Badminton rules and regulations in a singles match

Lines and Scoring

 One of the most fundamental parts of badminton is scoring.

 There are two players in badminton singles; one on each side.
 To get points, the shuttle must either land in on your opponent’s side or
land out on your side.
 The whole point is to hit the shuttle within the court dimensions to
somewhere your opponent can’t get it.
An interesting scoring system that was used about a decade ago required
a player to have the service to score.

 For example, if I was playing against you and I was serving, I could
score points on you, but you couldn’t score points on me.
 To score points on me, you would have to hit the shuttle down onto my
side and reverse the service. During that time, players also played to 15
points.
Now you don’t have to worry about the old scoring system anymore. You can
gain points no matter whose serving!

Usually, the first person to 21 points wins

 But if a deuce happens, one player must win by two points or until

someone reaches 30 first.
 For example, if the score is 20-20, a player could not win 21-20, but
they could win 22-20, 23-21, 24-22, all the way until 30-29.
 Matches would also usually be best of three.
Generally, at 11 points and between games players get a short 30-second
break where you can drink liquids, towel yourself down, and have your coach
talk to you.

You will also switch sides between games and at 11 points if you’re playing

the third set.

Now, you need an understanding of what is out and what is in.

 A badminton court has two lines that run vertically and two lines that
run horizontally.
 In singles, the court is long and narrow and thus we use the inner two
vertical lines and the horizontal back line.
 Badminton singles lines highlighted in blue
Anything that lands within the box or right on those lines is in, and
anything outside those lines is out.

Service and Starting a Game

Before you start, you must decide who gets to serve.

 The official way to determine who gets to serve is by a coin flip/coin

toss.
 One person chooses heads, the other tails.
 Whoever wins the coin flip gets to decide who serves.
 This is the way they will do it in BWF tournaments and most
significant matches.
 

However, there are other ways to start a match as well, and it’s often
dependent on your tournament’s rules.

 One of the most common ways to start a game is by hitting the

shuttle up and then giving the services to whoever the spinning shuttle points
to.
 Before you start the game, you should also know that in many cases
both players can be granted a practice serve.
 If they don’t outright give you a chance to practice serve, make sure
you ask if you’re allowed one should you need it. It all depends on the official
tournament rules.
  

When serving, players should be behind the service line, which is the closest
horizontal line to the net, and on either side of the vertical line that runs
through the middle.

 The side is determined by the score.

 Serve on the right side if your score is even and the left side if your
score is odd.
 For example, if you are 2-0 against your opponent, you would serve on
the right side while if you 1-0, you would serve on the left.

Red when your score is odd, blue when your score is even.
 
 Hitting the shuttle must also be done in a certain way.
 The shuttle must land on or cross the service line of your
opponent’s side and your racket contact with the shuttle must be below
1.15 meters.
 Although this rule has been controversial because tall people have
to bend down to serve while short people might even be able to serve
above the waist, it does provide a more objective call compared to the
previous rule, serve below the waist which had problems with judges being
unable to identify the waist because of longer shirts and different body
proportions.
 Serving below the waist still works as the general guideline and
the rule is still used in many lower-level tournaments and gameplay.
 You can definitely continue using this rule unless you’re over six feet
tall in which you may need to bend your legs a little.
 If you’re in a match, after each game, the person who won will
serve first.
 
Double Touch, Carries, and Other Faults

During the game, you may encounter several controversial shots that could be
argued over.

 Many common ones are the shuttle hitting the ground and a player
scooping it up to return it or if a player hits the shuttle multiple times
while it’s still on his side.
 Another common one is that if you touch the shuttle and it goes out,
it is the opponent’s point.
 Sometimes players may decline that they touched it and if you don’t
have an umpire making those calls, the two players must sort it out
themselves.
 Another thing to watch out for is how you move on the court between
each rally. Tournaments generally don’t like it when you step off or walk
around for too long.
 Trash talking and poor attitude can also be called out and punished. 
 

Playing Around the Net

One of the frequent calls argued over other than line calls in badminton is
when a player hits the shuttle at the net. Here are some rules for net play.

 You cannot hit the shuttle while it’s on your opponent’s side.
 Your foot cannot be on the other person’s side when hitting the shuttle.
 You cannot hit the net with your racket or other parts of your body
when playing the shot at the net.
 
These rules always create a setting for argument as the net game is so
fast and hard to watch and make a call. It’s especially argued over when a
player net kills, and the other player’s racket is up and blocks the net kill. They
often have to play it in slow motion to figure out what was the best call.
 Unfortunately, casual players don’t usually have an umpire sitting and
watching the net from an unbiased perspective, and as such, the two players
must make the call themselves.

