The same court has different boundaries for singles, doubles, and service.

The BWF international court law used on this page

This page applies the Badminton World Federation Statutes, Section 4.1, Laws of Badminton, in force 26 April 2025, Version 5.0 (2). Law 1 and Diagram A control the standard court. Laws 9, 13, 14, 15 and 17 control service-court position, landings, lets and line-call decisions.

That is the international baseline for BWF badminton. A national association, school, local league or recreational organiser may adopt modified play, and BWF Para badminton uses the modified areas in Diagrams D–F. Law 1 does not itself specify every venue matter—such as free space around the court, ceiling clearance, lighting or flooring—so those requirements must be checked in the regulations for the appointed competition or facility.

Choose the active boundary before making the call

1. Identify whether the match is singles, doubles, or a Para badminton class using a modified court.
2. Decide whether the disputed landing is the service or part of the rally after the service has been returned.
3. Select the active side line and rear line for that format and phase of play.
4. Check the shuttle's landing point against that boundary: touching the active line is in; landing wholly beyond it is out.
5. For a service-position dispute, judge the server's and receiver's feet separately. They must stand inside the diagonal service courts without touching those boundary lines.

The BWF Diagram A measurements

• Full length: 13.4 m, divided by the net into two 6.7 m halves.
• Doubles width: 6.1 m, using the outer side lines.
• Singles width: 5.18 m, using the inner side lines.
• Short service line: 1.98 m from the net on each side.
• Doubles long service line: 0.76 m inside each back boundary.
• Line width: 40 mm, with every line included in the area it marks.

The familiar imperial equivalents are 44 ft long, 20 ft wide for doubles, and 17 ft wide for singles. BWF Diagram A gives the controlling metric layout. Anyone setting out or certifying a court should use the complete official diagram, including its line placement, rather than reconstructing the court from these rounded headline figures alone.

The length stays the same in singles and doubles

The back boundary lines are 13.4 m apart, and the net divides that length at the midpoint. Singles does not use a shorter court during ordinary rallies: it uses the full length but a narrower width.

BWF Diagram A gives the full-court diagonal as 14.723 m. That measurement is useful when setting out a court because matching diagonals help confirm that the rectangle is square, but it does not create another playing boundary.

Singles is long and narrow; doubles is long and wide

The outer side lines make the doubles court 6.1 m wide. The inner side lines make the singles court 5.18 m wide, leaving a 0.46 m strip between the singles and doubles line on each side.

Those strips are often called doubles alleys. A shuttle landing there is out in singles but in during a doubles rally. The painted outer line remains visible in singles, but it is not the active singles boundary.

A serve must reach the front of the diagonal service court

The short service line runs parallel to the net, 1.98 m from it on each side. A serve that lands between the net and the receiver's short service line is out because it has not reached the service court.

The line itself belongs to the service court. An otherwise legal serve whose first landing touches the receiver's short service line has reached the required area and is in.

Singles and doubles use different back limits for service

In singles, the back boundary line is also the long service line. A singles serve may therefore land on or inside the full back boundary.

In doubles, the active long service line sits 0.76 m inside the back boundary. A doubles serve landing beyond that inner line is out even if it lands before the full back boundary. Law 11.2 then says “after the service is returned” the players may hit from any position on their side; from that point the full doubles back boundary controls later rally shots. The 0.76 m rear strip is therefore excluded only from the doubles receiving service court, not from the doubles rally court.

The centre line creates right and left service courts

From each short service line to the relevant rear service boundary, the centre line divides the serving area into right and left service courts. The server uses the right court when the serving side's score is zero or even and the left court when that score is odd.

The service travels diagonally into the corresponding receiver's court. After the service is returned, the centre and service lines no longer restrict where players may stand or where the shuttle may land; the active singles or doubles outer boundaries control the rally.

The entire painted line belongs to its area

BWF Law 1 requires court lines 40 mm wide. They must be easily distinguishable and should preferably be white or yellow. In a multi-sport hall, colour helps identify the badminton layout, but the competition must still make clear which markings are in use.

Because the whole line forms part of the area it defines, the outer edge of the active painted line is the practical limit for a landing decision. There is no neutral strip within the line: contact with any part of it is contact with the defined area.

The active line decides who wins the rally

The boundary is judged when the shuttle touches the court surface; Law 15 then says the shuttle is no longer in play. Under BWF Law 13.3.1, a rally shot that lands outside the active court—not on or within its boundary lines—is a fault by the striking side. Under Law 7.3, the opponent wins that rally and adds one point.

For an unreturned service, Law 9.1 uses the narrower test of the receiver's correct diagonal service court. A serve that would land outside that service court is not a correct service, so the serving side is faulted and the receiving side wins the rally and point. If the shuttle touches an active service-court boundary, the landing satisfies the boundary test; the service can still be faulted for some separate breach of Law 9.

