Badminton Court Size: Dimensions, Lines And Net Height
Knowing the badminton court size helps you understand when a shuttle is in or out, where you stand to serve, and why singles and doubles feel so different. This guide sets out the official measurements, explains what each line is for, and shows how our coaches use the court in lessons across Singapore.
A badminton court is 13.4 metres long and 6.1 metres wide for doubles, and 5.18 metres wide for singles. The short service line sits 1.98 metres from the net, and the doubles long service line sits 0.76 metres inside the back boundary. Every line is 40 mm wide and counts as part of the court, and the net top is 1.524 metres high at the centre.
You play singles and doubles on the same court. The full rectangle measures 13.4 metres long by 6.1 metres wide, and singles uses a narrower width of 5.18 metres, as the Western Australian government’s sports dimensions guide sets out from the world body’s laws.
The length stays the same in both games. What changes is the width in play, so the strip down each side, about 0.46 metres wide, is in when you play doubles and out when you play singles.
Each line on the court is 40 mm wide, and the BWF Laws of Badminton state that every line forms part of the area it marks out. Lines are usually white or yellow, so you can pick them out easily against the floor of the hall.
Two side lines run down each edge, the inner pair for singles and the outer pair for doubles. The back boundary line closes each end, and a centre line splits the area behind the short service line into your left and right service courts.
Your serve has to land beyond the short service line, which sits 1.98 metres from the net, and the badminton court drawing on Dimensions.com shows the doubles long service line 0.76 metres in from the back boundary. Each serve goes diagonally, into the service court opposite you.
So the badminton court size for serving is different in each game. In singles, your serve can land anywhere from the short service line to the back boundary in a long, narrow box. In doubles, the box is wider but shorter, because the serve must land in front of the doubles long service line.
The top of the net is 1.524 metres high at the centre of the court and 1.55 metres over the doubles side lines, and the posts stand 1.55 metres tall. The posts sit on the doubles side lines whether you play singles or doubles.
That small dip in the middle matters in your rallies. A shot over the centre of the net clears a lower tape than one played down the side line, which is one reason coaches teach straight net shots and drives with care.
In imperial units, the badminton court size works out at about 44 feet long and 20 feet wide, with the singles court about 17 feet wide. The short service line is 6.5 feet from the net, and the doubles long service line is 2.5 feet inside the back boundary.
By area, the full doubles court covers about 81.7 square metres. The singles court, at 13.4 metres by 5.18 metres, covers about 69.4 square metres, so you have a little less floor to cover on your own than a doubles pair shares.
Singles asks you to cover a long, narrow court on your own, so your rallies are built on clears to the back line and drops to the front. Doubles adds the side strips, which brings wider angles and faster exchanges, with you and your partner sharing the front and back.
The short doubles service box also changes how you serve. Most doubles players serve low and short, because a high serve has only a little room before the doubles long service line.
Our coaches use the court markings as training targets. As a beginner, you learn to serve past the short service line, then aim clears at the back boundary and drops in front of the short service line. Footwork drills start from the centre of the court, so each lunge and recovery covers a measured distance.
Our article on straight lift vs cross court lift shows how these lines guide your choice of shot, and our list of what to bring for your first badminton class helps you arrive ready to play.
We currently run our lessons on public courts, such as ActiveSG sport halls and community club halls, rather than a hall of our own, which keeps your sessions close to home. Lessons for kids and adults run on weekdays and weekends, starting from as early as 8am every day, with 2 hours as the standard session. Our guide to badminton court booking explains how public courts are booked.
Our kids badminton lessons, private badminton lessons and group badminton lessons all use the full court, so the lines you read about here become familiar to you quickly.
WhatsApp us with your age or your child’s age, playing level, preferred time and preferred location. We will reply with a class you can join or a court we can book for your lessons.
Dimensions.com suggests a clearance of about 0.61 metres around the whole court, so one court with that margin needs a floor area of roughly 14.6 by 7.3 metres in total, before seating or walkways.
The diagonal of the full court is 14.723 metres, according to the note under the court diagram in the BWF laws, a measurement that marking teams use to check the corners are square.
Yes. A singles-only court is allowed, and on it the back boundary lines also act as the long service lines, while the posts or marker strips sit on the singles side lines instead.
The net is 760 mm deep and at least 6.1 metres wide, with a mesh of 15 to 20 mm and a 75 mm white tape across the top, so it stays easy to see during fast rallies.
