Badminton

Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players (singles) or two opposing pairs (doubles) and is played indoors. The game of badminton is very similar to that of tennis and/or volleyball. Players at opposite ends of the court aim to hit a shuttlecock, more commonly called a birdie, over the net so that it lands inside the marked boundaries of the court, and aim to prevent their opponents from doing the same. Unlike a tennis ball, the shuttlecock flies with a lot of drag, and will not bounce significantly. The shuttlecock is always volleyed, and a point ends as soon as it touches the ground. Badminton racquets have long handles, to make it easier to impart a great deal of momentum to overcome the drag. The racquets are also much lighter than tennis racquets, because the shuttlecock is light. Badminton is the fastest raquet sport in the world with shuttles reaching speeds of up to 332 km/h.



Although the size of a badminton court is smaller than that of a tennis court, the distance run by a player in a match is usually much greater than that in tennis. This is due, in part, to the fact that the entire court must be covered by the player as the shuttlecock is not allowed to bounce before being returned. Also, the rallies of each point tend to be much longer than tennis. This is in spite of that winning a 'shutout' match in badminton requires only winning 30 points (15-0, 15-0, in a Men's Single match) whereas in tennis it would require 72 points (6-0, 6-0, 6-0). Speed, reaction, and endurance are all important to being a successful badminton player. From a fitness perspective a close comparison can be made to Squash which also has the same explosive starts.

Playing the game
Each player or pair takes position on either side of a net on a rectangular court marked on the floor, as shown in the diagrams.

The object of the game is to hit a shuttlecock (normally shortened to "shuttle" or "cock"; more colloquially, "bird" or "birdie"), using a racquet, over the net onto the court within the marked boundaries before the opposing player or pair can hit it back. For every time this is achieved by the team currently serving, the serving player or pair scores one point. After winning a point the same player serves again, and continues to serve as long as they continue to win points. If the non-serving team wins the rally, no point is scored but instead there is a change of server. In doubles, one server starts the game, and after losing a rally the serve switches to the opposing team. From then on, both players on a team take turns serving before the serve switches back to their opponents. The player on the right-hand serving side always begins the serving.

The Rules
At the beginning of the game the shuttle must be thrown on the net. The movement of the shuttle top settles who of the players has the right to serve.

Scoring
The first player or pair to reach 15 points (11 points for women's singles) wins the game. If the score reaches 14-all (10-all for women's singles) the receiving side can choose to "set" and hence extend the game by 3 points, i.e. the first to reach 17 (or 13) points wins. If the non-serving side chooses not to set, the game is decided by a single point, i.e. the first to reach 15 (or 11) points wins. A badminton match can be made up of any odd number of games (usually 3). The winner of the match is the first to win more than half the number of games (e.g. the first to win 3 games in a 5 game match).

The Let
The let has to follow in direction of the diagonal opposite part of the service court. If it's an even score (0, 2, 4, 6, ...points), the let will follow from the right service court. If it's an uneven score, the let will follow from the left service court.

The Faults
badminton setIf the server makes a fault the opposing player gets the right to serve, but the team doesn't get one point. As fault rates, if the shuttle hits the ground outside of the court, hangs in the net or touches the ceiling/side walls, a person or the dress of a player. A service court error has been made when a player has served out of turn, has served from the wrong service court, has touched the net or has obstructed an opposing player.