Badminton rules: court, net, serving, scoring and faults

Badminton is played to 21 points, best of three games, with a point scored on every rally no matter who served. The badminton rules that settle most on-court arguments are narrow: where the serve has to land, who serves next, and what counts as a fault.

Badminton rules at a glance

Almost every mid-game dispute comes down to a singles-versus-doubles difference.

Rule	Singles	Doubles
Court width in play	5.18 m — inner sidelines	6.10 m — outer sidelines
Service court shape	Narrow and deep	Wide and shallow
Serve must land before	The rear boundary line	The doubles long service line, 0.76 m inside the rear boundary
Who serves	The same player every turn	Whoever's turn it is on the serving side — the serve passes to the opponents, never to a partner
Which service court	Server's score even → right, odd → left	Same rule, and only the serving pair swaps sides

Two things trip people up. In doubles the back line changes between serve and rally: the serve must land inside the doubles long service line, but once the shuttle is returned the full length is live. And the receiving pair never swaps service courts on their own — they change only after winning the serve back.

The court and net

A full court is 13.40 m long and 6.10 m wide. The inner sidelines, 5.18 m apart, mark the singles court; the outer pair is doubles only. A short service line sits 1.98 m from the net on each side, the doubles long service line runs 0.76 m inside the rear boundary, and a center line splits each half into right and left service courts. Lines are 40 mm wide and count as part of the court they bound, so a shuttle touching any part of a line is in.

The net is 1.524 m high at the center and 1.55 m at the posts — that sag is written into the Laws, not a slack net. Posts stand on the doubles sidelines even during a singles match.

Scoring: rally points to 21

Every rally ends in a point. Win the rally and you win the point — and if you weren't serving, the serve too. A game goes to 21, but you have to win by two: at 20-20 play continues until one side leads by two, and at 29-29 the next point wins it at 30. Thirty is the hard ceiling. A match is the best of three games, and the side that wins a game serves first in the next one.

The score also dictates the serve, and this is the part casual games get wrong. The server looks at their own score: even means serve from the right service court, odd means the left. Zero counts as even, so every game opens from the right. Keeping that straight from memory is where the thread gets lost — Badminton Scoreboard is a badminton scoreboard app for iPhone and Apple Watch that tracks match scores.

Before 2006, points were scored only on your own serve, in games to 15 — 11 in women's singles. Rally scoring replaced that, and every discipline now plays the same way.

Serving rules: the toss, the stance and the height limit

Before the first game a toss decides who chooses — a coin, or a shuttle thrown up to see which way the cork points. The winner picks either to serve or receive first, or which end to start on; the loser takes what's left.

The serve carries more conditions than any other stroke in the rules of badminton:

• Server and receiver stand inside diagonally opposite service courts, without touching a boundary line.
• Some part of both feet, the server's and the receiver's, stays in contact with the floor and stationary until the shuttle is struck.
• The racket must make first contact with the base of the shuttle — the cork, not the feathers.
• Under current BWF laws the whole shuttle must be below 1.15 m from the court surface at the instant of contact. That fixed height replaced the old waist test, where "waist" meant the lowest part of the server's bottom rib — a test plenty of clubs still use because it needs no measuring.
• Once the racket starts forward the motion is continuous: no stopping, no second swing, no feinting. A receiver who attempts a return counts as having been ready.

A serve that clips the net cord and still lands in the correct service court is good, and the rally continues — badminton has no net-cord let, unlike tennis. A serve that catches in the net, drops short of the short service line, or lands outside the correct service court is a fault and a point against the server.

Serving order and service courts in doubles

Doubles order is the most misremembered part of badminton rules and regulations:

1. The serving side starts a game from the right service court.
2. If the serving side wins the rally, the same player serves again from the other service court. That pair swaps positions; the receiving pair does not move.
3. If the receiving side wins the rally, they score and take the serve, and nobody swaps. The new server is whoever is already standing in the service court their new score calls for.
4. Only the player diagonally opposite the server may return the serve. If the partner returns it, that's a fault.

There is no second server — that ended with rally scoring. If a service court error is discovered mid-game, correct it and carry on; the existing score stands.

Faults: every way a rally ends

A fault ends the rally and gives the point to the other side. The shuttle is at fault when it lands outside the boundary lines, passes through or under the net, fails to cross it, touches the ceiling or side walls, or touches a player or their clothing. Player faults:

• Touching the net or its posts with racket, body or clothing while the shuttle is in play.
• Hitting the shuttle before it crosses the net. A follow-through over the net is fine as long as first contact was on your own side.
• Invading under the net in a way that obstructs or distracts an opponent.
• Hitting the shuttle twice in succession, or both partners hitting it one after the other. A single stroke that grazes the frame and then the strings counts as one contact.
• Catching and slinging the shuttle instead of hitting it.
• Obstructing a legal stroke, including blocking a shot the opponent is entitled to follow over the net.
• Deliberately distracting an opponent by shouting, gesturing, or waving a racket at them.

Lets: when the rally is replayed

A let stops play, and the rally is replayed with the same server from the same service court. Nothing changes on the scoreboard. Lets are narrower than most players assume:

• The server serves before the receiver is ready.
• Server and receiver are both faulted on the same serve.
• After the service has been returned, the shuttle is caught on top of the net, or is caught in the net after passing over it.
• The shuttle disintegrates and the base separates completely from the rest of it.
• A line judge is unsighted and the umpire can't make the call.
• Any unforeseen or accidental situation — usually a shuttle rolling in from the next court.

That "after the service has been returned" wording matters: a served shuttle stuck in the net is a fault, not a let.

Intervals, change of ends and continuous play

Play runs continuously, broken by two scheduled intervals: up to 60 seconds when either side first reaches 11 points in a game, and up to 2 minutes between games.

Ends change after the first game, after the second, and in a third game when either side first reaches 11 points. Miss the change and you switch as soon as anyone notices — the score stands. Stalling to get your breath back isn't allowed.

FAQ

Can the shuttle hit the net on a serve?

Yes. If a serve touches the net cord and still lands in the correct service court, it's in play and the rally goes on — badminton has no net-cord let. A serve that catches in the net or lands short of the short service line is a fault.

What happens at 20-20 in badminton?

Play continues until one side leads by two: 22-20, 23-21, and so on. If the score reaches 29-29, the next rally decides it at 30-29. That's the only hard cap in the badminton game rules.

Do you have to serve underarm in badminton?

In practice, yes. Under current BWF laws the whole shuttle must be below 1.15 m at the instant of contact, which rules out an overhead or shoulder-high serve. The older law set the limit at the server's waist — defined as the lowest part of the bottom rib — and many recreational leagues still judge it that way.

Can you hit the shuttle twice in badminton?

No. Each side gets one stroke, and in doubles that means one partner or the other, never both in succession. A single swing where the shuttle grazes the frame and then the strings is legal — one contact, not two.

What are the simplest badminton rules for beginners?

Serve underarm and diagonally, from the right when your score is even and the left when it's odd. Every rally scores a point, games go to 21, and you win by two. The rest of the rules for playing badminton are mostly the fault list: shuttle out, shuttle into the net, two hits on one side, or a player touching the net.