Rules of Badminton: The Complete Guide for Players

Badminton looks simple: hit the shuttle over the net and make it land in your opponent’s court. The official rules, published by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) as the Laws of Badminton, add the details that decide close rallies: where you can stand, how high you can serve, what counts as a fault and when a point is replayed. This guide walks through every rule a recreational or club player needs, in the order you meet them in a match.

The court and equipment

A badminton court is 13.4 m long and 6.1 m wide for doubles. Singles uses the same length but the inner sidelines, making it 5.18 m wide. The lines are 40 mm wide and count as part of the area they enclose, so a shuttle touching the line is in.

The net is 1.55 m high at the posts and 1.524 m (5 feet) at the centre. The posts stand on the doubles sidelines even when singles is being played. For every line and measurement, including the service courts, see our guide to badminton court dimensions.

The shuttlecock has 16 feathers (or a synthetic skirt) fixed in a cork base and weighs between 4.74 g and 5.50 g. The racket frame can be no longer than 680 mm and no wider than 230 mm. More on both in our shuttlecock guide and racket buying guide.

Starting the match: the toss

Before play, the sides toss a coin (or spin a racket or shuttle). The winner chooses one of these:

• to serve or receive first, or
• which end of the court to start from.

The side that loses the toss takes the remaining choice. In casual play most people simply let the winner serve first.

Scoring

Badminton uses rally point scoring. Every rally produces a point for the side that wins it, whether they served or not. The rules are:

• A game is won by the first side to reach 21 points.
• If the score reaches 20-20, the game continues until one side leads by 2 points (22-20, 25-23 and so on).
• If the score reaches 29-29, the side that wins the next point wins the game 30-29.
• A match is the best of 3 games.
• The side that wins a game serves first in the next game.

There is an interval of up to 60 seconds when the leading side reaches 11 points in a game, and up to 2 minutes between games. Players change ends after the first game, after the second game, and in the third game when the leading side reaches 11 points.

The server always calls their own score first. Our full badminton scoring guide explains score calling, service rotation and common edge cases.

Serving rules

The serve starts every rally and has the most detailed rules in the game. A legal serve meets all of these conditions:

1. The server and receiver stand in diagonally opposite service courts, without touching the boundary lines.
2. Part of both feet of the server and receiver stay in contact with the floor, in a stationary position, until the serve is delivered.
3. The server first hits the base (cork) of the shuttle.
4. The whole shuttle is below 1.15 m from the court surface at the instant it is hit. This fixed-height rule replaced the older “below the waist” rule.
5. Once the server starts the forward movement of the racket, it continues forwards in one motion. Feints and stop-start actions are faults.
6. The shuttle must travel over the net and land inside the receiver’s service court.
7. Neither side may cause undue delay once both are ready.

Which service court you use depends on your score. When the serving side’s score is even (0, 2, 4…), the server serves from the right service court. When it is odd, from the left. If the server misses the shuttle completely, it is a fault.

The service court is different in singles and doubles. In singles it is long and narrow (to the back boundary line, inner sidelines). In doubles it is short and wide (to the doubles long service line, outer sidelines). Our serving rules guide covers all of this with diagrams of each service court.

How a rally works

A rally starts when the shuttle is served and ends when it hits the floor or a fault is called. During the rally:

• Each side gets one hit. The shuttle must go straight back over the net after a single stroke. You cannot pass to your partner in doubles, and you cannot hit it twice in a row. A shuttle that touches the frame and strings in the same single stroke is fine.
• The shuttle can touch the net and still be good. If it clips the tape and falls into the opponent’s court, play continues. The exception is the serve: a serve that touches the net and lands in the correct service court is also good, because badminton has no “let” for net cords.
• Lines are in. A shuttle landing on any part of the correct line is in.
• Out of bounds is decided where the shuttle lands, not where the player is standing. You can stand outside the court to play a shot.

