Badminton serve rules
The rules for how a badminton serve must be delivered and where it must land.
Overview
A badminton serve must be hit underarm with the shuttle struck from below a fixed height near waist level, so it cannot be smashed downward. Both the server and receiver stand within their diagonal service courts, and the serve must travel diagonally into the opposite service court.
The correct service court depends on the server's score, alternating between the right and left courts. A serve that lands outside the diagonal service box, or is struck too high, is a fault.
Key points
- The shuttle must be struck underarm from below a fixed height.
- The serve travels diagonally into the opposite service court.
- The service court used depends on the server's score.
- Serving too high or into the wrong court is a fault.
Where it’s used
Sports that use badminton serve rules:
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Scoring systems
Officiating
- UmpireA match official who rules on lines, serves and dismissals in racket, bat-and-ball and net sports such as tennis, cricket and baseball — and, in racket sports, also keeps the running score.
- Line JudgeA boundary-line official who calls whether the ball or player is in or out and flags foot faults, working under the head referee across many sports.
Learning paths
- Learn BadmintonA structured, educational learning path for badminton — from the rules to skills, techniques, tactics and training.
- Learn TennisA structured, educational learning path for tennis — from the rules to skills, techniques, tactics and training.
- Learn PadelA structured, educational learning path for padel — from the rules to skills, techniques, tactics and training.
- Learn FootballA structured, educational learning path for football — from the rules to skills, techniques, tactics and training.
- Learn BasketballA structured, educational learning path for basketball — from the rules to skills, techniques, tactics and training.
Skills
Tactics
- Serve and volleyAn attacking tennis tactic where the server follows their serve to the net to finish the point with a volley.
- Offside trapA defensive football tactic where the back line steps up together to leave an attacker offside.
- Serve-receive formationHow a volleyball team arranges its passers to receive the serve and set up a clean first attack.
- Man-to-man markingA defensive tactic where each defender is assigned a specific opponent to track and contain.
- Court coverage and rotationVolleyball positioning where players rotate through positions and cover the court as one coordinated unit.
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How this page is maintained
- Content type
- Rule
- Provenance
- Tier A — evergreen educational
- Verified external sources
- 0
- Content updated
- 2026-07-09
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