Badminton is one of the most popular and fastest racket game in the world. The sport might have similarities to tennis, but the rules and playing style are quite distinct and so are very important to learn before you start your first game.
Let’s dive straight into-
How to play Badminton – Rules
1. Badminton Scoring
A typical professional badminton match, whether it be singles or doubles, consists of all matches of the best-of-three games. Each match consists of 21 points. Each player or team must win two of the three matches to win the game.
The first serve is started from the right side of the court. Each time a player or a team wins a rally, they win a point. Whichever side wins a point, they get then next serve. The first team or player to score 21 points wins the match. The side which wins the match, get to serve first in the next match.
In case both team scores 20-20 points, each side must win two clear points to win the game. If no side can score two clear points and the sore reaches 29-29, the side which scores 30th point, wins the game.
If you want to know more about the scoring system, you should check out our article on How does Scoring works in Badminton.
2. Winning a Point
As per the latest badminton rules, a point is scored by a team, or a player scores a point in each rally.
A point is scored each time the shuttle hits the ground in opponent’s side of the court. A point can also be scored for the following reasons-
When a player makes a fault, the opponent team or player gains a point.
When a player hits the shuttle on the net, the opponent team or player gains a point.
When a player hits the shuttle after it has already touched the ground, the opponent team or player gains a point.
When a player double hits the shuttle from his racket, the opponent team or player gains a point.
When the shuttle hits the body of a player, the opponent team or player gains a point.
When a player hits the shuttle beyond the outside line prescribed by BWF, the opponent team or player gains a point.
3. Avoiding Faults
If a player or a team makes a fault, the opponent team or player gains a point. Therefore, a player must be aware of all the possible faults and avoid them. we will mention some of the most common fault to help the players understand and avoid them to prevent any loss of points.
a) Serving Faults
Some of the very common faults are generally serving faults. When a player commits a fault while serving and the opponent gains a point, it is known as serving faults. Some of the common serving faults are as follows-
When a player serves the shuttle from above their waistline height, the opponent team or player gains a point.
When a player serves from the wrong side of the serving court, the opponent team or player gains a point.
When a player serves the shuttle and it does not reach beyond the short serve line, the opponent team or player gains a point.
If a player from either side of the court moves their feet while a serve being made, the opponent team or player gains a point.
When a player hits the feather side of the shuttle first while serving, the opponent team or player gains a point.
b) Net Faults
When a player makes a fault which is associated with the net and the opponent player or team wins a point, it is considered as a net fault. Some of the common net faults are mentioned below-
When a player touches the net from their racket or any body part, the opponent team or player gains a point.
When a player hits the shuttle on the net, the opponent team or player gains a point.
When a player crosses net with their racket before the opponents shot has entered his side, the opponent team or player gains a point.
When a player hits the shuttle, and it crosses the court from below net, the opponent team or player gains a point.
c) Other Faults
Some of the other common faults are as follows-
When a player double hits the shuttle from their racket, the opponent team or player gains a point.
When a player disturbs their opponent from any sort of action, the opponent team or player gains a point.
When a player prevents his opponent from returning a legal shot in any way, the opponent team or player gains a point.
When a player hits the shuttle beyond the outside line as prescribed by the BWF, the opponent team or player gains a point.
What are the Dimensions of Badminton Court
Although you might have seen people playing badminton in their backyard or in the park, badminton is an indoor sport. This means that badminton is played inside closed wall rather that in an open area. This is because the shuttlecock is very light in weight and the game can be interrupted or due to wind which disturbs the flight of the shuttlecock.
This is the reason why badminton is played in a closed court with the height of the ceiling high enough to avoid touching the shuttle.
The length of the badminton court should be 13.41m or 44 feet long whereas the width of the court should be 5.18m or 17 feet wide. However, in case of a doubles, the width extends to 6.1m or 20 feet wide but the length remains the same.
The universally accepted height of the net, for single as well as doubles matches, is 1.52m or 5 feet at the center and 1.55m or 5.1 feet at the poles. The net is situated at the middle of the court, dividing the court into two equal halves.
A serve is supposed to pass the short service line, which is at 1.98m or 6.5 feet from the net on each side of the court.
Beyond the short service line, a straight line runs down the middle of the court dividing the side into left and right service courts. In case of a double match, there is a service line 0.76m or 2.5 feet from the baseline. Therefore, the court is divided into four equal service court, each measuring 3.96m or 13 feet long and 2.59m or 8.5 feet wide.
How to Serve in Badminton
The match is started with a coin toss to decide which side will serve first. The basic rule to serve is that shuttle must be hit below the waistline of the player and all players must remain stationary until the serve is made. All players are supposed to serve to their diagonal opponent.
In case of singles, if a player has even number of points, i.e., 0, 2, 4, 6, etc., the serve must be made from right side of the court and if a player has even number of points, i.e., 1, 3, 5, etc., the serve must be made from left side of the court. The first serve starts from right side of the court and the player must retain the serve, switching sides according to the points, if he/she keeps winning points.
In case of doubles, the server must start from right side of the court, while switching position with their team-mate, according to the number of points, if they keep winning.
Other Related Questions
The answers to some of the most related questions are as follows-
How to play Badminton like a pro
Many players have a common question as to how to play Badminton like a professional.
Well, the answer is watch, learn, and practice. No student can be good in Mathematics without practice. Similarly, the urge to learn and grow with consistent practice is the key to excel in Badminton.
How does scoring works in Badminton
There are many rules, regulations and faults that determine the scoring system in Badminton.
To further help you understand these rules, we have prepared an article that talks about How does scoring works in Badminton. We urge you to take a look at it if you have any questions.
Can Badminton Racket cross net
The short answer to whether Badminton Racket cross net or not is No but there are exceptions. A straight no would be oversimplification of the topic.
We urge you to check out our post, Can Badminton Racket cross net to know more about the topic.
Conclusion
We hope our blog was able to provide you with some valuable information about the different rules of Badminton. We also recommended reading more about the topic in our latest blog How does Scoring Works in Badminton.
Be sure to check out our post Best Head-Heavy Badminton Racket, Best Lightweight Badminton Racket and Equipment and Gears to play Badminton.
We are happy to share our expertise and knowledge with our viewers and hope that we were able to meet the expectations of providing the accurate information about the topic. Thank You for your time and patience!!
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