Badminton Rules: Doubles – what's in and what's out? During the main part of a badminton doubles rally, every part of the court is in. However, the serve must fall into the 'short and ' area diagonally opposite the server. The side tramlines are in, but the rear tramlines are out during the serve.
The length of a badminton court is 13.40 metres, as mentioned above. There are two sets of sidelines, one for singles and one for doubles. The singles' sidelines are 5.18 metres apart, while the doubles sidelines run wide until 6.10 metres.
In singles the court is thinner, with the wide, outside 'tramlines' out of bounds. In doubles the court is full width and these tramlines are now 'in'. During service in doubles, the court is short, with the rear 'tramlines'at the back of the court, being out of bounds until the serve is returned.
In singles, a badminton court is 13.41m (44ft) long and 5.18m (17ft) wide. The width extends to 6.1m (20ft) in doubles. The net is 1.55m (5ft 1in) high at the ends and 1.52m high (5ft) where it dips in the middle. A serve must pass the short service line, which is 1.98m (6.5ft) from the net.
- A legal doubles serve would land in the area bounded by the center line, the doubles long service line, the doubles side line and the short service line (short and wide). - Once the serve is made in doubles, the court area is bounded by the doubles sideline and the back boundary line.
The outer sidelines are sometimes referred to as “outer tramlines” or “doubles sidelines”. On a regulation badminton court, the outer sidelines will run the full 13.41m /44.00ft length of the court. The outer sidelines are marked 5.18m (17.00ft) apart and run parallel to one another.
Each doubles service court is bounded by the short service line, the centerline, the doubles sideline, and the doubles back service line. Its dimensions are 13 feet (3.96 m) long by 10 feet (3.05 m) wide. It is sometimes referred to as short and . The side alley is in bounds; the back alley is not.