Badminton faults and lets: the complete list

A fault ends the rally and hands the point to the other side. A let stops the rally and replays it with no point scored. Almost all badminton faults fall into three groups: service faults, faults from where the shuttle goes, and faults from what the player does.

What is a fault in badminton?

Under rally scoring the opposing side takes the point and serves next, whoever served and whatever the fault was. There's no "service over" to lose anymore — that went out with the 15-point system in 2006, and badminton scoring has put a point on every rally since. The BWF Laws organize faults the way play happens: the service, the shuttle in play, and the player. Umpires call them faults; club players usually say badminton violations. Same thing.

Badminton service faults

A badminton service fault is any delivery that misses a requirement of Law 9.1 — the source of most on-court arguments.

• Contact above 1.15 m. The whole shuttle must be below 1.15 metres from the court surface when the racket strikes it. BWF fixed that height in 2018, replacing the older "below the server's waist" wording that many club leagues still use.
• Feet moving, or on a line. Part of both feet, server's and receiver's, stays on the floor and stationary until the service is delivered. A foot on a service-court line is also a fault.
• Not hitting the base first. The racket must strike the cork, not feathers.
• A stop-start delivery. Once the racket head starts back, the motion must continue forward. Any hitch is a balk.
• Missing the shuttle. A whiff while serving is a fault, not a do-over.
• Wrong service court. The shuttle must travel upward over the net into the diagonally opposite service court. Lines count as in.
• Caught in the net on the serve. Lodged on the tape or dropped in after crossing — either way, fault on the server.
• Wrong receiver. In doubles only the diagonally opposite player may take the serve.

Not a fault: a serve that clips the tape and lands in the correct service court is a legal serve. Unlike tennis, badminton has never awarded a let for a net-cord serve — a legal delivery is simply live. More in the badminton serve rules.

Faults during the rally

Once the serve is good, most faults in badminton come down to where the shuttle ends up.

• Out, outside the boundary lines. A shuttle on the line is in.
• Through or under the net, or failing to clear it at all.
• Ceiling or side walls. A fault under the Laws. Halls with low roofs or exposed beams often adopt a local let rule instead — agree it before the first serve.
• Touching a player, their clothing, or any object outside the court. If it hits you, you lose the rally, even if it was sailing long.
• Carry or sling. The shuttle is momentarily held on the strings and thrown rather than struck — usually called on slow lifts from below the tape.
• Double hit. Two contacts in succession by the same player, or by a player and their partner. The exception people forget: frame and strings in one stroke is legal — a shank, not a double hit.

Player faults: the net, invasion, and distraction

These are committed by the player, not the shuttle, and count only while the shuttle is in play.

• Touching the net or its supports with racket, body, or clothing. Posts count. A sleeve brushing the tape counts. Contact after the rally is dead doesn't.
• Invading over the net. Striking the shuttle before it has crossed is a fault. The follow-through is the exception: with initial contact on your own side, the racket may follow the shuttle over.
• Invading under the net with racket or foot in a way that obstructs or distracts. Stepping under with no interference isn't automatically penalized.
• Obstruction. Preventing a legal stroke on a shuttle followed over the net — usually a racket blocked at the tape.
• Deliberate distraction. Shouting or gesturing to put an opponent off. Calling to your partner is normal; calling out as your opponent strikes is not.

Law 16 covers misconduct separately: yellow card warns, red card is a fault and a point to the opponent, black card disqualifies.

Badminton faults vs. lets: what happens to the score

	Fault	Let
The rally	Ends immediately	Stopped and replayed
The point	Goes to the non-offending side	Nobody scores
Next serve	Taken by the side that won the point	Same server, same service court
Cause	A Law was broken	Something unforeseen or accidental

What is a let in badminton?

A badminton let stops play and replays the rally. Nothing since the last service counts, and the same player serves again from the same service court. Umpires may call one for anything unforeseen or accidental — a shuttle rolling in from the next court is the everyday example — and the Laws name specific cases:

• The server serves before the receiver is ready. If the receiver attempts a return, they're deemed to have been ready. You can't swing, miss, then claim you weren't set.
• Server and receiver are both faulted during the same service.
• The shuttle is caught in or on the net after the service has been returned. During a rally that's a let; on the serve itself it's a fault. This pair is the most misread rule in the game.
• The shuttle disintegrates — the base separates completely from the rest of it during play. A few bent feathers don't qualify.
• A line judge is unsighted and the umpire can't make the call either.

Replaying a rally means the score and serve state go back exactly where they were: same server, same service court, same ends. That's a common place hand-kept scores drift — a let feels like something happened, and the instinct is to advance the serve. If you'd rather not trust memory, Badminton Scoreboard is a badminton scoreboard app for iPhone and Apple Watch that tracks match scores.

FAQ

What is a fault in badminton?

Any breach of the Laws that ends the rally, giving the opposing side the point and the next serve. They come from the service, from where the shuttle goes, and from what the player does.

Is a serve caught in the net a let or a fault?

A fault. If the shuttle lodges on the net or falls into it after crossing, the serving side loses the rally. It becomes a let only once the service has been returned.

Is it a fault if the shuttle hits me?

Yes, wherever you're standing and wherever the shuttle was heading. Same if it hits your partner in doubles.

Is hitting the shuttle before it crosses the net a fault?

Yes — that's invading the opponent's court over the net. The follow-through is the only exception: once contact is made on your own side, the racket may travel over.

What happens to the score after a let?

Nothing. No point is awarded, the same player serves again from the same service court, and both sides stay put.