Badminton rules for recreational players

Court & equipment

Doubles uses the full 6.10 m width. The serve must land before the back service line.

Net height

1.524 m at the centre, 1.55 m at the posts — the net hangs lower in the middle.

Equipment

Racket, 80–100 g Plastic or feather shuttle Yonex in the league, yellow 2000 in the plastic division

Serving

The serve always travels diagonally into the opposite service court. The lighter areas are the valid targets.

How to serve

Stand behind the service line, both feet on the ground Strike the shuttle below waist height Racket head points down, below the hand holding the shuttle The shuttle must clear the net and land in the diagonal box

Which side do I serve from?

Even score

from the right

Odd score

from the left

The first serve of a game is from the right. Win the rally and you serve again; lose it and the serve passes to your opponent.

Scoring

21 points

The first player to 21 points wins the game.

20 : 20 24:22

At 20-all you play on until someone leads by two points.

1 2 3

The match goes to whoever wins two games — 2:0 or 2:1.

Fault — point to your opponent

The shuttle lands outside the court

The shuttle fails to clear the net

You touch the net with racket or body

Serving above waist height or over the line

Let — replay the rally

The receiver was not ready

A shuttle from the next court, or other interference

You could not agree whether the shuttle was in

On a let nobody scores and the same player serves again from the same side.

Court etiquette

There is no umpire in the league — you sort it out between you.

Do this

Agree the rules and warm up before the match Call your own faults, even the ones nobody saw Wait until your opponent is ready to receive Return the shuttle with a gentle serve, not a smash

Not this

Arguing over close calls — when in doubt, replay it Dragging out the time between rallies Distracting your opponent during the serve Serving out of order or from the wrong side

In a recreational league the point is a good match, not the rulebook. If you cannot agree, replay the rally and get on with it.