The court is rectangular in shape and divided into two halves by the net. The two halves are further divided into forecourt and backcourt areas. The courts are always marked for both singles and double's games and the net poles are planted outside the double's lines.

The rally is initiated by the serve. A serve is always hit in the upward direction and its attacking potential is limited by various restrictions and service laws. A serve can be of different types - high serve, low serve, drive serve(hit flat towards the back area of the opponent's court) and flick serve(hit upwards, but low trajectory).

There are many different types of basic badminton shots, which are played from different areas of the badminton court. From the forecourt area, the various shots that can be played are -

1. Net Shot: dropping the shuttlecock into the opponent's forecourt, as close to the net as possible.

2. Net Lift: playing upwards towards the back of the opponent's court.

3. Net Kill: the shuttlecock is aimed steeply towards the floor of the opponent's court, close to the net.


Badminton shots from the mid court area include the following -

1. Smash: when the shuttlecock comes to you at a high level in the midcourt area, hitting it aggressively towards the opponent's floor, to finish the rally.

2. Drive: when the shuttlecock is at the net height, at the side of your body, hitting it with sufficient pace to the opponent's midcourt or backcourt area.

3. Push: hitting the shuttlecock softly into the opponent's forecourt or front midcourt area. This shot too is played in the same situation as a drive.

4. Lift: playing upwards towards the back of the opponent's court, in response to a smash or a push shot.


Most badminton shots in the back court area are played overhead. Some shots in this area are -

1. Clear: hitting the shuttlecock high to the opponent's backcourt. Clear shots are of two types - defensive clear and attacking clear.

2. Smash: hitting the shuttlecock steeply towards the opponent's midcourt, at high speed.

3. Dropshot: hitting the shuttlecock downwards towards the opponent's forecourt.

Besides these there are various advanced strokes which are more or less, slight variations on the aforementioned basic strokes. The purpose of an advanced stroke is to introduce an element of spin into the shot catching your opponent unawares.

Slicing, hitting the shuttlecock with an angled racquet is a technique commonly used for advanced strokes. Slice shots veil the direction in which the shuttle is going to hit and to make the disguise powerful shots by making them travel slowly.

Double motion is another useful technique to deceive your opponent. It involves making an initial movement towards the shuttlecock and then changing the face of the racquet and hitting it in a different direction.

Some professional players use triple motion too, but it's much more complicated and hence rarely used. To win a game u need to employ a combination of various badminton shots strategically.