What are the rules of badminton?

Two sides hit a shuttle over a net, and the side that wins a rally scores a point. A match is played between sides of one player (singles) or two players (doubles). Before the match, there is a toss: the winner of the toss chooses either to serve or receive first or which end to start at, and the loser takes the choice that remains.

A side wins a rally if the other side commits a fault, or if the shuttle ceases to be in play by touching the floor inside the other side's court. Every rally scores, whoever served it. This guide covers what the rules allow and forbid. For how points add up to games, how many points a game has and the change to 3x15 in 2027, see badminton scoring.

The rules below follow the BWF's Laws of Badminton. The version in force today (V5.0, since 26 April 2025) and the version that takes effect on 4 January 2027 (V6.0) differ only in the scoring numbers: the service, fault, let, shuttle and conduct laws in this guide are identical in both.

Some laws in the BWF text apply to Para badminton only, such as wheelchair rules. They aren't covered here.

The court is the same, but different lines are in play, and doubles adds partner rules. One court with one set of markings serves both games. The posts stand on the doubles side lines even for singles, and every line is part of the area it marks out, so a shuttle that lands on a line is in.

Two mistakes catch beginners. A doubles serve that lands in the strip behind the doubles long service line is out, although that strip is in play during the rally. A singles shuttle that lands in the tramlines is out for both the serve and the rally.

In doubles the right to serve passes round the four players in a fixed order: from the first server, to the partner of the first receiver, to the partner of the first server, to the first receiver, and on round again. No player may serve or receive out of turn, or receive two services in a row in the same game. Partners swap service courts only when their side wins a point while serving. The badminton scoring guide walks through a doubles example rally by rally and gives the court measurements.

A service is a fault if it breaks any part of Law 9.1. The service judge, or the umpire, calls these, and in casual play the receiver and the server's opponents do. The BWF Laws require a correct service to meet all of these conditions:

• Both feet down and still. Some part of both feet of the server and the receiver must stay in contact with the floor in a stationary position from the start of the service until the shuttle is hit. Shuffling, stepping or lifting a foot clear of the floor before contact is a fault.
• Inside the correct courts. Server and receiver stand inside diagonally opposite service courts, without touching the lines of those courts.
• Hit the base first. The server's racket must first hit the base of the shuttle, and the shuttle must be released without spin.
• Below 1.15 m. The whole shuttle must be below 1.15 metres from the floor at the moment of contact.
• Forward all the way. The racket must keep moving forwards from the start of the service until it hits the shuttle. Stopping the forward movement part-way is a fault.
• No air shots. In attempting to serve, the server must not miss the shuttle. Swinging and missing is a fault.
• No delay. After the backward movement of the racket head, any delay in the start of the service is undue delay.
• Up and over. The shuttle must travel upwards, pass over the net, and land in the receiver's service court, on or within the lines.

It is also a service fault if the shuttle is caught on the top of the net and stays there, is caught in the net after passing over, or is hit by the receiver's partner. A service can't start before the receiver is ready, and a receiver who attempts a return is deemed to have been ready.

In doubles, the server's and receiver's partners may stand anywhere inside their own courts during the service, provided they don't unsight the opposing server or receiver.

The BWF's Alternative Laws (Section 4.1.4) also list a waist-height service: the whole shuttle below the server's waist, the line round the body level with the lowest part of the bottom rib, with the racket shaft and head pointing downward when it hits the shuttle. The Laws apply it to standing classes in Para badminton. A casual group could agree to use it, so ask before you assume which service rule your game follows.

No, you can't hit the shuttle twice in a row, and these are the other common faults. Under Law 13, it is a fault if, in play, the shuttle:

• lands outside the boundaries of the court, so not on or within the lines;
• fails to pass over the net;
• touches the ceiling or side walls;
• touches the person or dress of a player;
• is caught and held on the racket and then slung during a stroke;
• is hit twice in succession by the same player, or by a player and then their partner;
• touches a player's racket and does not travel towards the opponent's court.

