself with the rules of

Badminton even before starting to learn to play it. Avoid the situation of
losing a game just because of ignorance to its rules! We have all heard
the adage “ignorance of the law is no excuse,” and that is particularly
true in this context.

During the earlier years of Badminton, the sport was played under a
variety of conditions – courts of different dimensions, shuttlecocks and
rackets of many designs, even many different sets of rules defining the
basic game. This ended in 1877 with the organization of the Bath
Badminton Club in England, which developed the first written rules for
Badminton. These rules have remained essentially the same today. The
International Badminton Federation (IBF) is presently the governing body
responsible for adopting and revising the rules of Badminton.

Below is a quick and simple guide to the rules of Badminton.

The Court
The accompanying diagram speaks louder than words in regards to
names and distances. Obviously, to be able to communicate, you must
know the former and it is helpful and advisable to know the latter.

The Toss
Before play, the teams or players shall “toss” a coin or shuttlecock, or
spin the racket. The side winning the toss shall have the option of:
1) Serving or receiving first, or
2) Choosing to play at a particular side of the court. The loser of the
toss makes the remaining choice.

Position on Court at the Start of the Game

Serving is done diagonally and the first server stands and serves from
the right hand service court. The receiver stands inside service court on
the opposite right side. In doubles, the partners may stand anywhere on
either side providing they do not block the view of the receiver.

To Start the Play

The server on the right side serves to the receiver on the opposite right
side.

Position of the Players during the Game

In singles play, if the server’s score is an even number, 0, 2, 4, 6 etc., the
server is on the right side and the receiver is on the opposite right side; if
the server’s score is odd, 1, 3, 5 etc., the server is on the left side and
the receiver is on the opposite left side.
In doubles play, when a team’s score is even, team should be in their
starting positions. When score is odd, the partners are in reverse
positions.

During Play
In a singles game, if the server wins the rally, he scores a point, changes
service courtside, and continues to serve. If he loses, no point is scored
and his opponent serves.
In a doubles game, if the serving team wins the rally, a point is scored,
and the server switches service court position and continue to serve. If
they lose the rally on the first serve, no point is scored and they do not
pass the service to the opposing side, but instead the second member of
the team serves. If they lose the rally on the second member’s serve
though, they lose the serve to the opposing side. At the start of a doubles
game, however, the initial pairing is allowed only one service chance;
therefore, the second member does not get the chance to serve.
Remember that the server alternates between the right and left service
courts until the serve is lost. In doubles, it is the serving pair who
alternates between service courts. The receiving pair stays put. In
singles play, both players change sides for every new service.

The Rally
The rally continues until one player makes a fault. There are number of
ways he can do this. The most common by far are:
(a) Missing the shuttle completely
(b) Failing to hit it over the net
(c) Hitting it into the net
(d) Hitting it outside the court boundary lines, either in service or in
play
(e) Touching the net either with body or racket while the shuttle is in
play
(f) Hitting the shuttle twice in succession with two strokes.

Scoring, Setting and Changing Ends

Most matches consist of best-of-three games. The first player or pair to
reach 15 points wins a game. However, if the score reaches 14-14, the
side which first reached 14, can choose whether to play to 15, or to set
the game to 17 points.
Scoring in ladies’ singles is slightly different. 11 points win a game and
there is the option to set to 13 points at 10-10.
Ends are changed at the completion of each game, and if the match
goes to a deciding game, ends are changed when one player or pair
reaches 8. In ladies’ singles the change is made at 6.
What are “FAULTS”?
A “FAULT” is called by the umpire when a player commits an infraction of
the rules in a point or side-out. A fault made by a player on the serving
side puts the server out. If a player makes it on the receiving side, it
counts a point for the serving side.

SERVICE FAULTS
(a) either side causes undue delay to the delivery of the service
(b) shuttle is stuck higher that the waist
(c) head of the racket is not below server’s hand holding the racket
(d) the shaft of the racket is not pointing in a downward direction
(e) shuttle falls into the wrong service court or out of bounds
(f) shuttle falls before the short serve line
(g) server’s feet are not in the correct service court
(h) server steps forward when serving
(i) server intentionally balks, fakes, or feints
(j) server serve before the opponent is ready; but the receiver shall
considered to have been ready if a return of service is attempted
(k) part of both feet must remain in contact with the surface of the
court in a stationary position until the service is delivered or a
fault is called
(l) shuttle passes through, under, or gets caught on or over the net
on the serve
(m) server attempts to serve and misses the bird completely
(n) receiver does not have his feet in the correct service court
(o) receiver moves before the server strikes the shuttlecock
(p) partner of receiver returns the serve

Now that you’ve learned the rules and hopefully

understand scoring and setting, the best thing to do is
to play and apply the rules and SCORE!
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20 ft

2ft 6in

13 ft

6 ft 6in

44ft net
6ft 6in

13 ft

2ft 6in