“The line is in” does not let a player stand on it to serve

For a shuttle landing, BWF Laws 9.1 and 13.3.1 treat the relevant boundary line as part of the court. A serve or rally shot touching that active line is in.

Player position during service uses a different test. Law 9.1.3 requires the server and receiver to stand within diagonally opposite service courts without touching their boundary lines. A foot on the centre line, short service line, side line, or active rear service line is therefore a service fault even though a shuttle landing on the same active line would be in.

The posts stay on the doubles side lines for every match

The posts are placed on the doubles side lines whether singles or doubles is being played. They must be 1.55 m high and remain vertical when the net is strained. The net must be 760 mm deep and at least 6.1 m wide.

The top of the net is 1.55 m above the court over the doubles side lines and 1.524 m at the centre. Moving the posts inward to the singles side lines would not match BWF Law 1, even though singles uses the narrower floor boundaries.

Worked boundary cases under BWF Version 5.0 (2)

• Side alley in singles: Blue's rally shot lands between the inner singles side line and outer doubles side line. Ruling: out; Red wins the rally and point. Decisive fact: the inner side line is the active singles boundary.
• The same side alley in doubles: Blue's rally shot lands in the same physical place. Ruling: in, and play ends in Blue's favour if Red does not return it. Decisive fact: doubles uses the outer side line.
• Deep doubles serve: the serve clears the inner doubles long service line and lands in the 0.76 m strip before the back boundary. Ruling: service fault; the receiving side wins the rally and point. Decisive fact: the inner long service line is the rear boundary of a doubles service court.
• Deep shot after the return: the receiver returns legally, and the next shot lands in that same rear strip. Ruling: in. Decisive fact: after the service is returned, the full back boundary is active in doubles.
• Shuttle on the line, server on the line: an otherwise legal serve lands on the receiver's active centre line, but the server's foot was touching the boundary of the serving court during delivery. Ruling: service fault. Decisive fact: the shuttle's landing is in under Laws 1 and 9.1, but the player's line contact separately breaches Law 9.1.3.

Line judges decide assigned landing lines

Under BWF Law 17, a line judge indicates whether a shuttle landed in or out on the assigned line. The decision is a finding of fact. The umpire may overrule only when satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the line judge clearly made the wrong call.

If an Instant Review System is operating, Law 17.5.2 says the system decides a line-call challenge. If it returns an inconsistent or obviously incorrect decision, the Referee instructs the umpire how to proceed. If a line judge is unsighted and neither the umpire nor the review system can decide, Law 14.2.6 provides a let; under Law 14.3, the rally does not count and the last server serves again. Review availability changes the decision procedure, not which boundary is active or whether the line counts as in.

Para badminton uses class- and event-specific court areas

The dimensions above describe the standard court in BWF Diagram A. Law 1.1.1 assigns Wheelchair Badminton to Diagram D for singles and Diagram E for doubles. Law 1.1.2 and Diagram F assign the half-court singles layout to standing class SL3. Diagram F states that all other standing classes use the standard Diagram A court for singles and doubles.

These diagrams define both the playable court and the service area; it is unsafe to apply only the ordinary singles/doubles summary to a Para badminton match. Youth, recreational and local formats may also use a reduced area, but that is an organiser's variation rather than the BWF Diagram A baseline. Check the event's prospectus and appointed regulations before treating any local marking as official.

Misunderstandings to avoid

• “Singles uses a shorter court” is wrong for standard play. Singles is narrower, but its rally court runs to the full back boundary.
• “Doubles uses every outer line on the serve” is wrong. The wider side lines apply, but the inner doubles long service line is the rear limit.
• “The back doubles service line applies all rally” is wrong. After a legal return, doubles uses the full back boundary.
• “A line touch is out” reverses the BWF rule. The relevant painted line belongs to the area it defines.
• “Players may stand on a service line because the line is in” confuses a shuttle-landing rule with the separate service-position restriction.

Governing-body source and effective version

• Badminton World Federation Statutes, Section 4.1 — Laws of Badminton, in force 26 April 2025, Version 5.0 (2): Law 1 and Diagrams A and D–F; Laws 7.3, 9.1, 11.2, 13.1 and 13.3.1, 14.2.6 and 14.3, 15 and 17.4–17.6

Checked on 12 August 2026 against the BWF-hosted law book carrying the effective date 26 April 2025 and Version 5.0 (2), the current court-law edition located in the BWF Statutes. The standard measurements here come from Diagram A. Diagrams D–F govern the stated Para badminton layouts; competition and facility regulations may add venue requirements without changing which Diagram A line is active in ordinary BWF singles or doubles.