Rules and scoring explained

Knowing how a match is scored takes the guesswork out of badminton and lets you focus on the fun part: the rallies. The good news is that the rules are simpler than they look. Once you understand how points, serving and the court lines fit together, you will feel confident calling the score and getting a game going. Here is everything you need, explained in plain English.

How a match is scored

Badminton uses rally-point scoring, which means a point is won on every single rally, no matter who served. If you win the rally, you win the point, and the serve too. This keeps games quick and means every shuttle counts.

1. The first side to reach 21 points wins the game.
2. You must win by 2 clear points. So at 20-20, play continues until one side is two points ahead, for example 22-20 or 24-22.
3. There is a cap at 30. If the score reaches 29-29, the very next point decides it, and the winner takes the game 30-29.
4. A match is the best of three games. The first player or pair to win two games wins the match.

How serving and receiving work

You always serve diagonally, from your service box into the box diagonally opposite. The serve itself must be gentle and underhand: the whole shuttle has to be below 1.15 metres (roughly hip height) at the moment you hit it, and you must strike the base of the shuttle with the contact point below your hand, so the racket is travelling upwards. This stops anyone smashing straight off the serve.

Which side you serve from depends on your score. When your score is an even number (including 0), you serve from the right-hand box. When it is odd, you serve from the left. That simple even-right, odd-left rule is the easiest way to remember where to stand.

In doubles it works the same way, with one twist: only the side that wins the rally moves. When your pair wins a rally while serving, the same server keeps serving but you and your partner swap boxes. When you win the serve back from the other pair, nobody swaps, and whoever is in the correct box for your score serves. Your partner is always in the box you are not in.

The court and the service boxes

A badminton court has two sets of side lines. The narrower, inside lines are used for singles; the wider, outside lines are used for doubles. The full length of the court is the same for both. The trick is that the boundaries change between the serve and the rest of the rally.

• Singles: the long, thin side boxes are in play. The narrow inside side lines are your boundary, and the back boundary is the very back line.
• Doubles: the court is wider, so the outside side lines are in play. But on the serve only, the back boundary is the inner back line (the doubles long service line, a little in from the very back).
• Every serve, in both formats, must land beyond the short service line near the net and inside the correct diagonal box.

Changing ends

Players swap ends of the court during a match so neither side is stuck with bad lighting or a draught the whole time. You change ends at the end of the first game, again at the end of the second game if a third is needed, and partway through the third game, once the leading score reaches 11 points. There is a 60-second break when the leading score first reaches 11 in each game, and a 2-minute break between games to catch your breath and have some water.

Faults and lets

A fault means you lose the rally, and your opponent gets the point. The most common faults are: the shuttle landing outside the lines, the shuttle hitting the net and not going over, a serve that breaks the rules above, touching the net with your body or racket, and hitting the shuttle twice or carrying it.

A let is different. It is not a point for anyone, it just means the rally is replayed, with the same player serving again. A let is called when something unexpected interrupts play, for example a shuttle from another court lands on yours, or the receiver was not ready when you served. One to watch: if the shuttle catches on top of the net during a rally (after the serve has been returned) it is a let, but if it catches on the net straight off the serve, that counts as a fault, not a let. Think of a let as a harmless do-over.

A quick note on what is changing

Everything above is the current, official BWF (Badminton World Federation) scoring, and it is what you should learn and use today. Be aware that the BWF has approved a new 3x15 system, where games are played to 15 points with a cap at 21 (so 21-20 wins a tight game), coming into effect on 4 January 2027. Until then, stick with the 21-point format, and your local club will let you know when anything changes.