A fault in badminton is basically when you break a rule and lose the rally which means your opponent gets a point. Faults can happen when you’re serving, receiving or playing the game. Some examples are serving incorrectly, hitting the shuttle out of bounds, touching the net with your racket or body or hitting the shuttle two times in a row. Usually these mistakes happen because of stuff like standing wrong, holding your racket incorrectly or not being in the right spot on the court.
Types of Faults in Badminton
Service Faults
A service fault in badminton occurs when you don’t serve the shuttle the right way.
Key rules:
- You have to hit the shuttle below 1.15 meters high.
- Your racket head needs to stay below your hand when you swing.
- Your serving motion should be smooth and continuous without any stops.
- The racket must make contact with the base of the shuttle first.
- After you hit it, the shuttle needs to land in the right diagonal section of the court.
- You can’t take too long before you serve the shuttle.
Rally Faults
A rally in badminton fault takes place when someone messes up hitting the shuttle during play.
Key rules:
- If the shuttle lands out of bounds or hits the walls or ceiling, that’s a fault.
- When the shuttle doesn’t make it over the net or goes underneath it, that counts as a fault too.
- If the shuttle touches a player’s body, their clothes or anything else that’s not supposed to be hit, it’s a fault.
- If the shuttle hits a racket but doesn’t go forward, that’s also considered a fault.
Foot Faults
A foot fault in badminton occurs when a player fails to position their feet properly while serving.
Key rules:
- Both the server and receiver have to keep their feet still and planted on the court until the shuttle gets hit.
- Your feet can’t touch or go over the boundary lines of the service court.
- You’re not allowed to lift or slide your feet before you hit the shuttle (but you can move them after you’ve made contact with it).
Net Faults
Net faults In badminton occur when a player touches the net or goes into the other player’s side of the court.
Key rules:
- You can’t touch the net or anything holding it up with your racket, body or clothes.
- You’re not allowed to cross over the net unless your arm naturally follows through after you hit the shuttlecock on your own side.
- You can’t go under the net if it gets in the way or bothers your opponent.
- You can’t block or stop your opponent from making a legal hit.
Carry Faults
A carry fault in badminton happens when you don’t hit the shuttle cleanly. Instead of a proper strike, you end up holding or scooping it.
Key rules:
- You can’t catch or hold the shuttle on your racket.
- You can’t sling or throw the shuttle when you’re making a stroke.
- You have to hit it with one smooth, clean motion.
Double Hit Faults
A double hit fault in badminton occurs when someone hits the shuttle more than one time in a row.
Key rules:
- You’re not allowed to hit the shuttle twice in a row.
- When playing doubles, your partner can’t hit the shuttle right after you do before it goes over the net.
- It’s totally fine if the shuttle touches both the racket head and the strings during a single stroke.