One common misconception around badminton rules and

regulations though is that if the shuttle hits the net, it’s out. This is not true
as wherever the shuttle lands after hitting the net will be a point for one of the
players.

 
Laws of Badminton
1. SINGLES
10.1 Serving and receiving courts
10.1.1 The players shall serve from, and receive in, their respective right
service courts when the server has not scored or has scored an even number
of points in that game.
10.1.2 The players shall serve from, and receive in, their respective left
service courts when the server has scored an odd number of points in that
game.
10.1.3 In Para-badminton Classes playing half-court, the server and receiver
shall serve from and receive in their respective service courts.
10.2 Order of play and position on court
10.2.1 In a rally, the shuttle may be hit by the server and the receiver
alternately, from any position on that player’s side of the net, until the shuttle
ceases to be in play (Law 15).
10.3 Scoring and serving
10.3.1 If the server wins a rally (Law 7.3), the server shall score a point. The
server shall then serve again from the alternate service court.
10.3.2 If the receiver wins a rally (Law 7.3), the receiver shall score a point.
The receiver shall then become the new server.
Question 1
 When serving, players should be behind the service line, which is the closest
horizontal line to the net, and on either side of the vertical line that runs
through the middle.
Response: True
Correct answer: True
Score: 1 out of 1 Yes

Question 2
 To get points, the shuttle must either land in on your opponent’s side or land
out on your side.
Response: True
Correct answer: True
Score: 1 out of 1 Yes

Question 3
 If the shuttle hits the net, and lands in the opponent court. It’s considered
"out".
Response: False
Correct answer: False
Score: 1 out of 1 Yes

Question 4
 Generally, at 12 points and between games players get a short 30-second
break where you can drink liquids, towel yourself down, and have your coach
talk to you.
Response: False
Correct answer: False
Score: 1 out of 1 Yes

Question 5
 You can hit the shuttle while it’s on your opponent’s side.
Response: False
Correct answer: False
Score: 1 out of 1 Yes

Question 6
 The shuttle must land on or cross the service line of your opponent’s side,
and your racket contact with the shuttle must be below 1.15 meters.
Response: True
Correct answer: True
Score: 1 out of 1 Yes

Question 7
 Your foot cannot be on the other person’s side when hitting the shuttle.
Response: True
Correct answer: True
Score: 1 out of 1 Yes

Question 8
 You can hit the net with your racket or other parts of your body when playing
the shot at the net.
Response: False
Correct answer: False
Score: 1 out of 1 Yes

Question 9
 Serve on the right side if your score is even and the left side if your score is
odd.
Response: True
Correct answer: True
Score: 1 out of 1 Yes

Question 10
 If you’re in a match, after each game, the person who won will serve first.
Response: True
Correct answer: True
Score: 1 out of 1
 Badminton Rules and Regulations in a Doubles Match

Lines and Scoring

As the name suggested, double is a variation of badminton played with two people
instead of one.

 lines will change a little

 doubles play makes use of the entire court
 shots within the outermost lines are in.
 

Another difference of doubles with singles is the lines used for serving.

 Unlike singles where the horizontal back line is used at all time
 the front horizontal line is used when players serve.
 

Scoring in doubles is the same as scoring in singles.

 You get points by either landing the shuttle in on your opponent’s side, or
your opponent hits it out on your side.
 Games once again go up to 21 and matches are usually of best of three.
In each game, players must also win by two or until one player reaches 30 points.

Basically, the score can go from 22-20, 23-21, 24-22, 25-23, all the way until 30-29
when the game ends.

At 11 points or in between games, coaches will usually get an opportunity to talk to

you just like in singles.

Service and Starting a Game

 To start a game of badminton, you must first decide which pair is serving.
 It’s done in the same way as singles either officially through a coin flip or
casually by throwing up the shuttle and seeing which way it points to.
 Before the game, both sides should get an opportunity to practice serve in
which all players on the court will take turns serving once.
 Whoever is serving will start on the right side because the score is even.
If it’s odd, one of the players will serve on the left side.
 Players also need to stand behind the service line and serve the shuttle past
the opponent’s service line.
 If they don’t, it is called short and your opponent’s point.
During the match is when it gets more confusing.

