Tools and equipment of badminton

In badminton, players use rackets to hit a shuttlecock back and forth over a net. Badminton equipment must meet certain rules and specifications. You can use natural, feathered shuttles or synthetic, non-feathered shuttles in badminton. Synthetic shuttles should simulate feathers with synthetic materials. Both feathered and synthetic shuttles should have a base that measures about 1 inch in diameter.

The shuttle should weigh about. If you want to know a bit more about badminton mats, you can check our extensive badminton mats guide where we explain, between other things, all the different layers of a badminton mat or why badminton mats are so important in professional matches.

If you are playing recreational badminton, I would still recommend playing indoors because otherwise, the wind becomes an unwelcome guest.

Having said that, there are a lot of people that practice and enjoy playing badminton outdoors so, if you do not have a sports hall nearby or you simply enjoy more playing outside, you can also do so. Once you have the required equipment as explained above, you need two additional things in order to play a badminton match and to keep a bit of the emotion going on.

You need to know who serves first and, most importantly, you need to know how to keep the score. In an official tournament, the umpire will toss a coin as it is done in most sports. Whoever has chosen the winning side can choose either to serve or receive. In more unofficial environments or during training, the shuttle is usually used.

You throw the shuttle up and, when it lands, whichever side the cork of the shuttle is pointing towards, is the side that decides if it wants to serve or not. Alternatively, the shuttle can be placed feathers down onto the net and let it fall from there. As with throwing the shuttle up, when the shuttle lands on the floor, whichever side the cork of the shuttle is pointing towards, is the side that decides if it wants to serve or not.

Alternatively, if your opponent is the last one to hit the shuttle, in order for you to win a point, the shuttle has to land outside the perimeter of your court. As for the score, it is the same for both males and females and for both singles and doubles. It is played to the best of three sets. Each set is played to the best of 21 points, with a point scored every time the point is played. If you win a point, you score a point in your scoreboard.

When you win the point, you have the service on the next point, no matter who had the service in the previous one. This can get a bit confusing in doubles so, if you are curious, you can check our badminton basics post where the serving principles in doubles are clearly explained. If the game reaches , then a player must have two points of difference in the scoreboard , , … in order to win the set.

If the scoreboard reaches , the player to score the point 30th wins the set. Apart from the scoring system, there are a few extra important rules in order to play badminton. If you want to know the full set of rules, you can check our badminton game rules post , where we go into detail and explain with easy to understand language all the current rules for the sport. The badminton court is rectangular and it is divided by a net into two equal rectangles.

The standard setting for a court is to be marked for both singles and doubles matches. The doubles court is wider than the singles one, but both are the same length. The only exception to that statement is that the doubles court has a different back serve line, which is shorter than the singles one. This often causes confusion to new players. The lines marking the court are 40 mm 1. These lines are part of the area which they define, so both in the image above and in the data below the lines are included in the measurements.

This is the same as in other sports such as tennis. In addition to the court itself, it is also important to highlight the rules for the court equipment. The court equipment is made up of the posts and the net. The posts have to be 1. Moreover, when the net is fully stretched in the dimensions on the picture above, the posts have to remain vertical.

In addition to that, the posts must be placed on the double sidelines irrespective of whether singles or doubles is being played. Regarding the net, the important rules are that the top of the net from the surface of the court shall be 1. Change of ends simply means that the teams or individuals need to change sides of the court as it is customary in most sports.

This is to ensure that, if there is a little advantage in one of the sides, that advantage is lost by both sides being able to play there. The change of ends occurs always at the end of the first game. At the end of the second game, if the match goes to a third game, a change of end will also occur. While playing the third game and in order to keep equality, a change of ends will also occur in the middle of the third game, when the first of both sides reaches point number Service is probably the most difficult part of the rules.

Here we highlight the ones I believe are more critical to the game. The full set, as I said before, is available in our badminton game rules post. The most basic point for both types of matches is that you always serve diagonally as happens in other racket sports like tennis.

So, if you are serving from the right side of the court, you will serve to the right side of the court of your opponent, thus diagonally. In order to perform the service correctly, it is mandatory that the shuttle is below waist height when it is being hit in the service movement. In addition to the shuttle being below waist height, another important element is that the racket head and shaft have to be pointing down while serving.

In addition to the service rules, there are a few more rules that are good to keep in mind if you are starting to play badminton. This rule will be obvious to experienced players but might not be so obvious to new players. In a rally, the shuttle must be hit by both teams alternately. What does that mean? It means that your team cannot hit the shuttle twice in a row, as that becomes a fault and the point is therefore lost.

The same obviously stands for singles. As we said in the service section, the service is always performed diagonally and the person staying in the diagonal side from the server is the receiver. If for whatever reason, while playing doubles, the partner of the receiver returns the service instead of the receiver, that will be considered a fault and the point will go to the serving team.

If you are playing and your opponent manages to hit you with the shuttle, it will be considered as your fault and the point will go to him or her. Whenever the shuttle touches any other object or person outside of the court, the fault is from the person that has hit the shuttle and therefore the point goes to the opponent.

Another cause of a fault is whenever a player touches the net or its supports with racket, body or dress. In this case, the fault is called instantly and the point goes to the opponent. After a long set of rules, you might be wondering if it is such a good idea to start playing badminton if you have to learn all these rules. So this section highlights the most important benefits of playing badminton to serve as a counterbalance to the previous and boring section.

If you want to see the full list of benefits with a more elaborated description, check our badminton benefits post. Badminton is a very fast sport, both while playing singles and doubles. The shuttle travels at a lightning speed and you have to react to that in a matter of milliseconds. Top quality badminton rackets weigh between 70 grams and 95 grams.

Today's rackets are composed of a carbon fiber composite. A badminton equipment bag is large enough to hold all important equipment, while also being accessible and easily portable. There is a part to put your racket in, along with shuttlecocks.

The bag has room to hold shoes and athletic clothing, as well. Badminton players will put a towel in their equipment bags too. There are multiple compartments to make organizing the bag simple. Badminton players often will wear a headband when they play. Headbands are worn to keep hair and sweat out of a player's eyes. There are some sweatbands that are better for sweat prevention and others that are better for holding the hair back.

Players wear whatever they find more comfortable and helpful for them. Badminton shirts are essentially athletic shirts. They are dri-fit and fit well so they don't affect a player's swing. Some badminton shirts are collared. Badminton shirts are mainly made out of a mix of microfibers, polyester, and spandex. The spandex makes the shirts tighter and helps them fit well.

The polyester makes the shirts more comfortable, and the microfibers are a part of the dri-fit aspect of the shirts. Badminton shoes are designed to assist the movement in badminton. Anti-slip and wear-resistance rubber makes great material for the soles of badminton shoes. The midfoot part of the shoe requires high quality shock absorption and resilience. The heel has multiple layers of support and cushion.

Yonex also makes high quality badminton shoes, and they have multiple models for the sport. Asics also makes a great badminton shoe.

Badminton shorts are athletic shorts that are also dri-fit and fit well. The shorts usually have a lining or compression on the inside, which is great for competitive badminton.

Shorts are made with a majority of polyester and some spandex, as well. Yonex makes badminton shorts too. A shuttlecock is essential to the game as it is what badminton players hit back and forth across the net. It is a cork with feathers attached to form a cone shape. It is made of plastic. When hitting a shuttlecock, players usually hit the cork part of it, as it weighs the most and is the most springy.

A shuttlecock is also referred to as a birdie. They are usually bought in a bulk package. Badminton players could also wear skirts when they play the sport. Badminton skirts are usually worn by female players.