The badminton court is rectangular in shape and is divided into two equal halves where each player attempts to score a point by striking the shuttlecock with a racket to pass over the net and land it on the opponent’s court area or by forcing the opponent to return the shuttlecock in the outside area of the court. It is typically played on hardwood floors or synthetic rubber mats made specifically for badminton. Both singles and doubles matches are played on the same court with specific markings on the court itself. 

Regulation lengths are as follows:

• The length of the court is 13.4 metres and the net is placed at the centre which divides the court into two equal halves
• The width of the court varies as per the type of game to be played i.e. singles or doubles. For singles game the width is 5.2 metres while for the doubles game the width is 6.1 metres. 
• The distance of the short service line to the net is 1.98 metres and the distance between the centreline and the baseline is 3.88 metres. 
• The line markings (white or yellow generally) on the badminton court are 40 mm wide and all the lines form the area of the court.
• The net post is 1.55 metres in height from the surface of the court and is placed on the doubles sidelines. The net is 760 mm in depth and 6.1 metres in width with the top of the net from the surface of the court is 1.524 metres at midpoint of the court.  

The various lines on the badminton court are defined as follows: 

• Base line: It is the back line that runs parallel to both ends of the net and the length of this line is equal to the width of the court.
• Centre line: It is the line that runs perpendicular to the net and down the middle of each side which separates the two service boxes. 
• Service box: It is defined as the area formed by the centre line, base line and singles side line for a singles game. While for a doubles game, it is an area formed by centre line, doubles side line and doubles long service line. 
• Short service line: It is the line that covers the width of the court and is the closest line that runs parallel to the net.
• Singles sideline: It is the line that runs along the inside of the doubles sideline and parallel to it.
• Doubles sideline: It is the line along with the base line that forms the outer boundary lines for the court.
• Doubles long service line: It is the back service line for doubles game and spans across the width of the court.

Shuttle: The shuttle is made from natural or synthetic materials but the overall specifications remains the same which are as follows: 

• It has 16 feathers fixed in the base with each feather’s uniform length between 62 mm to 70 mm (tip to the top of the base). The feathers are fastened by a thread and the feathers lie on a circle with diameter from 58 mm to 68 mm.
• The cork base is covered by a thin layer of leather and the base is between 25 mm to 28 mm in diameter which is rounded at the bottom.
• The shuttle weight is between 4.74 to 5.70 grams

Racket: The racket is divided into four parts, namely, head (stringed area), throat, shaft and handle. The major specifications are as follows: 

• The overall frame is 680 mm in length and 230 mm in width
• The stringed area should not exceed 280 mm in overall length and 220 mm in overall width. The stringed area should be flat and should consist of a pattern of cross strings either alternatively interlaced or bonded where they cross each other.

Net: The net is made of fine cord of dark colour and the specifications are as follows:

• The mesh thickness is even and is between 15 mm to 20 mm.
• The top of the net is edged with a 75 mm white tape (rests upon the cord) which is doubled over the cord running through the tape

A singles match comprises of two players while a doubles match comprises of four players without any substitution.

Before the start of the play, a toss is conducted and the side winning the toss has the right to choose between serving first or to start the play from the desired end of the court.

A match consists of the best of 3 games of 21 points each. The side winning a rally gains a point each time the serve is made. At 20 all, the side that takes 2 point lead wins the game & at 29 all, the side that scores 30th point wins the game. The side that wins the game serves first in the next game.

A two minute interval is allowed between each game. Apart from that, a 60 second interval is allowed when the leading player score reaches 11 points.

Ends are changed after every game. In case the match reaches third game then the players change ends when the leading player score reaches 11 points.

The service shall be deemed to be correct under the following circumstances,

• The server & the receiver shall stand within diagonally opposite service courts without touching the boundary lines of the service courts
• Some part of both feet of the server & receiver shall remain in contact with the surface of the court in a stationary position from the start of the service until the service is delivered.
• The whole shuttle shall be below the server’s waist at the instant of being hit by the server. Also, the server’s racket shall initially hit the base of the shuttle.
• The server’s racket shall point downwards at the instant of hitting the shuttle and the flight of the shuttle shall be upwards from the server’s racket to pass over the net.
• In doubles game, during the delivery of service the partners may take up any positions within their respective courts which do not unsight the opposing server/receiver.

Singles
The player shall serve/receive from the respective right service courts at the start of the game or if he/she has scored even number of points. Similarly, the player shall serve/receive from the respective left service courts when the server has scored odd number of points. 

If the server wins the rally then he/she serves again from the alternate service court for the next point. In case the receiver wins the rally, he/she scores a point & becomes the server for the next point.

Doubles
The player shall serve from the right service court at the start of the game or if he/she has scored even number of points. Similarly, the player shall serve from the left service court when the server has scored odd number of points. 

The player of the receiving side who served last shall stay in the same service court from where he/she served last and the reverse pattern shall apply to the receiver’s partner. The player of the receiving side standing in the diagonally opposite service court to the server shall be the receiver. The players shall not change their respective courts until they win a point when their side is serving. 

If the serving side wins the rally the server serves again from the alternate service court for the next point. In case the receiving side wins the rally, they score a point & become the server for the next point.

Either player of the winning side may serve first in the next game, and either player of the losing side may receive first in the next game.

Let shall be called by the umpire or any of the players to halt the play under the following circumstances,

• The server serves before the receiver is ready
• After the serve is returned, the shuttle is caught on the net and remains suspended on its top or after passing over the net it is caught in the net
• The shuttle disintegrates and the base completely separates from rest of the shuttle during play
• The play is disrupted or the player is distracted by outside movements as per the opinion of the umpire
• The line judge is unsighted and is unable to make a decision

  
When a let occurs, the play since the last serve shall not count and the player who served last shall serve again.

There are five common faults that a player can commit in badminton. The penalty of a foul is that the player looses the rally and the opponent is awarded a point. The faults/fouls are explained as follows:

• Contact Fault: During a rally, the contact foul occurs when player touches the net or any of his/her body part touches the shuttle. 
• Over the Net Fault: This fault occurs when the player takes the shuttle while it is still in the opponent’s side. But in case, the racket goes over the net while follow through then it is not counted as a fault. 
• Service Fault: This fault occurs if the player delivers a service from above his waist (lowest rib bone). Apart from that, the racket should be pointing downward while hitting the shuttle and it must swing upwards to avoid service fault.   
• Receiver Fault: This fault occurs if a player moves his/her feet away from the initial position while receiving the serve from the opponent. In other words, a player can move only after the opponent has struck the shuttle while making a serve. 
• Doubles Hit: During the rally in a doubles match, if the shuttle is touched by both the players with their rackets it is counted as a double hit.

Badminton allows the use of technology to aid on-court officiating. Through this system, players have two challenges per match available with them to review the decision being made by the on field umpires. In case the umpire call after the review call is deemed correct then the player looses one challenge and in case the player makes two incorrect challenges then he is not allowed to make any challenge throughout the duration of the match. However, in case the challenge made by the player is correct then he/she retains the challenge and wins a point.

• The referee shall be in overall charge of the tournament off which the match forms a part. 
• The appointed umpire shall be in charge of the match, the court and the immediate surroundings and he/she shall report to the referee. 
• A line judge is appointed to indicate whether a shuttle landed in or out of the assigned lines. 
• The service judge is appointed to call service faults that might occur during the match.