Top 10 Basic Badminton Rules For Beginners

Have you ever seen someone playing badminton and fallen in love with their way of playing, attractive gestures, and their smashing techniques? And now you wish to play like them too. Well, you’re gonna rock it. 

But are you aware of the rules?

Knowing badminton rules might be superfluous if you’re playing for entertainment or relaxation. But if you’re a beginner badminton enthusiast who wants to learn basic badminton rules, hang on! We have described 10 main rules of badminton for beginners.

Let’s PlayO! 

But first things first.

How did this game originate?

Badminton was earlier played as a stress-buster as it was much more general and wasn’t bound to rules. Badminton hails from Greece and was believed to be played by Greeks approximately 2000 years ago. After that, the game quickly spread to Europe, Asia, and the rest of the world on rising demand. 

Badminton- Let’s lay the groundwork

There are 2 halves of the court, and the entire court is separated by a net at the centre. The badminton game is played with a bat called a Racquet. Contrary to our assumption, the badminton game isn’t played by a ball; rather, it’s played by a feathered cock known as Shuttlecock. 

The badminton game is played between either 2 single or 2 double players. In 2 single players, each player stands on either side of the court. While in 2 double players, 2 players stand on each side of the court.

A badminton game can be divided into 5 types – men’s singles, men’s doubles, mixed doubles, women’s singles, and women’s doubles. With this, let’s quickly delve into the badminton rules for beginners.

Basic badminton rules for beginners 

Even though badminton is a ‘shuttle-between-2-racquet’ game, players must follow several rules to achieve winning points. These laws of badminton are laid out by the Badminton World Federation, which states every detail of the rules of badminton. Below is the simplified version of the badminton rules for you to easily understand. 

Did you know? China and Indonesia are the 2 most champion countries who won 70% of all the BWF events. 

Badminton court line rules

Let’s go over some court rules, including the basic dimensions and size of the court. Here, we have described the court rules for both singles and doubles. 

1. In a badminton singles game, the length and width of the court should be 13.41m (44ft) long and 5.18m (17ft). Whereas in the doubles game, the length remains the same, and the width extends to 6.1m (20ft). 
2. The posts for the net must be placed at the double sidelines of the court irrespective of whether a singles or doubles game is played. 
3. The net’s top must be at 5 feet from the court’s surface at the centre, which rises to 5 feet 1 inch at the posts. 
4. Your racquet should be free of any attachments or protrusions other than those specifically made to prevent a tear or damage.
5. You are prohibited from using any device that can materially change the shape of the racket.
6. Before the game, the teams should conduct a toss. The team winning the toss shall choose whether to receive or serve the shuttle. They can also choose which side of the court they want to play first. The team losing the toss shall adopt the remaining choice. 

Badminton scoring rules

1. All badminton matches are played as the best of three games.  Each game shall be played for 21 points. 
2. The team that first scores 21 points wins the game. 
3. If the score becomes 20-all, the team that gains a 2-point lead first shall win. If the score is 20-20, then 21 points is not enough to win the game. For example, 22-20 is a winning score, but not 20-21
4. In the case of a 30 points game, if the score becomes 29-all, the team scoring the 30th point will win. For example, 30-29 is a winning score. 
5. The side winning the rally adds the points to its score. A team wins the rally if 

• The shuttle lands on the floor of your opponent’s court.
• The opponent team’s shot doesn’t cross the net.
• The opponent hits the shuttle more than once with the racquet consecutively.
• The opponent team commits a fault. 

6. If the shuttle hits the net and goes over the net, it is a valid shot unless it lands within the boundaries of the opponent’s court. 

Change of ends and intervals 

The rules of badminton allow a 2-minute break between each game where players can relax and take breathing space. And a 1-min break is allowed when the leading team reaches 11 points score. In the third game, the players change ends when the leading score reaches 11 points. This is an official badminton rule, according to the BWF. 

Badminton serving rules

The service is a crucial part of the badminton game. You can’t randomly serve a shuttle, for there are rules to abide by. Here’s how that works.

1. A service is considered appropriate when the racquet hits the shuttle, and the shuttle goes over the net to the opponent’s court.
2. The shuttle shouldn’t get stuck over the net or exceed the boundaries of the opponent’s court. 
3. The rules of badminton state that there should be no delay in the delivery once the server and the receiver are ready for the service. This means there should be no delay after the backward swing of the racquet head. 
4. At the start of the service, the server and receiver must stand diagonally in the opposite courts without touching the boundary lines of the court. 
5. From the start of the service until the shuttle is delivered, the players should be in contact with the surface in a stationary position without movement. 
6. The shuttle should be below the server’s waist when serving. 
7. At the start of the serving, the racket’s head and shaft must be in a downward direction. 
8. The server should not miss the shuttle during an attempt to serve. If this happens, the opponent team wins the score. 
9. The shuttle shouldn’t be served until the receiver is completely ready to receive. 

Service rules for singles

1. The players should play from their respective right service courts for a 0-0 or even score. The players shall play from their respective left service courts when the score is odd. 
2. If the server wins the rally, the server team wins a point. Then, the server should serve the shuttle again from the alternative court. 
3. If the receiver wins a rally, the receiver team wins a point. The receiver then serves the shuttle for the next round. 

Service rules for doubles

1. Similar to singles, the serving side shall serve from the right service court for 0-0 and even scores. And if the score is odd, the server shall serve from the left service court.
2. The player who served the previous time on the receiving side should remain in the same service court.
3. The receiver team should be diagonally opposite to the server during service.
4. The players should not change their service court until they win a point or when their side is serving. 

Errors and faults rules of badminton

The errors and faults made by the player may cause them to lose points. Several types of errors are laid by the Badminton World Federation rules. 

A service court error

A player makes a service court error if 

• The player has received or served out of turn.
• The player has served or received from the wrong service court.

If a player makes a service error, the error is corrected (even by playing from scratch), and the existing score shall remain the same. 

Faults in the rules of badminton

It is considered a ‘fault’ in badminton game,

• If the player doesn’t serve the shuttle properly
• If the shuttle is caught on the net and is stuck without crossing 
• If the shuttle lands outside the court boundaries 
• If the shuttle touches the ceiling or the side walls during playing
• If the shuttle touches the dress of the player. 
• If the shuttle touches any wall or object outside of the court. 
• If the shuttle is caught into the racquet and slings during the stroke.
• If a player strokes the shuttle twice successively.  
• If the player touches the net.
• If the player obstructs the opponent’s player by taking a legal stroke.
•  Distracts the opponent by any action or gesture.

‘Lets’ in a badminton game

‘Let’ is a term in the rules of badminton used by an umpire or a player to halt the play. A ‘Let’ is called for in the following cases.

• When a server serves before the receiving team is ready.
• When there is a fault from both the server and the receiver
• When the shuttle shatters from the base.
• When the umpire is unable to make a decision.
• For any unforeseen circumstances. 

When a ‘let’ has occurred, the play since the last shuttle serve is not counted, and the match has to be replayed by the last server.

Additional rules of badminton

1. The player cannot seek advice when the shuttle is in play.
2. The player cannot leave the court without Umpire’s permission except during intervals.
3. A player isn’t allowed to delay the match in any attempt.
4. A player isn’t allowed to modify or damage the shuttle deliberately.
5. A player isn’t allowed to behave offensively.

The BWF (Badminton World Federation) lays all these badminton rules in its guidelines. Every player should follow the rules of badminton. With this blog post, we hope you get a clear guide on the various rules of badminton. 
So, when are you entering your first court game? Book your next game now!

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