BADMINTON, a game played with rackets and shuttle cocks, its name being taken from the duke of Beaufort's seat in Gloucestershire, England. The game appears to have been first played in England about 1873, but before that time it was played in India, where it is still popular to some extent. The Badminton Association in England was founded in 1895, and its laws were framed from a code of rules drawn up in 1887 for the Bath Bad minton Club and based on the original Poona (1876) rules. These rules apply to the game as played in America and in practically every other country where Badminton is played. In clubs con trolled by the Badminton Association only the covered court game is recognized. The All-England championships for gentle men's doubles, ladies' doubles, and mixed doubles were instituted in i899, and for gentlemen's singles and ladies' singles in r 9oo ; and the first International Match between England and Ireland was played in 1903. Badminton may be played by daylight or by artificial light, either with two players on each side (the four handed or double game) or with one player on each side (the two handed or single game). The game consists entirely of volleying and is extremely fast, a single at Badminton being admitted to require more staying power than a single at lawn tennis. There is much scope for judgment and skill; e.g., in "dropping" (hitting the shuttle gently just over the net) and in "smashing" (hitting the shuttle with a hard downward stroke). The measurements of the Badminton court are shown on the accompanying plan.
Diagram of Court.—In the two-handed game, the width of the court is reduced to 17ft. and the long service lines are dispensed with, the back boundary lines being used as the long service lines, and the lines dividing the half courts being produced to meet the back boundary lines. The net posts are placed either on the side boundary lines or at any distance not exceeding eft. outside the said lines; thus in the four-handed game, the distance between the posts is from 20 to 24f t., and in the two-handed game, from 17 to 21 ft. N.B.—With the exception of the net line, the dotted lines on the court apply only to the court for the two-handed game.
The Badminton hall should, if possible, be not less than 2 5 f t. in height above the middle of the net. Along the net line is stretched a net 3oin. deep and from 17 to 24f t. long, according to the position of the posts, and edged on the top with white tape Sin. wide. The top of the net should be 5f t. from the ground at the centre and 5f t.
'in. at the posts. The shuttlecock (or shuttle) has from 14 to 16 feathers from 21 to 2qin. long, and weighs from 73 to 85 grains. The racket (which is of no specified size, shape or weight) is strung with strong fine gut and weighs as a rule between 5 and 6oz.
The game is for 15 or, rarely, for 21 aces, except in ladies' singles, when it is for i r aces; and a rubber is the best of three games. Where 21 aces are played (as only occurs in handicap con tests) matches are decided by a single game. The right to choose ends or to serve first in the first game of the rubber is decided by tossing. If the side which wins the toss chooses first service, the other side chooses ends, and vice versa; but the side which wins the toss may call upon the other side to make first choice. The sides change ends at the beginning of the second game, and again at the beginning of the third game, if a third game is necessary. In the third game the sides change ends when the side which is leading reaches eight in a game of 15 aces, and 6 in a game of I1 aces, or, in handicap games, when the score of either side reaches half the number of aces required to win the game. In matches of one game (21 aces) the sides change ends when the side which is leading has scored II aces. The side winning a game serves first in the next game, and, in the four-handed game, either player on the side that has won the last game may take first service in the next game.
The single-handed and double-handed game consists of 15 aces; when the score is "13 all" the side which first reaches 13 has the option of "setting" the game to 5, and when the score is "14 all" the side which first reaches 14 has the option of "setting" the game to 3; i.e., the side which first scores 5 or 3 aces, according as the game has been "set" at "13 all" or "14 all" wins. In ladies' singles, when the score is "9 all" the side first reaching 9 may "set" the game to 5, and when the score is "10 all" the side which first reaches io may "set" the game to 3. In three-handed or in four handed games, the game consists of 21 aces, the first "set" is at "19 all"; second set is at "20 all." There is no "setting" in handi cap games.
