When you start to learn badminton, you can be overwhelmed by the holy & sacred rules of the game. But as you play more and more of the sport, it’s all mostly common sense
Knowing badminton faults is no different. A fault is a word for a foul in badminton. When a player commits a fault in badminton, they have done something illegal and you (or your team) will be docked a point.
But that’s okay if you’re a newbie. Not okay if you are an Olympic-caliber player. Either way, faults happen all the time in badminton and there are many ways you can commit a fault to let’s look at how often faults are typically committed in a typical badminton game.
How often are Badminton Faults committed?
Faults occur all game long. Faults such as hitting the shuttlecock before it crosses the net line happen a lot because it is very difficult in the heat of the game to gauge at what exact moment the shuttle crosses. The game of Badminton is ridden with different fouls and faults which is what makes it somewhat difficult to learn. And thus, they occur quite often, especially if you just play with beginners for fun.
What does the referee do when a badminton fault is committed?
There are two types of referees in badminton who call faults. The first is the umpire, and the second is the service judge.
The service judge is in charge of all faults committed during serving, and the umpire is in charge of all other faults. When a fault is committed, a service judge or umpire simply calls “fault” and awards a point to the opposing individual/team.
What are examples of a badminton fault?
There are many badminton faults we could highlight, but let’s pick 3 of them that are easy to understand.
1. Double Hit
A player can’t hit shuttle twice on one volley. This means that if it’s your turn to hit the shuttlecock, you contact shuttle once, then right after that hit it again, then a point goes to your opponent. This is a very common foul in racquet sports if you have experience in others. This is the typical example of a double hit in a singles badminton game
More commonly, a double hit can happen in doubles badminton as well. If both you and your partner hit the shuttlecock in the same volley, that is a double hit.
2. Contact
Another common fault is when the shuttlecock makes illegal contact with your body. The shuttlecock cannot hit any part of your body, or else it will be a dead shuttlecock and a point will be awarded to your opponent.
So this means if the shuttlecock goes off your face, but you miraculously shrug off the embarrassment in a split second and make a sick return volley with your racquet, it doesn’t matter. Point awarded to your foe.
3. Net Fault
A net fault in badminton involves the net (as you could have guessed!). It is when either the player touches the net with their racket or body while the ball is in play.
It is illegal to make any contact with the net in badminton until the shuttlecock is dead (not in play). This means that if you want to spike the shuttle, or race return the shuttle and so much as brush the net, then that is a fault and a point is awarded to the opposing indiviudal/team.
Wrapping up
There are all sorts of faults out there and we’ll make a post about all the ways you can lose a point in badminton. But the important things is to first know what one is, and what the consequences are when committing one.