In this article, we’ll be covering basic rules for doubles in badminton. Badminton can be played as a singles (1 vs 1) game or a doubles (2 vs 2) game. In a doubles game here are the main categories –
- Men’s Doubles
- Women’s Doubles
- Mixed Doubes
- Others – Age based Doubles for men, women, mixed and children
In badminton, a doubles match is played between four players – two players in each team on either side of the net. One player serves to a player of the opposing team. The opponent receives the serve and returns the shuttle to the other side. The rally continues until one team wins a point. The team that wins the point gets to serve for the next point.
Service and receiving of serve starts on the right service court. When a team’s score is an even number (2,4,6, and so on), the team will serve from the right service court and the receiver will pick the serve from his right service court. When the team’s score is an odd number (1,3,5 and so on), the team will serve from the left service court and the receiver will pick the serve from his left service court.
Court for Play (Boundaries of the Court)
A badminton court has lines for both singles and doubles games. In the image below, the entire court marked in blue is used for doubles. For basic rules for singles, please visit this post! Do note that the boundaries of the serve are different and they are the exception to this rule. We’ll talk more about the serving area in the later part of this article.
If a player hits a shuttle and it lands outside the court i.e. outside the external edges, it is considered as ‘out’ and the opposing team wins a point and the serve.
Toss (Who starts the game)
In professional matches, a coin toss decides which team will serve first and which team will receive first. The team that wins the toss can either choose the end from where they want to play or to serve. If the team chooses to serve, the opposing team can choose the end.
Scoring Rules
The scoring system of a doubles match is similar to a singles match, consisting of the best of 3 games, each of 21 points. The team winning a rally adds a point to their score and gets to serve for the next rally. If the score stands tied at 20, the team who gets a 2 point lead first wins the game. The deuce (tie) has a cutoff point at 30 which means whichever races first to 30 points, wins the game.
Serving Boundaries (Special Case)
In the image below, the greyed out area in the opponent’s side is where one can serve.
The serve is hit to the diagonally opposite section of the court. If the serve hits the net or lands outside the grey area, it is considered as a fault. The team committing the fault gives a point to the opposing team and also the right to serve.
A player can serve only when the opponent is ready to take the serve.
The server and receiver must stay inside the service boxes until the server connects her racquet to the shuttle. After that both players can move to any part of the court. The partners of the server and receiver can stand anywhere in the court.
The shuttle has to be positioned below the server’s waist or where her rib cage ends when it is being hit.
Rallies
Both teams aim to win rallies to score points and win the match. Any player from a team can hit the shuttle to the other side. A rally is completed either when a player hits the shuttle into the net, or outside the designated court boundaries, or misses to send back the shuttle to the opponent’s side. In each of these cases, the opponent earns a point and gets the right to serve.
Similar to the rules in a singles game, while hitting a shot, a player cannot touch the net either with the racquet or any body part. The player can reach above the net to hit the shot. The player cannot invade the opponent’s side of the court. i.e. the player cannot reach out to the opponent’s side of the court either by racquet or body part.
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- A serve in which the shuttle hits the net but lands correctly in the designated receiving area is a valid serve.
- Only one player in a team is allowed to hit the shuttle. If both players touch the shuttle with their racket, it’s a double hit and the team gives away a point to the opposing team.
- A player can touch the shuttle only once with the racquet.
Touching the shuttle with anything other than the racquet is a foul and the point is lost. - A player has to hit the shuttle over the net. The team loses a point if the shuttle is hit and sent to the other side from under the net
- When a player hits a serve or is ready to receive a serve, his feet should not touch any of the lines on the court.
- If the shuttle that a player hit is going out of the court, but the opponent hits it before that, the game continues. The opponent does not win a point.
Badminton is not a complex game to play and with lots of practice, anyone can definitely get the hang of the rules and enjoy a good game of badminton!
Check this post to find out the rules for singles.
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