Badminton has been played in some form for at least 2,000 years, according to the Badminton World Federation. Originating in Asia and Europe, it began as a game of "battledore (bat or paddle) and shuttlecock," in which two people batted the shuttlecock back and forth as many times as they could without letting it hit the ground.
Modern badminton uses a shuttle and a racket and is played on a rectangular court, dissected by a net similar to a tennis court. A player's goal is to get the shuttle over the net without letting it touch the ground.
Scoring
A game of badminton concludes when one player reaches 21 points. The match goes to the player winning two out of three games. A point is scored on every serve, and the side winning the rally gets the point. If the game is tied at 20 points, a player must gain 2 points over his or her opponent to be declared the winner. If the game goes to 29, the player to score 30 first wins the game. The winner serves first in the next game.
Service
Serving is done from the right server's court at the beginning of each game and each time the server's score is an even number. When the server's score is an odd number, the server serves from the left court. If the server wins a rally, the next serve is from the alternate court. If the server loses the rally, the receiver earns the point and serves from the appropriate court side--left if the score is odd, right if it is even.
In Doubles, service is the same as in Singles, but if the serving side wins a rally, the same server continues to serve but changes court sides. If the receiving side wins the rally, they earn the point and the serve passes to them. Players only change their respective service courts when they win a point when their side is serving.
During service, the server and receiver stand across from each other in diagonal service courts. The shuttle must be below the server's waist at the time of service, and the receiver must be ready before the server serves. Attempting to return the shuttle indicates that the receiver was ready.
Faults
A fault results in a loss of the point to the player or team committing the fault. More common faults in badminton include an incorrect serve, getting the shuttle caught in the net on the serve, serving the shuttle outside the boundaries, or failing to get it over the net. Other faults include hitting the shuttle more than once in a row, hitting the shuttle successively by a player and the player's partner, and intruding into the opponent's court with the racket, person or dress.
Lets
Lets are basically faults that do not incur a penalty. Lets are usually determined by an umpire or referee. In the case of a let, the turn is taken again. Common lets include serving before the receiver is ready, a malfunction of the shuttle while in play, or any unforeseen accident that causes an interruption in play.
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