Rules and Regulation for Badminton

Rules and Regulations for Badminton

Doubles and Singles:

Badminton can be played by two or four players. In a singles, two single players (two men or two women) play against each other. A doubles consists of two opposing pairs of players. There are ladies' doubles (two pairs of ladies playing against each other), men's doubles (two pairs of two men playing against each other) and mixed doubles (two pairs consisting of one man and one woman playing against each other). The game therefore has five disciplines: ladies' singles, ladies' doubles, men's singles, men's doubles, and mixed doubles.

The Court

In normal play, the court is 13.40m long and 5.10m (singles) or 6.10m (doubles) wide. The height of the net is 1.524m over the centre of the court, but 1.55m over the side lines of the doubles court.

The singles court always covers the full length of the court, from base line to base line, both in normal play and for the service. Similarly, singles are always played on the narrow court.

Doubles are always played on the wide court. During a rally, the base line at the back of the court marks the end of the court. However, a doubles service must be played into the short service court, marked by the doubles service line 80 centimeters before the base line.

The Toss

At the beginning of each match, a toss is made to determine which side serves first. The winner of the toss can chose whether to make the first service of the match or whether to return first, thus leaving the first service to the opponent. The side that lost the toss can then chose on which end of the court he/she/they want to start.

Alternatively, the side that wins the toss may also choose to select the end of the curt on which he/she/they want(s) to start. The right to decide who makes the first service in the match then goes to the side that lost the toss.

The Sets

A badminton match commonly consists of up to three sets. The side that first reaches 21 points wins a set (exception: when there is no two-point difference - see below). The side that first wins two sets wins the match. A third set is played if, after two sets, both sides have won one each.

After each set, the sides change ends. A short break of up to 90 seconds can be made between sets and in the middle of each set, when the first player reaches 11 points. Strictly speaking, the players may not leave the court during the break, but coaching is allowed.

Scoring

A rally is won by one side if it plays the shuttle in such a way that it cannot be returned by the opponents and hits the ground inside the opponent's court (including on the lines), if the opponent's return does not cross the net or if the opponent's return hits the ground outside the court boundaries. Furthermore, a side wins the rally if:

• (one of) the opposing player(s) touches the shuttle with the body before it hits the ground (whether inside or outside the court)
• (one of) the opposing player(s) touches the net with the racket or the body while the shuttle is in the air
• (one of) the opposing player(s) hits the shuttle before it has crossed the net (i.e. reaching over to the opponent's side of the court)
• both players of one side in a doubles touch the shuttle
• one player touches the shuttle more than once
• a faulty service is played

The basic scoring rules are:

• The winner of each rally scores a point, regardless of who is serving. This means that every mistake, even a faulty service, wins the opponent a point. (Avoidable) mistakes are thus penalized quite heavily.
• The player winning a rally scores a point and simultaneously wins (or keeps) the right to serve.
• The winning score in each set is 21 points, but to win a set, a side must lead their opponents by two points or more (see below).
• A player must lead his/her opponents by a minimum of two points in order to win a set. The closest possible winning score with 21 points is therefore 21-19. If the score reaches 20-20, the set is won by the first player or pair building up a two point lead or by the first player or pair to score 30 points. This means that possible winning scores are 22-20, 21-23, 22-24,…, 29-27, 30-28 - or 30-29: if score reaches 29-29, the next player to score a point wins the set with a score of 30-29. This is the only exception when no margin of two points is needed to win a set.
• The winning score for a set is the same in all five disciplines.
• Even in a doubles, each side only has one service. As in the singles disciplines, the service is played from the left or the right service court, depending on whether the score of the serving side is odd or even. The service is always played from the left service court if the serving side's score is odd or from the right service court if it is even. In doubles, players of the serving side change service courts with every point they score, but if a side scores a point without having served, they do not change service courts.

Scoring system development of badminton

The current scoring system in badminton is the 3 × 21 rally point scoring system. This means that three games (i.e. one match) are played to 21 points each, with a required two point difference between scores (meaning scores can go above 21, to a maximum of 30). The winner of a rally scores a point regardless of who served. This scoring system was adopted from August 2006 by the International Badminton Federation, now known as the Badminton World Federation (BWF).

The original scoring system in badminton dates back to as early as 1873. A match or rubber is decided by the best of three games. Each game is played to 15 points in the case of men's singles and any doubles games. In the case of ladies' singles, a game is played to 11 points.

