The quick version
Serve diagonally from right at an even team score, left at an odd score. Every rally earns a point. Reach 21 with a two-point lead, except that the next point at 29–29 wins. The doubles service box is wide and short; the rally court is wide and long.
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Identify the lines and finish
Make two pairs and use the outer sidelines. Serve beyond the short service line into the diagonal half, no deeper than the doubles long service line inside the baseline. After the return, use the full baseline. Lines are in.
Toss for serve/receive or an end; the other pair gets the remaining choice. Select first server and receiver, both on their right at 0–0. Play one game to 21, win by two, capped at 30. A full match needs two game wins.
Play a rally and move the serve
Deliver one legal serve
Server and receiver stand inside diagonally opposite boxes without touching the lines. Keep part of both feet stationary on the floor until delivery. Release without adding spin, strike the shuttle's base with a continuous forward racket motion, and have the whole shuttle below 1.15 metres at contact. Send it upward over the net into the receiver's box. A missed serving attempt is a fault, not a retry.
Return without a bounce
The designated receiver takes the serve. After that, either partner may hit the next incoming shuttle from anywhere on their side. Each side gets one hit to send it back; you do not pass it between partners. The shuttle may brush the net and continue over. A serve brushing the net is also legal if it otherwise meets the service rules.
Award the rally
Your opponents earn a point if your shuttle lands out, lands on your side, fails to cross, touches you, or is hit twice rather than in one legal stroke. Touching the net with body or racket during play is a fault. Make initial contact on your own side; a follow-through may cross after legal contact if it does not obstruct.
Serving team wins
Add one, exchange your left/right service positions, and let the same player serve from the other box. The receivers keep their service positions. Call the serving team's score first.
Receiving team wins
Add one to their score and give them serve immediately. Neither pair exchanges service positions. The new serving pair's player currently in the right box serves at an even score; its player in the left serves at an odd score. The diagonally opposite opponent receives. Your positions are service assignments, not restrictions on movement during rallies.
Close the game
At 20–20, continue until a two-point lead; at 29–29, the next rally wins 30–29. Change ends for another game, reset to zero and let the winning pair serve first, choosing either partner. In a full best-of-three match, change ends again when a pair first reaches 11 in game three.
Prevent serving confusion
Rehearse a serving win and a receiving win. Write scores if needed. Correct a service-position error when found, retaining scores. Replace damaged shuttles between rallies.
Leave room between partners' swings. Stop and replay for outside interference.
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Ideas & Twists
Choose a variation together before you start.
Doubles badminton · See main rules
Suggested house variationSwitch partners to five
Play AB–CD, AC–BD and AD–BC, resetting after each game. Reduce each game's target to five, with the fifth point winning even at 4–4; retain the doubles serving positions and rally scoring. Every player gets one personal win for each winning pair. After three games, highest win total wins, with joint winners on a tie. This is a short social format, not official match scoring.
Doubles badminton · See main rules
Suggested practice variationClear-rally challenge
Use the ordinary diagonal serve, then try cooperatively to make eight legal cross-net shots counting the serve as one. After the return, aim high and deep to give the next player time; either partner may hit, and the full doubles rally court applies. A fault resets the count and the other pair serves a new attempt. Take six attempts. Eight finishes the challenge early; otherwise the longest legal rally is the group's result.
About this guide
Uses current BWF 2025 laws, read through Badminton Alberta because BWF downloads were inaccessible. The index separates this 21-point system from the edition starting January 4, 2027. Short games and cooperative rallies are house suggestions.
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