Badminton scoring looks simple until the score reaches 20-20, or until somebody serves from the wrong side and nobody is sure whether it mattered. Here is the whole system. It takes four minutes to learn and then never troubles you again.
Every rally is a point
Badminton uses rally scoring: whoever wins the rally gets the point, whether they served or not. This replaced service-only scoring in 2006, which is why matches now finish in a predictable time.
Games go to 21, and you must win by two. At 29-29 the next point wins, so 30 is the hard ceiling. A match is best of three.
The service court rule
This decides more points at club level than any shot does.
- Serve from the right court when your score is even, including zero
- Serve from the left court when your score is odd
In doubles the same player keeps serving while their side keeps winning points, alternating sides each time. When they lose a rally the serve passes over — and partners do not swap positions when they win a point from the opposition. You stand where you stood.
The commonest club error is swapping out of habit. If you are unsure, check your own score: even means right, odd means left. That one check settles almost every dispute.
Where the serve must land
Singles and doubles use different service courts, which surprises people.
- Singles — long and narrow. The side tramlines are out; the back line is in
- Doubles — short and wide. The side tramlines are in; the inner back line is the service limit, and the outer back line applies for the rest of the rally
So a serve landing in the last half-metre of a doubles court is out, even though the same ball is good later in that rally. This catches out nearly everyone who moves between formats.
The serve itself
The shuttle must be struck below 1.15 metres from the floor, with the whole racquet head clearly below your hand, and both feet in contact with the ground until you strike.
The fixed height replaced the old "below the waist" wording for an obvious reason: waists vary, and a number does not.
Changing ends
Sides change after each game, and again in the deciding game when the leading score reaches 11. Even indoors, drift across a hall is real, and one end is usually slightly better than the other.
What actually decides club matches
Not the scoring. Two things.
Serve quality. A low serve that just clears the net gives your opponent nothing. A serve that floats hands them a free attack. More club points are lost on poor serves than won on good smashes.
The shot after the smash. Most players can hit a smash. Far fewer can do anything with the reply. If you want to improve quickly, practise the defensive lift — it is the least glamorous shot in the game and the one that wins rallies.
Badminton at KGB runs seven days a week, and coaching groups are set by skill rather than age, so you are never the odd one out.