 If you serve and you retain the serve by getting points consecutively, you will
continue serving and switch sides depending on the score.
 If you lose the serve and then regain the serve, whoever was serving before
will, and the other player will serve.
 This means, if you were serving before, your partner would now serve, and if
your partner were serving previously, you would now serve.
Another rule with doubles is that when you serve, you must stand on one side and
behind the service line.
 However, your partner does not have to and can stand anywhere on the
court.
 Generally, although not the rule, in women’s and men’s doubles, your partner
stands behind you, and in mixed doubles, the guy usually always stands behind the
girl.
If you’re playing a match, the winner of the previous game will get to serve next.

The service height rules are also the same as singles where you officially have to
serve below 1.15 meters. But usually serving below the waist should suffice. Make
sure you check the tournament rules.

Checking service height is a lot more common in doubles as players like to play a
variety of serves such as a punch serve and flick serve and some players will often
hit it too high above their waist.

Double Touch, Carries, and Other Faults

There are plenty of shots that can be considered as faults. Some of the most notable
ones are hitting the shuttle twice in a row, scooping it up from the ground, and
touching the shuttle if it goes out. If any of this happens to you, it will automatically be
the opponent’s point and vice versa.

Another common thing to check is when a pair’s rackets clash. Generally, this is
okay, but in some tournaments, they rule it as double touch. Make sure you check
the tournament rules out. You should be okay though because racket clashing is
relatively uncommon with excellent synergy.

In singles match basically it never happens, but in doubles, especially professional

doubles where the rallies are incredibly intense, if you drop the racket and play the
shuttle with your hand, it does not count. Again, sporadic case but I did see it happen
once.
 Similar to the situation above, there also isn’t a rule regarding how much a player has
to hit the shuttle. As long as the pair follows the service rules, technically only one
person has to hit the shuttle. There is no “everybody needs to play” rule.

Playing Around the Net

Many faults occur at the net. Players may often play too aggressively and either hit
on the opponent’s side or hit the net itself. Like singles, here are some net play rules.

 You cannot hit the shuttle while it’s on your opponent’s side.
 Your foot cannot be on the other person’s side when hitting the shuttle.
 You cannot hit the net with your racket or other parts of your body when
playing the shot at the net.
 
Although there’s a situation where a player net kills, and the other player’s racket is
up and blocks the net kill less in doubles than in singles, it is still a situation that
receives a lot of controversy due to the speed of the game.

Mostly, lower-level tournaments don’t have an umpire watching the net from a higher
viewpoint which makes it even more difficult to judge whether or not a player has
violated the rules. The only thing I can say here is to do your best and try to come to
an agreement with the other player.

One thing to note is that you cannot hit the net with your racket or other parts of your
body but the shuttle can hit the net, and it will be your point if it lands on your
opponent’s side. Just a reminder for when someone calls you out on the shuttle
hitting the net.

Laws of Badminton

1. DOUBLES

11.1 Serving and receiving courts

11.1.1 A player of the serving side shall serve from the right service court
when the serving side has not scored or has scored an even number of points
in that game.

11.1.2 A player of the serving side shall serve from the left service court when
the serving side has scored an odd number of points in that game.

11.1.3 The player of the receiving side who served last shall stay in the same
service court from where he served last. The reverse pattern shall apply to
the receiver’s partner.

11.1.4 The player of the receiving side standing in the diagonally opposite
service court to the server shall be the receiver.
 11.1.5 The players shall not change their respective service courts until they
win a point when their side is serving.

11.1.6 Service in any turn of serving shall be delivered from the service court
corresponding to the serving side’s score, except as provided in Law 12.

11.2 Order of play and position on court after the service is returned, in a
rally, the shuttle may be hit by either player of the serving side and either
player of the receiving side alternately, from any position on that player’s side
of the net, until the shuttle ceases to be in play (Law 15).

11.3 Scoring and serving

11.3.1 If the serving side wins a rally (Law 7.3), the serving side shall score a
point. The server shall then serve again from the alternate service court.

11.3.2 If the receiving side wins a rally (Law 7.3), the receiving side shall
score a point. The receiving side shall then become the new serving side.

11.4 Sequence of serving in any game, the right to serve shall pass
consecutively:

11.4.1 from the initial server who started the game from the right service court

11.4.2 to the partner of the initial receiver.

11.4.3 to the partner of the initial server

11.4.4 to the initial receiver,

11.4.5 to the initial server and so on.

11.5 No player shall serve or receive out of turn, or receive two consecutive
services in the same game, except as provided in Law 12.

11.6 Either player of the winning side may serve first in the next game, and either
player of the losing side may receive first in the next game.