The Badminton Bible

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All original content copyright © Mike Hopley

Badminton rules

Home > Rules

Who makes the rules?

The official rules are made by the Badminton World Federation (BWF).

Local rules may also apply.

Simple rules for beginners

Beginners don’t need to know everything about the rules. Here are some simple guidelines to get you started.

Experienced players may wish to skip this page, and move on to faults.

The scoring system in badminton

Keeping score is pretty simple, but what about serving and receiving positions? Who should stand where, especially in doubles?

Faults

Rallies usually end with a fault. Whoever makes the fault loses the rally.

For example, hitting the shuttle out is a fault: you lose the rally.

Lets

Lets are much less common than faults. When a let occurs, the rally stops and is replayed, without changing the score or serving positions.

Obscure rules

I’ve saved these rules for last. They are obscure because they cover situations that are unlikely to happen, or because they are relatively technical.

You may find it frustrating trying to enforce these rules on court. Some of them are too rarefied for most players’ tastes, and may be rejected!