In the four-handed game the player who serves first stands in his right-hand half court and serves to the player who is standing in the opposite right-hand half court, the other players meanwhile standing anywhere on their side of the net. As soon as the shuttle is hit by the server's racket, all the players may stand anywhere on their side of the net. If the player served to returns the shuttle —i.e., hits it into any part of his opponents' court before it touches the ground—it has to be returned by one of the "in" (serving) side, and then by one of the "out" (non-serving) side, and so on, until a "fault" is made or the shuttle ceases to be "in play." (The shuttle is "in play" from the time it is struck by the server's racket until it touches the ground, or touches the net without going over, or until a "fault" is made.) If the "in" side makes a "fault," the server loses his "hand" (serve), and the player served to becomes the server; but no score accrues. If the "out" side makes a "fault," the "in" side scores an ace, and the players on the "in" side change half courts, the server then serving from his left half court to the player in the opposite left half court, who has not yet been served to. Only the player served to may take the service, and only the "in" side can score an ace. The first service in each innings is made from the right-hand half court. The side that starts a game has only one "hand" in its first innings ; in every subsequent innings each player on each side has a "hand," the partners serving consecutively. While a side re mains "in," service is made alternately from each half court into the half court diagonally opposite, the change of half courts taking place whenever an ace is scored. If, in play, the shuttle strikes the net but still goes over, the stroke is good; but if this happens in service and the service is otherwise good, it is a "let"; i.e., the stroke does not count, and the server must serve again, even if the shuttle has been struck by the player served to, in which case it is assumed that the shuttle would have fallen into the proper half court. It is a "let," too, if the server, in attempting to serve, misses the shuttle altogether. It is a good stroke, in service or in play, if the shuttle falls on a line, or, in play, if it is followed over the net with the striker's racket, or passes outside either of the net-posts and then drops inside any of the boundary lines of the opposite court. Mutatis mutandis, the above remarks apply to the two-handed game, the main points of difference being that, in the two-handed game, both sides change half courts after each ace is scored and the same player takes consecutive serves, whereas in the double game only the serving side changes half courts at an added ace and a player may not take two consecutive serves in the same game. Furthermore, since 1921, it has been laid down that in the two-handed game the players shall serve from and re ceive service in the right-hand half courts only when the server's score is o, or when he has scored an even number of aces in the game, the service being delivered from and received in the lef t hand half courts when the server has scored an odd number of aces.
It is a "fault" (a) if the service is overhand; i.e., if the shuttle when struck is higher than the server's waist; (b) if, in serving, the shuttle does not fall into the half court diagonally opposite that from which service is made; (c) if the service falls short of the service line or outside the boundary lines; (d) unless both the server's feet are in his own court; a foot on a line is held to be out of court; (e) if either in service or in play the shuttlecock falls outside the bounds of the court ; (f) if the shuttlecock in service or play, passes through or under the net, or hangs in the net, or touches the roof or side walls of the hall or the person or dress of any player, or anything except the bat of the striker, or the top of the net; (g) if the shuttle is struck twice successively by the same player, or if it is struck by a player and his partner; (h) if the shuttle be struck before it crosses to the striker's side of the net ; (i) if the striker touch the net or its supports with his racket or otherwise.
The development of Badminton in Great Britain and Ireland since 1910 is evidenced by the increase in the number of clubs affiliated with its central organization, the Badminton Association. In 1910 only 3o2 clubs were so affiliated, including Scottish clubs, while at the end of 1927 the number totalled nearly 700 in Eng land alone. A further total of over 36o clubs belonged to the Irish, Scottish and Welsh Badminton Unions.
The World War necessarily checked the progress of the game, but since 1918 it has steadily gained in popularity, and with the aid of exhibition matches, which for some seasons have been held all over England, a better knowledge of the possibilities of Bad minton has been acquired. Another symptom of the game's advance is the increase in the number of county associations, the chief object of which is the promotion of inter-county matches and competitions.
The list of tournament fixtures in the season 1928-29 was in striking contrast to that of the season 1910–II. At that time only about a dozen open meetings were held, whereas the fixtures for 1928-29 numbered at least 35. International contests between England and Ireland, England and Scotland, and Scotland and Ireland, are now established features of every season. England retained her unbeaten record in 1936, though in 1924 she only escaped defeat at the hands of Ireland by the narrow margin of one match. In 1935 the All-England Championships resulted as follows:—Men's Singles, R. C. F. Nichols ; Women's Singles, Miss T. Kingsbury; Men's Doubles, L. Nichols and R. C. F. Nichols; Women's Doubles, Mrs. M. Henderson and Miss T. Kingsbury; Mixed Doubles, D. C. Hume and Mrs. H. S. Uber.
For full information as to the Laws of Badminton, the reader is referred to The Badminton Association's Annual Handbook (London) . The Badminton Gazette, established in Nov. 1907, is the official organ of the Association, and appears monthly throughout the season. Also see Spalding's Lawn Sports for official rules and full details of the game.