Rules
Field of Play
The court is a 13.40m x 5.18m rectangle for singles and a 13.40m x 6.10m rectangle for doubles. The same court is used for singles and doubles contests; only the line marks differ. The court is divided into two equal parts by a net attached to the posts at a height of 1.55m.
The Contest
An umpire, aided by service judge and line judges, presides over a badminton contest. Before the beginning of the contest, the umpire flips a coin. The winning athlete or pair has three options: choose its side of the court, choose to serve first or choose to receive first.
To score a point, athletes have to hit the shuttlecock over the net with their rackets so that it lands on the opponent’s side. An athlete or pair loses the point if the shuttlecock hits the net, lands outside the court or if he or she commits a fault. The most common faults occur when:
- The shuttlecock hits the athlete
- The athlete’s racket or body touches the net
- The shuttlecock hits the ground before passing over the net
- The shuttlecock is hit twice
Service Regulations
- Serves must be diagonal
- The server’s feet must be touching the ground
- The serve must be made from below the waist
Scoring
- A match shall consist of the best of three games.
- The player/side which scores 21 points shall win a game.
- The player/side winning a rally shall add a point to its score.
- If the score becomes 20-all, the player/side which gains a two point lead first, shall win the game.
- If the score becomes 29-all, the player/side scoring the 30th point shall win that game.
- The side winning a game shall serve first in the next game.