Player's Guide to Badminton England League Badminton Open Age 2026/27

These are the BWF Laws that take effect on 4 January 2027 (Law 7):

• A match is the best of three games, unless otherwise arranged.
• Every rally scores a point, whoever served.
• A game is won by the first side to 15 points.
• At 14-all, the side that first gains a two-point lead wins the game.
• At 20-all, the side that scores the 21st point wins the game.
• The winner of a game serves first in the next game.

So the longest possible game finishes 21-20. Intervals and changes of ends come at 8 points instead of 11.

It depends which scoring system your match uses (Laws 8 and 16).

If players forget to change ends, they change as soon as the mistake is noticed while the shuttle is not in play, and the existing score stands. Play is otherwise continuous: you may not delay play to get your breath back.

Under Law 9, a correct service needs all of the following:

• No undue delay once server and receiver are ready. Pausing after the backswing is complete counts as undue delay.
• Server and receiver stand within diagonally opposite service courts, without touching the boundary lines.
• Some part of both feet of the server and receiver stays in contact with the court, in a stationary position, from the start of the service until it is delivered.
• The server's racket first hits the base of the shuttle.
• The whole shuttle is below 1.15 metres from the court surface at the moment it is hit.
• The racket keeps moving forward continuously from the start of the service until the shuttle is hit.
• The shuttle travels upwards off the racket, passes over the net and would land in the receiver's service court.
• If the server attempts to serve and misses the shuttle, it is a fault.

Service faults with the net: it is also a fault if the served shuttle lands on top of the net and stays there, crosses the net and is caught in it, or is hit by the receiver's partner.

The 1.15 m fixed height has been mandatory at high-level tournaments since December 2018 and is the only service-height rule in the current Laws.

Under Law 10, it depends on the server's own score:

• 0 or an even number: serve from, and receive in, the right service court.
• Odd number: serve from, and receive in, the left service court.

If the server wins the rally, they score a point and serve again from the other service court. If the receiver wins the rally, they score a point and become the new server, serving from the court that matches their new score.

Under Law 11:

• The serving side serves from the right service court when its score is 0 or even, and from the left when it is odd.
• The receiver is the player standing diagonally opposite the server. Only that player may return the serve; if the receiver's partner hits it, that is a fault.
• Players only change service courts when their side wins a point while serving. The receiving side never swaps courts.
• When the serving side wins a rally, it scores a point and the same server serves again from the other court.
• When the receiving side wins a rally, it scores a point and becomes the serving side. Its new server is whichever player is in the correct court for its new score.

This produces the serving sequence: initial server, partner of the initial receiver, partner of the initial server, initial receiver, and so on. The winners of a game may serve first in the next game, and either player on the losing side may receive first.

That is a service court error under Law 12. It covers a player who:

• serves or receives out of turn, or
• serves or receives from the wrong service court

When the error is discovered, it is corrected while the shuttle is not in play and the existing score stands. Points already played are not replayed or taken away; the players simply move to the correct positions for the score.

In. Under Law 1.3, all the lines form part of the area they define, so a shuttle landing on any part of a line belongs to that area.

What counts is which court and which lines apply:

A doubles serve that lands between the doubles long service line and the back line is out. A serve that lands short of the short service line is out, but one on the line is in.

Under Law 13.3, it is a fault (and the other side wins the rally) if the shuttle:

• lands outside the boundaries of the court
• fails to pass over the net, or passes through or under it
• touches the ceiling or side walls
• touches a player's body or clothing
• touches any other object or person outside the court
• is caught on the racket and then slung during a stroke
• is hit twice in succession by the same player (hitting it with the racket head and strings in one stroke is not a fault)
• is hit by a player and then their partner in succession
• touches a player's racket and does not travel towards the opponent's court

Halls with low beams or other obstructions may have a local rule (a "bye-law") about the shuttle hitting them, so a league or club can vary the ceiling rule for its venue.

Under Law 13.4 it is a fault, while the shuttle is in play, if you:

• touch the net or its supports with your racket, body or clothing
• reach over the net into your opponent's court with your racket or body. The one exception: you may follow through over the net after hitting the shuttle, provided the first point of contact was on your side
• go under the net into your opponent's court so that you obstruct or distract them
• obstruct an opponent from making a legal stroke when the shuttle is following through over the net
• deliberately distract an opponent, for example by shouting or gesturing

So you must hit the shuttle on your side of the net, but your racket may carry on over it after the hit.

A let stops play, nothing from that rally counts, and the last server serves again. Under Law 14 a let is called when:

• the server serves before the receiver is ready
• the server and receiver are both faulted during the same service
• after the service has been returned, the shuttle is caught and stays on top of the net, or crosses the net and is caught in it
• the shuttle disintegrates in play and its base completely separates from the rest
• a coach disrupts play or distracts an opponent
• a line judge is unsighted and the umpire cannot make the decision
• any unforeseen or accidental situation occurs

Note the difference on the net: a shuttle caught on or in the net on the serve is a fault, but in a rally it is a let. With no umpire, the players call lets themselves. If the receiver attempts to return the serve, they are treated as having been ready.

Yes, but only at the right moments. Under the BWF Laws (Law 16):

• Advice may be given only when the shuttle is not in play and before players have taken up their serving or receiving positions.
• Play must not be delayed so a player can recover their breath or receive advice.
• You may not leave the court without the umpire's permission if it delays play, except during the intervals.
• If a coach disrupts play or distracts an opponent, the umpire calls a let (Law 14).

The 60-second mid-game interval and the 120-second interval between games are the natural times for advice. Breaches are penalised with a warning, then a fault; a flagrant breach can be faulted straight away.