On 27th May 2010 at the Annual General Meeting of the Badminton World Federation they abandoned the old scoring system. This means the Rally Point System introduced in 2006 is the only rules for playing the game now.

The new system is known as rally point scoring and this means that the winner of each rally scores a point. In other words, you do not have to be serving to add to your score, but a player/pair retains the serve until their opponents win a point (namely, the opposition scores a point against the serve and thus wins the right to serve).

A game is won by the first player/pair to reach 21 points. If the score reaches 20-20 then a player/pair needs two clear points to win a game. However at 29-29 the first player/pair to reach 30 wins the game (30-29).

For singles the server stands in the box dependant on their score (right hand side if 0 or even, and left hand side if odd). Their opponent stands diagonally opposite.

For doubles, the same principle applies. Their partners take up the other boxes. If the serving side wins the rally, they swap boxes and their opponents stay where they are. If the serving side loses the rally, you all stay where you are.

If the wrong player serves or receives, or a player serves or receives from the wrong court, no correction should be made and the score stands. However, on the next opportunity you should revert to the positions you should be in depending on your score.

A

B

The order of service is ACBD. For example:

If AB win the toss, A serves first, and the score is 0-0.

If AB lose the first rally, C serves next as the score is 1-0.

If AB win the next rally, B serves next as the score is 1-1.

If AB lose the next rally, D serves next as the score is 2-1.

If AB win the next rally, A serves next as the score is 2-2, etc.

Badminton Net

C

D

Other significant changes in the service laws:

• the waist is now defined as an imaginary line round the body level with the lowest part of the server’s bottom rib
• on completion of the backward movement of the server’s racket head, any delay in the start of the service shall be regarded as a fault for undue delay
• the shaft of the server’s racket shall be pointing in a downward direction.