Badminton 101

The game of badminton is a popular back yard game for many people, men and women alike. Some people who are serious about the game play in professional matches. The International Badminton Federation is the largest professional badminton organization. It boasts an astonishing membership of one hundred and thirty countries! And, did you know that badminton became an Olympic competition in 1992? So, it's popularity is still soaring!

If you want to find out how to start playing this active sport in your backyard, you can find out the basics of badminton by reading this article.

The first thing you will need is a playing area in your back yard which measures approximately seventeen feet wide for matches played with two people, one on each side, or twenty feet wide for matches which are played with four people, two players on each side. The length of the court is approximately forty-four feet if you have sufficient room. Place the net in the approximate middle of your playing area, then divide by two and measure out the lengths as well as the widths for each side. You will need to distinctively mark each of the three boundary lines on both sides of the playing area or court. Yard paint like what is used on a football or baseball field is excellent, or you can just use white flour when in a pinch. You will also need a badminton net, which, when set up, stands about five feet high. You will also need racquets and shuttlecocks, or birdies, as they are sometimes called. The easiest way to obtain all of this equipment at one time is to visit your local department store and find a badminton set in the Sporting Goods Department.

Now, the object of this active game is for each player to keep the shuttlecock in constant play once it has been served. The player who serves the shuttlecock continues to serve until a fault is made by his or her own team. A fault can be called if the shuttlecock lands outside of the boundary lines, does not pass over the top of the net, is not returned over the net, or is not struck with a racquet before it falls on the ground. If the server's team makes the fault, then the serve immediately switches over to the opposing team. But, the opposing team does not score a point. Only the server or his or her team can score. If the opposing player or team commits the fault, then the server's team gains a point. The first player, if you are playing single matches, or the first two-person team, if you are playing doubles, to reach twenty-one points wins the match.Another rule of the game of badminton is that the shuttlecock is always served from the right side of the playing area, or court, as it is often known as.

Professionally-played badminton entails more complicated rules, but the above-listed rules are enough for a back yard match. The equipment changes somewhat too, from a backyard match to a professional game. One such difference is that the shuttlecock in a store-bought game is usually made from molded plastic. A regulation shuttlecock is made from cork with exactly sixteen real feathers attached to it.