Guide · Last checked October 25, 2026 · By Ashish Dawar
How to play badminton, with scoring.
In badminton you hit a shuttle over a net and try to land it in your opponent’s court. Every rally wins a point for one side, whoever served. Under the current rules a game goes to 21, you must win by two, and a match is the best of three games. This guide follows the BWF Laws of Badminton (in force April 26, 2025). One big change is coming: from January 4, 2027, the standard game becomes 15 points.
The court and what you need
A badminton court is 13.40 m long: 6.10 m wide for doubles and 5.18 m wide for singles. The net is 1.524 m high at the centre and 1.55 m at the posts (Law 1).
You need a racket, no more than 680 mm long and 230 mm wide, and a shuttle (shuttlecock or birdie). A shuttle can be feathered, with 16 feathers, or synthetic, and weighs 4.74 to 5.50 grams. Shuttle Storm uses tournament-grade feathered shuttles. Wear clean non-marking indoor court shoes: Shuttle Storm’s rules and the Abbotsford Badminton Club both ask for them.
How a rally works
A toss decides who chooses first. The winner picks either to serve or receive, or which end to start from; the other side gets the remaining choice (Law 6).
Each rally starts with a serve. Then the sides hit the shuttle alternately, one hit per side: the same player can’t hit it twice in a row, and doubles partners can’t both hit it before it crosses. The rally ends when the shuttle hits the floor or a fault or let is called.
You win the rally if the shuttle lands in your opponent’s court or they make a fault. A shuttle on the line is in: the Laws say lines are part of the area they mark out.
Badminton scoring: how a game is won
Badminton uses rally scoring (Law 7): the side that wins a rally scores a point, whether or not it served. Under the 2025 Laws, which apply until January 3, 2027:
- A game is played to 21 points.
- Win by two. At 20-all, the first side to lead by two wins (22–20, 23–21 and so on).
- The cap is 30. At 29-all, the next point wins, 30–29.
- A match is the best of three games, unless the event arranges otherwise. The winner of a game serves first in the next.
- Change ends after game one, after game two if there’s a third, and in game three when a side first reaches 11 (Law 8).
- Breaks: up to 60 seconds when the leading score reaches 11, and up to 120 seconds between games (Law 16).
A worked scoring example
Asha and Ben play singles. Asha won the toss and chose to serve. The server serves from the right service court when their own score is even (including zero) and from the left when it is odd.
| Rally | Won by | Score (Asha–Ben) | Next serve |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start | – | 0–0 | Asha, from the right (0 is even) |
| 1 | Asha | 1–0 | Asha again, from the left (1 is odd) |
| 2 | Asha | 2–0 | Asha, from the right |
| 3 | Ben | 2–1 | Ben wins the serve; from the left (his 1 is odd) |
| 4 | Ben | 2–2 | Ben, from the right |
| … | … | 20–20 | Someone must now lead by two |
| Next | Asha | 21–20 | Not over: one point isn’t enough |
| Next | Ben | 21–21 | Ben serves |
| Next two | Asha, Asha | 23–21 | Asha wins the game by two |
Asha serves first in game two, and they change ends. At 29–29, the next rally would have decided it.
Scoring changes on January 4, 2027
In April 2026 the BWF voted to make 15-point games the standard. Its summary of the change and the new Laws set out the differences:
| Until Jan 3, 2027 (3×21) | From Jan 4, 2027 (3×15) | |
|---|---|---|
| Game won at | 21 | 15 |
| Win by two from | 20-all | 14-all |
| Cap | 30 | 21 |
| Change ends in game 3, and 60-second break, at | 11 points | 8 points |
Rally scoring, best of three and the 120-second breaks stay the same. The BWF keeps 3×21 as an approved alternative that clubs and local organisers can choose. Badminton Canada moved its events to best of three games to 15 from September 2026, while the Canadian Masters Championships stay at 3×21 for 2027. Check which format your event uses.
Serving basics
Law 9 covers the serve in detail. The essentials:
- Server and receiver stand in diagonally opposite service courts, not touching the lines, with part of both feet on the floor and still until the serve is hit.
- The shuttle must go upwards off the racket, clear the net and land in the receiver’s service court.
- The whole shuttle must be below 1.15 m from the floor when hit. (By prior arrangement, the BWF’s Alternative Laws allow a below-the-waist rule instead.)
- Hit the base of the shuttle first, don’t add spin, and don’t miss: a missed serve is a fault.
In doubles, the serving side serves from the right on an even score and the left on an odd one. Partners swap service courts only when they win a point on their own serve (Law 11). Service faults and the 1.15 m height rule are in our badminton serve rules guide, and the full doubles serving order is in badminton doubles rules.
Singles vs doubles: which lines count
The court has two sets of side lines and two back lines. The short service line, 1.98 m from the net, is the front of the service court in both games.
| Side lines | Back line | |
|---|---|---|
| Singles serve and rally | Inner (singles) | Back boundary line |
| Doubles serve | Outer (doubles) | Doubles long service line, 0.76 m inside the back boundary |
| Doubles rally | Outer (doubles) | Back boundary line |
Singles is long and narrow; a doubles serve is short and wide; after the serve, doubles uses the whole court.
Common faults
A fault gives the rally to the other side. The ones beginners make most, from Law 13:
- The shuttle lands out, or doesn’t cross the net.
- It touches the ceiling, a wall, or you.
- One player hits it twice in a row, or both doubles partners hit it.
- You touch the net or posts while the shuttle is in play.
- You reach over the net to hit it. You may follow through over the net only after hitting it on your side.
- On a serve, the shuttle sticks on top of the net, or the receiver’s partner hits it.
Lets. A let replays the rally with the same server. It’s called if the server serves before the receiver is ready, the shuttle gets caught on or in the net after the serve has been returned, the shuttle comes apart, or something unforeseen happens (Law 14).
Ready to play? Shuttle Storm ’26
Our guide to where to play badminton in Abbotsford lists local drop-in times. For a real tournament, Shuttle Storm ’26 is on Saturday, November 21, 2026, at the UFV Athletic Centre North Gym, Abbotsford, with ten categories for ages 13 to 50+. Entries close Wednesday, November 18, at 11:59 pm. Register here or read the tournament FAQ.
Shuttle Storm uses a shortened format, as the BWF Laws allow by prior arrangement. Under our competition rules, round robin matches and matches up to the quarter-finals are a single game to 21; semi-finals and finals are best of three games to 15 (at 14-all, the first side two points ahead wins, capped at 21). See also badminton tournaments in the Lower Mainland and our other guides.
Frequently asked questions
Is badminton played to 15 or 21 points?
Under the BWF Laws in force until January 3, 2027, a game is played to 21. From January 4, 2027, the BWF standard is 15, with 21 kept as an approved alternative. Badminton Canada switched its events to 15 in September 2026. Check your event’s rules.
Can you score a point when you’re not serving?
Yes. Badminton uses rally scoring: whoever wins the rally scores a point. If the receiving side wins, it also wins the serve.
What happens if the score reaches 20-all?
In a 21-point game, the first side to lead by two wins, such as 22–20. At 29-all, the next point wins, 30–29. In a 15-point game the same applies from 14-all, with a cap at 21.
Is a shuttle that lands on the line in or out?
In. The BWF Laws say lines are part of the area they define. Just watch the right lines: singles and doubles use different side lines, and doubles serves a different back line.
Sources, checked October 25, 2026: BWF Statutes, Section 4.1 Laws of Badminton V5.0 and V6.0 (from January 4, 2027); Section 4.1.4 Alternative Laws; BWF on the 3×15 change (April 26, 2026); Badminton Canada memo (July 28, 2026).