Rules of Badminton Games

The complete laws of the game will be found in the appendix of this book. A summary follows:

1. Toss for the serve. You can flip a coin, spin a racket, or toss a shuttle to determine who gets the choice of "side or serve." If spinning a racket, identify a marking on the racket and then spin it in the hand or on the floor. One person calls the mark. If it is called correctly, that person gets the choice. The most common method of determining the choice, however, is by hitting or tossing the shuttle into the air and letting it land. The person toward whom the base of the shuttle is pointing gets the choice. If the winner of the toss chooses a side of the court to defend, the other person can choose serve or receive.

The side of the court may become important if one side has poorer lighting or an undesirable background. In an important match the player who wins the toss might elect to defend the less desirable first. This would then have him or her on the best side for the last half of the third game.

2. For women's singles, games are played to 11 points. All other singles and doubles games are played to 15 points.
In a 15-point game, if the score is tied at 14-14, the player who scored 14 first can decide to play one more point (no set) or three more points (set) to finish the game. In an 11-point game, if the game is tied at 10-10, the player who scored 10 first has choice between one and three more points.

Once the score is set, the player who tied the score continues to serve.

3. The serve, if not played by the receiver, must land in the diagonal service court. Any shuttle hitting the line is in. In singles the shuttle must land in the long, narrow court. In doubles it must land in the short, wide court. In doubles the long service line is for the service boundary only. Once the serve has been hit, the full court (20 by 44 feet) is played.

In singles the serve is made from the right service court whenever the server's score is an even number (0, 2, 4, etc.). The serve is from the left court whenever the server's score is an odd number (1, 3, 5, etc.).