This page will provide information relating to how to play badminton, including rules, techniques, tactics and more.


Badminton Basics

Badminton can be played by all ages and at all levels. At beginner level it offers early satisfaction, with rallies being easily achievable without a great deal of technical expertise.


At the highest level however it is a highly dynamic sport, with shuttles being struck at over 300 km/h and players displaying the highest levels of athleticism.


Badminton is:
  • A net game.
  • Played on a rectangular court.
  • A volleying game, with rallies beginning with an underarm serve.
  • A game that has five disciplines – singles (men / women), doubles (men / women and mixed).
  • Equally accessible to both boys and girls, men and women.
  • A safe, low impact sport for children and adults.
  • Builds fundamental physical skills in children, gives an excellent aerobic workout and is highly physically demanding at the elite level.
  • Accessible to people of all abilities who can develop a skill which will allow them to play badminton for life.
  • Accessible for people with a disability. There are rules to govern that groups people according to their class of disability. This ensures fair and safe competitions.


Singles badminton starts by serving diagonally into a long, service box.

Rallying then continues on a long court with the border on the first side line.

The shaded part within the yellow line shows the area of play for singles. A shuttle that lands outside this area means a point is won / lost.

 

Doubles badminton involves serving diagonally into a shorter, wider service box than in singles badminton.

After the serve, doubles rallies are played on the whole court area.

 

The aim of the game is to score points by:

  • landing the shuttlecock in your opponent’s court.
  • forcing your opponent to hit the shuttlecock out of the court area.
  • forcing your opponent to hit the shuttlecock into the net.
  • striking your opponent’s body with the shuttle.

All games, both singles and doubles, are played to 21 points. The first player to reach a score of 21 wins a game. However,

  • If scores are tied at 20-20 the winner is the first player who gets ahead by two clear points
  • If the points are still tied at 29-29, the next point decides the winner
The majority of championship matches are played out to the best of 3 sets. Winning the overall match requires you to win 2 out of the 3 sets.
 

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