How to serve in badminton
The birdie must be hit below waist height, with players serving diagonally into their opponent’s service box. Both players must remain stationary until the serve is made.
As per badminton singles rules, the server starts from the right service court, and will serve from that side every time they have an even amount of points. A player serves from the left every time they have an odd amount of points.
Each player will retain serve for as long as they keep winning points.
In badminton doubles, the server will start on the right-hand side and keep serving, while alternating sides with their team-mate, so long as they keep winning points.
If the receiving side takes the point, they assume serve. Going forward, the player who did not initially serve for each team will only assume the service once their side has won a point as the receiving side.
What is a badminton court’s dimensions?
In singles, a badminton court is 13.41m (44ft) long and 5.18m (17ft) wide. The width extends to 6.1m (20ft) in doubles.
The net is 1.55m (5ft 1in) high at the ends and 1.52m high (5ft) where it dips in the middle.
A serve must pass the short service line, which is 1.98m (6.5ft) from the net.
Beyond the short service line, there is a line which runs down the middle to split the left and right service courts. There is also a doubles service line 0.76m (2.5ft) in from the baseline.
That means each service court (four in total) is 3.96m (13ft) long and 2.59m (8.5ft) wide.
The badminton birdie (shuttlecock)
The birdie, also referred to as the shuttlecock, is badminton’s unique ‘ball’.
The cone-shaped projectile is formed using feathers or a synthetic material which are attached to a cork or rubber base.
The birdie’s shape means it will always fly cork-first once struck, and remain so until hit again.
Made up of 16 feathers, the birdie is between 62-70mm long and weigh between 4.74 and 5.5g. The tip of the feathers should create a circle with a diameter from 58-62mm, with the cork/rubber base 25-28mm in diameter and rounded at the bottom.