Faults

A fault ends the rally and gives the point to the other side. The most common faults are:

• The shuttle lands outside the court boundaries.
• The shuttle passes through or under the net, or fails to pass over it.
• The shuttle touches the ceiling or side walls.
• The shuttle touches a player’s body or clothing.
• The shuttle is caught and slung on the racket instead of being cleanly hit.
• The same player hits the shuttle twice in succession, or partners hit it one after the other.
• A player touches the net or the posts with their racket, body or clothing while the shuttle is in play.
• A player reaches over the net to hit the shuttle on the opponent’s side.
• A player obstructs an opponent, or deliberately distracts them by shouting or gesturing.
• Any of the service faults listed above.

Two questions come up constantly. Can you touch the net? No. Touching the net or posts at any point while the shuttle is in play is a fault, even if you have already won the rally in your mind. Can you reach over the net? Not to make contact: you must strike the shuttle on your own side. Your racket may follow through over the net after a legal hit, as long as you do not touch the net or obstruct your opponent.

For the full list with examples, see faults in badminton.

Lets: when a point is replayed

A let stops play and the rally is replayed with no change to the score. Lets are called when:

• the server serves before the receiver is ready (a receiver who attempts to return the serve is considered ready),
• the server and receiver are both faulted at the same time on the serve,
• during a rally the shuttle gets caught in the net and stays on top of it, or passes over and then gets caught in the net,
• the shuttle comes apart in play and the base completely separates from the feathers,
• a line judge cannot see where the shuttle landed and the umpire cannot decide, or
• something unexpected interrupts play, such as a shuttle from another court landing on yours.

Singles rules

In singles you play on the narrow court (inner sidelines) but use the full length, including for the serve. The server serves from the right when their score is even and from the left when it is odd. If the server wins the rally, they score and serve again from the other service court. If the receiver wins, they score and become the new server.

Read the full guide: badminton singles rules.

Doubles rules

Doubles uses the full width of the court. The serve must land in the short, wide doubles service court, which stops 0.76 m before the back boundary line.

Only the receiver may return the serve. After that, either player on each side may hit the shuttle, but still only once per side. If the serving side wins the rally, the same player serves again from the other service court. If the receiving side wins, they score and the player in the correct court for their new score serves. Players only swap service courts when their side wins a point on its own serve.

This is the part most beginners get wrong, so we have a step-by-step walkthrough in badminton doubles rules.

Continuous play and conduct

Play is meant to be continuous from the first serve to the end of the match, apart from the official intervals. Players may not leave the court, receive coaching during a rally, deliberately delay play, change the shuttle without permission, or behave in an offensive or unsporting way. In tournaments, an umpire can give a warning, award a fault for misconduct, or report a player to the referee.

When is a match over?

A match is complete when one side has won two games. In a typical match that can be 2-0 (straight games) or 2-1. A side wins a game at 21 points with a 2-point lead, at 22-20 or higher after deuce, or at 30-29.

Common rule questions

Can the shuttle hit the net on a serve?

Yes. If the serve clips the net and still lands in the correct service court, it is a legal serve and play continues.

Can you hit the shuttle before it crosses the net?

No. Contact must be made on your side of the net. Your racket may cross the net only on the follow-through.

Can a player hit the shuttle with their body?

No. If the shuttle touches any part of a player or their clothing, it is a fault against that player.

Is it legal to serve overhand?

Not in practice. The whole shuttle must be below 1.15 m when you hit it, which rules out an overhead serve for almost every player. See can you serve overhand in badminton for details.

Do the rules change for casual games?

The official rules are the same, but casual players often relax them, for example by playing to 15 points or ignoring the serving height. If you play in a league or club night, use the full rules above.

Where these rules come from

These rules summarise the BWF Laws of Badminton, which apply to sanctioned events worldwide and are adopted by national bodies such as USA Badminton and Badminton England. Local leagues sometimes publish their own variations, so check with your club or tournament organiser if you are unsure.