Open meeting – drop-in – everyone welcome
We meet to play Badminton on the fourth-Wednesday of each month from 20.00 to 21.00 in the Hall at Oakwood Church – except when we take breaks at Easter and in August school holidays.
Badminton is easy to learn, easy to play. The sport is enjoyed by people of all ages and abilities.
Everyone is welcome and it’s never too late to learn. Beginners are always made very welcome. No skills are needed and all equipment is provided. Just wear comfortable clothes and indoor trainers with non-marking soles.
We request a donation of £2.00 each meeting (£1 for Juniors) towards room, lighting and heating costs.
Meeting dates are listed in the Calendar.
You don’t have to come every month. Just drop-in on a fourth-Wednesday evening.
We also play Pickleball on the second-Wednesday evening of each month.
We could arrange meetings to play Table Tennis if there are sufficient players interested.
If you would like to know more, please contact me.
| Contact | Pete Oldfield |
| Call | 07719 310 207 |
| pplb.oldfield@ntlworld.com |
Badminton Rules and Introductory Video
As outlined by the Badminton World Federation (BWF), here is a simplified rundown of the Rules of badminton:
- Badminton can be played either as singles or doubles. In singles, there are two players competing against each other. In doubles, two pairs of players form teams and compete against each other, resulting in a game of four players.
Badminton scoring system
- All singles and doubles matches are the best-of-three games. The first side to 21 points wins a game.
- A point is scored on every serve and awarded to whichever side wins the rally. The winning side gets the next serve.
- If the score is 20-20, a side must win by two clear points to win the game. If it reaches 29-29, the first to get their 30th point wins.
Change of ends in badminton
- In badminton, players are required to change ends under specific conditions. They should change ends at the conclusion of the first game. If a third game is required, they should also change ends at the end of the second game. In the third game, the change of ends occurs when one side reaches a score of 11 points.
Winning a point in badminton
- A point is won if the shuttlecock hits the ground in the opponent’s half of the court, including the lines.
- A point can therefore be conceded if a shot goes outside the court boundaries, if the shuttlecock hits the net or passes through/under it, or if a player strikes the shuttlecock twice with their racket.
- Players must wait for the shuttlecock to cross the net before playing a shot, and while you can follow through over it, touching the net with your body or racket results in a point being conceded.
How to serve in badminton
- The shuttlecock must be hit below waist height, with players serving diagonally into their opponent’s service box. Both players must remain stationary until the serve is made.
- As per badminton singles rules, the server starts from the right service court, and will serve from that side every time they have an even amount of points. A player serves from the left every time they have an odd amount of points.
- Each player will retain serve for as long as they keep winning points.
- In badminton doubles, the server will start on the right-hand side and keep serving, while alternating sides with their team-mate, so long as they keep winning points.
- If the receiving side takes the point, they assume serve. Going forward, the player who did not initially serve for each team will only assume the service once their side has won a point as the receiving side.
What is a badminton court’s dimensions?
- In singles, a badminton court is 13.41m (44ft) long and 5.18m (17ft) wide. The width extends to 6.1m (20ft) in doubles.
- The net is 1.55m (5ft 1in) high at the ends and 1.52m high (5ft) where it dips in the middle.
- A serve must pass the short service line, which is 1.98m (6.5ft) from the net.
- Beyond the short service line, there is a line which runs down the middle to split the left and right service courts. There is also a doubles service line 0.76m (2.5ft) in from the baseline.
- That means each service court (four in total) is 3.96m (13ft) long and 2.59m (8.5ft) wide.