A shuttle that hits the head and the strings of the racket in one stroke is not a double hit. That sort of contact counts as a single stroke.

It is also a fault if a player, in play:

• touches the net or its supports with racket, body or clothing;
• reaches over the net into the opponent's court with racket or body, except that the striker may follow the shuttle over the net with the racket after the first contact was on the striker's own side;
• invades the opponent's court under the net and obstructs or distracts the opponent;
• obstructs an opponent by preventing a legal stroke where the shuttle is followed over the net;
• deliberately distracts an opponent, for example by shouting or making gestures.

So the answers to the usual questions are: you can't touch the net, you can't reach across to hit the shuttle on the other side, but you can follow through over the net after hitting it on your side.

The shuttle is not in play when it hits the net or post and starts to fall towards the floor on the striker's side, when it hits the floor, or when a fault or let has occurred.

A let stops the rally and replays it. Law 14 says the umpire, or a player if there is no umpire, calls "let", and then play since the last service does not count and the player who served last serves again. It is a let if:

• the server serves before the receiver is ready;
• during the service, both the receiver and the server are faulted;
• after the service is returned, the shuttle is caught on top of the net, or after passing over is caught in the net (except at the service, where it is a fault);
• the shuttle disintegrates and the base completely separates from the rest of it;
• a coach disrupts play or distracts the opposing side, in the umpire's opinion;
• a line judge is unsighted and the umpire or review system can't decide;
• any unforeseen or accidental situation has occurred.

Play must otherwise be continuous from the first service until the match is over. The Laws allow two breaks, a short interval within a game and one between games. The badminton scoring guide gives their lengths. Law 16.4.1 adds: "Under no circumstances shall play be delayed to enable a player to recover strength or wind or to receive advice."

Advice is allowed only when the shuttle is not in play and until the players have taken up their positions to serve and receive. A player may not leave the court during a match without the umpire's permission, apart from in the intervals.

A player may not deliberately delay play, change the speed or flight of the shuttle by modifying or damaging it, behave offensively, or commit other misconduct. The umpire first issues a warning, then faults the side if it was already warned, and faults a side at once for a flagrant offence. The Referee, who is in overall charge of the event, may disqualify the offending side. In club play, agree a polite version of this: no stalling, no coaching mid-rally.

The Laws allow natural or synthetic shuttles, as long as the flight characteristics are similar to a natural feathered shuttle with a cork base covered by a thin layer of leather. The specifications for a feathered shuttle are:

A non-feathered shuttle has a skirt in place of feathers, and the Laws allow its measurements and weight to vary by up to 10 percent because the material is different.

Shuttles come in different speeds so that they fly the same distance at different temperatures and altitudes. The Laws describe a test of speed: a player hits the shuttle with a full underhand stroke from over the back boundary line, at an upward angle and parallel to the side lines. A shuttle of the correct speed lands not less than 530 mm and not more than 990 mm short of the other back boundary line.

A national association may approve modifications to the specification in places where altitude or climate make the standard shuttle unsuitable.

Flobit keeps score and doesn't judge faults or lets: players and any umpire decide those, and a referee can record a card in a tournament, a yellow card as a warning with no point or a red card as a fault that gives the opponent the point. Badminton is live on Flobit, in the iPhone app (version 1.0.4 or later) and on Apple Watch.

You score badminton singles and doubles rally by rally with undo, in four formats: best of three games to 21 (capped at 30), best of three to 15 (capped at 21), one game to 21, and best of five to 11. A serve tracker shows the scorer who is serving and from which court, in singles and doubles, and the app shows a note at the interval without timing it. There are tournaments and open matches for badminton as for the other sports. See the badminton page for what Flobit does for the sport.

Flobit is free to use, with no ads, and it doesn't book courts. Flobit Plus is an optional subscription for advanced stats and a Plus badge.

What are the basic rules of badminton?

What is a service fault in badminton?

Can you hit the shuttle twice in badminton?

Can you touch the net in badminton?

What lines are in for singles and doubles?

What is a let in badminton?

Is there a waist-height serve in badminton?

Is badminton on Flobit?