Badminton requires a rectangular court with a net across the middle, a racket for each player and a few shuttlecocks. Players keep the shuttlecock in play by reaching it before it hits the surface of the court and hitting it over the net. Whether you play singles or doubles badminton, you'll have to follow certain basic rules.
Play Format
If you win the coin toss, you get to make one of two choices. You can choose whether to serve or return first, or whether to begin on one or the other side of the court. Whichever choice you make, your opponent gets to make the other choice. The winner of the first game serves first in the second game, and the winner of the second game serves first in the third game. Players change sides after the each game. If the match continues into a third game, players change sides after one player has earned 11 points in a 21-point game, 8 points in a 15-point game or 6 points in an 11-point game.
Serve
Each rally begins with a serve. You must serve from the right service court when you have an even score or no score, and you must serve from the left service court when you have an odd score. The two service courts lie behind the service line and separated by the center line perpendicular to the net. Your serve must travel crosscourt to the service court on your opponent's side, diagonally opposite the one you served from. You must contact the shuttlecock below your waist to serve. If the serve hits the net but then falls in bounds, the serve counts as a "let" rather than a fault and you can replay the serve. If the serve hits the net and falls back onto your court, hits the net and remains suspended upon the net or falls out of bounds, it counts as a "fault."
Rallies
Win rallies by hitting the shuttlecock to the surface of your opponent's court within bounds. If the shuttlecock hits a boundary line, it counts as in-bounds. If your opponent makes a mistake, does not reach the shuttlecock before it hits the court, hits the shuttlecock into the net or hits it out of bounds, you win the rally. If you commit a violation, you lose the rally. Common violations include touching the net with your racket or body, letting the shuttlecock come to rest on the racket, reaching over the net to hit a shuttlecock that remains on the opponent's side of the net, reaching under the net or hitting the shuttlecock through or under the net.
Classic Side-Out Scoring
Badminton has traditionally followed side-out scoring, in which players can only win points on their own serve. If you win a rally on your opponent's serve, you do not win a point, but you gain the right to serve. In men's singles matches with side-out scoring, you must win 15 points to win a game and two games to win a match. In women's singles matches with side-out scoring, you must win 11 points to win a game and two games to win a match. If the score reaches 14-all in a men's singles game, the first player who reached 14 points can choose to play the game to 15 or to set the game to 17. If the score reaches 10-all in a women's singles game, the first player who reached 10 points can choose to play the game to 11 points or to set the game to 13 points.
Rally Scoring
The Badminton World Federation now follows rally scoring. In rally scoring, players can win points on their serve as well as on their opponent's serve. In both men's and women's singles matches with rally scoring, you must win 21 points to win a game and two points to win a match. You must win by a two-point margin, unless the score reaches 29-all, in which case the first player to reach 30 points wins the game.
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