The traditional scoring system also allows for a single game to determine a match or rubber. In this instance the game would be played to 21 points.

The first service is usually determined by the equivalent of a coin toss. Thereafter a rally has to be won for service to change or a point to be won.

In singles, if the server loses a rally, the service would be transferred to the opponent. If the server wins a rally, their score is increased by one point. In doubles, if the server loses a rally, the service would transfer to their partner (except if serving first in the game) presenting a second opportunity to maintain scoring (second server). If service is lost again, service is transferred to the opposition. If the server's team wins a rally, their team score is increased by one point.

In a game to 15 points, if the score reached 13–13, the player reaching 13 first would have the choice of "setting" or playing straight through to 15. If they choose to "set", the score reverts to 0–0 and the first to score five points is the winner of the game. If the score reached 14–14, the player reaching 14 first would again have the option to "set" or play straight through to 15. This time however, the winner would be the first to score three points. In a game to 11 points, setting would occur at nine and 10 with "setting" to three and two points respectively. In a game to 21 points, setting would take place at 19 and 20 points "setting" to five and three respectively.

In 2002, "setting" at 13-13, 9–9 and 19–19 was dropped from the rules.

In 2002 the International Badminton Federation (BWF), concerned with the unpredictable and often lengthy time required for matches, decided to experiment with a different scoring system to improve the commercial and especially the broadcasting appeal of the sport. The new scoring system shortened games to seven points and decided matches by the best of five games. When the score reached 6–6, the player who first reached six could elect to set to eight points.

The match time remained an issue, since the playing time for the two scoring systems was similar. This experiment was abandoned and replaced by a modified version of the traditional scoring system. The 2002 Commonwealth Games was the last event that used this scoring system.

In December 2005 the BWF experimented again with the scoring system, intending both to regulate the playing time and to simplify the system for television viewers. The main change from the traditional system was to adopt rally point scoring, in which the winner of a rally scores a point regardless of who served; games were lengthened to 21 points, with ladies' singles matches now using the same rules as men's singles. In the old system, competitors may not be able to score after many exchanges, since serving is often slightly more difficult than defending, especially in professional badminton.

Serving

Every service, in singles and doubles, must be played across the front service line, nearly 2 meters away from the net, and always into the diagonally opposite service court. Each side has one service (in singles and in doubles). If the serving side's score is even, the service must be played from the right service court, if it is odd, from the left service court. The first service (at 0-0) is always played from the right service court.

If the serving side scores a point, it keeps the service and starts the next rally with a new service from the left or right service court, depending on whether its score is odd or even. If the returning side scores a point, it also wins the right to serve. This principle applied to singles as well as to doubles matches.

In singles, the position of the serving player is easy to ascertain as it always and only depends on whether the serving player's score is odd (left service court) or even (right service court).

In doubles, a little more care needs to be taken as the two players of a side take it in turns to serve. Again, the service court from which the service is played depends on whether the score is odd (left) or even (right). If the side of the serving player scores a point, the player keeps the right to serve and moves to the other service court for the next service. This procedure continues until the returning side wins a point. In this case, they also win the right to serve, but they do not change service courts at that point. Service courts are only changed by the serving side.

Example: A and B play against C and D. A and C start the set on their respective right service courts, B and D on the left service courts. At 0-0, A plays the first service from the right service court. C is the returning player. If A and B win the rally, they score a point and lead 1-0. A then moves to the left service court (and B, by implication, to the right one). C and D remain where they are. At 1-0, A serves again, this time from the left. C and D win the rally and score a point. However, as they did not serve in this rally, they do not change service courts. At a score of 1-1, their score is odd and therefore D, being the player on the left service court, wins the right to serve. D then serves to A and C and D win another point. They therefore change service courts and D continues to serve, this time from the right hand side, at a score of 2-1. If A and B win the next rally, they equalize and win back the right to serve without changing service courts. A is now on the left service court and the side's score is even (2-2), therefore B wins the right to serve (from the right service court).

Doubles Service System

When playing singles, simply remember that you will serve from the right side when your score is even and from the left when your score is odd. For doubles, you and your partner may get mixed up during a rally, so it’s important to always remember who served last so you can determine who will serve next. Figuring out service may be a bit overwhelming at first, but your partner and even your opponents should be more than willing to clear up any confusion. You may get frustrated or a little lost as you learn, but don’t forget to have fun with it!