Court and Equipment

Court size for singles - 44 feet long x 17 feet wide

Court size for doubles - 44 feet long x 20 feet wide

Net height - 5 feet

Shuttlecocks - Also known as birdies or birds. One type has feathers with a cork base, and the other is
plastic with a rubber base.

Rackets - Made of lightweight material like wood, plastic or metal.

Object of the game

To hit the shuttlecock (birdie) back and forth across the net with a racquet without permitting it to touch
the ground, while trying to hit it into the opposing court so that it cannot be returned. A serve starts the
game. First service is determined by a coin toss, volley, or spin of the racquet. Players may not touch or
cross the net with any part of their body or the racquet. A birdie or shuttlecock that hits the net on its
way across the net during play is playable. All lines are considered in bounds. Points are only scored
when serving.

Terms

Inning - a term of service

Side out- loss of the serve

Fault - a violation of the playing rules, either in serving, receiving, or during play

Rally - a sequence of one or more strokes staring with the service, until the shuttle ceases to be in play

Drop - a shot hit softly and with finesse to fall rapidly and close to the net on the opponent's side

Let - a legitimate cessation of play to allow a rally to be replayed

Smash - hard hit overhead shot that forces the shuttle sharply downward. (badminton's primary
attacking stroke)

Serve (service) - stroke used to put the shuttlecock into play at the start of a rally

Court - area of play, as defined by the outer boundary lines

Badminton Rules
1. Game is played to 15 points, must win by two.

2. Play best of 3 games, changing ends after each game.

3. Serve must be delivered from below the waist. The head of the racquet must be below the server’s
hands.

4. Must serve diagonally opposite server past the short service line. Server may not serve until the
opponent is ready. Serve starts on the right.

5. Shuttle cannot be hit until it crosses over net to receiving team’s side.

6. Players and racquets may not touch the net at anytime during play.

7. If shuttle passes over the net and then gets caught in the net, it is a let. The shuttle is re-served, no
point counted.

8. If the server misses the shuttle completely it is a fault. Two faults before a loss of serve.

9. One hit to get shuttle over net.

10. Smashes are spikes: hits in a downward motion that are hard and forceful.

History

A game with some sort of racquet and feathered object goes far back into history. A game similar to
badminton (shuttlecock kicking) was played in China as early as the fifth century AD, and there is
mention of the game as long ago as the twelfth century in the Royal Court records of England.
Battledore shuttlecock was a popular in King James I time, so it is not surprising that the game was
played by early English settlers in America. The portrait “Young Prince Sulkonsik” by Adam Mangoki,
who lived about 1700, shows young members of the Royal Family of Poland holding a shuttlecock and
racquet with a stance similar to that used by a modern expert preparing to serve. A portrait by Jean
Simeon Chardin (1699-1779) hanging in the Uffizi Gallery in Florance depicts a girl with a racquet and
shuttle. “Portrait of Master Stephen Crossfield” hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Painted by American William Williams (1727-1791), it depicts a young man holding a battledore
(racquet) and shuttlecock.

It is generally accepted that the modern game of badminton involving court boundaries and a winning
objective was named when a group of British army officers home on leave from India around 1873
played the game at Badminton, the country estate of the Duke of Beaufort in Glucestershire, England. In
1878 the Badminton Club of the city of New York was founded. Records in the New York City Museum of
History substantiate that this is the oldest organized badminton club in the world. This club was the
leading social rendezvous in New York for 25 years. Such names as Astor, Roosevelt, Rockefeller, and
Vanderbilt appeared on the membership list. Badminton was in its “heyday’ in the United States in the
1930’s when thousands of players, including famous athletes and Hollywood start, enjoyed the game.

The American Badminton Association was founded in 1936. This association changed its name in 1977 to
the United States Badminton Association. The second organized badminton club was founded in Ireland
in 1899. This organization was a founding member of the International Badminton Federation (IBF) in
1934. (The first badminton played internationally was a match between England and Ireland in Dublin in
1903.) The original IBF included nine national badminton organizations. By 1939 the tally had risen to 15;
today there are more that 90. The Thomas Cup competition for men’s teams was started in 1948; the
Uber Cup competition for women’s teams was started in 1956.