Badminton being an internationally standardized sport, every court built for the game, should confirm with the dimensions set by the Badminton World Federation.
Diagonal Length
The diagonal length of every badminton court has to be 14.723 m.
Badminton is a game that demands strength, agility, and precision. It is one of my personal favorites. To build a court for this game, one needs knowledge of the standard dimensions. The right dimensions ensure the right playing space. This article is aimed at discussing these court measurements, decided upon by the international body that regulates affairs, related to badminton.
The game has its origins in colonial India and has a special connection with the city of Pune, in India, where it was first played. A badminton court is designed for singles and doubles plays. It is sectioned in a fashion, that’s similar to a lawn tennis court, but the measurements are different, along with the rules.
It is necessary that the dimensions of a badminton court are standardized, as it is a game played at the international level. That’s why, if you are building a new court, it’s necessary that you have the right court size. It ensures that the court can be used for tournaments and gives it wider recognition. Precision matters when it comes to badminton and the same goes for the court dimensions. The rules are set by the Badminton World Federation.
Standard Badminton Court Dimensions
To start with, let us understand the basic structure of a badminton court. Its shape is rectangular, and bisecting the court exactly at the center, is a hoisted net, set on parallel poles. This net divides the court into a playing space for opposite players.
The court is marked with lines that limit the playing space. There are separate bordering lines for singles and doubles play. There is a central line that runs in both halves of the court, subdividing it, into four parts.
The width of the court must be 20 feet or roughly 6.1 meters, according to international rules. The length is limited to 44 feet or roughly 13.4 meters. Each one of the white or yellow lines, that mark the court boundaries, should be precisely 40 mm in width. Therefore, the total play area of the court is 880 square feet Or 81.74 square meters.
In singles competitions, the court dimensions are a bit altered. The width of the court for singles is lesser and is limited to 17 feet or 5.18 meters, by an inner boundary line, while the length remains the same. Thus, in singles, the players can exploit the full length of the court, but not the entire width. In short, the court for singles is narrow, but long.
The short service line is placed parallel to the net, at a distance of 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 meters) from the net, in both halves. Then there is a service center line which divides the court into two, width wise, and starts from the short service line. This center line is placed in such a way, that it divides each half court on both sides of the net, into exact halves.
In doubles play, there is a long service line at the end of both the court halves, away from the net. This long service line for doubles is marked at 2 feet 6 inch (0.76 meters) from the back boundary. This creates two types of lobbies, which are the back lobbies and the side lobbies. The side lobbies are only used in a doubles game. Also, there should be at least 5 ft of run-off area on each side of the court.
Net Measurements
As illustrated in the diagram presented above, the net poles should be at a height of 5 feet 1 inch (1.55 meters) at the edges (poles) but it should be at a height of 5 feet (1.524 meters), at the net center. The mesh size of the net should at least be 15 mm or 20 mm at the most. The width of the net must be at least 6.1 meters. That concludes our short overview of the measurements.