How to Make an Outdoor Badminton Court

Last week, we provided you with a comprehensive guide on how to make an indoor badminton court.

In this article, you’re going to look discover how to build a badminton court outdoors.

If you have enough space in your backyard or anywhere else that you can dedicate to a full-size badminton court, and you’re searching for a step-by-step guide to building an outdoor badminton court, this post is for you.

Let’s jump into it: 

Step 1. Gather the Supplies

Here are the things you’ll need:

• Badminton net
• 100-foot measuring tape
• Hammer or hand maul
• Spray paint, chalk, or duct tape
• Lawnmower (optional)
• Lighting

Step 2. Decide on the Location

There are three things you need to consider when zeroing in on the location of an outdoor badminton court:

Favorable Climate

Here’s what I mean when I say that you need a favorable climate for an outdoor badminton court:

• It shouldn’t always be windy outdoors. On some days of the year, windy conditions are inevitable. However, if the wind rarely stops flowing where you live, you might be better off with an indoor court.
• The humidity level shouldn’t be too high most days. Humid air affects the speed of the shuttle and, by extension, the flow of the game. Per a rule of thumb, a badminton court should be constructed as far away from a water body as possible.

Adequate Size

A full-size badminton court is 44ft long and 20ft wide, but side galleries are not included in this dimension.

To have walkable side galleries (something that is essential to facilitate ease of movement across the court and in/out of the court area), the place where you’re going to construct the court should at least be 55.8ft long and 26.4ft wide.

Plain Ground

An uneven or rocky ground won’t allow for easy movement during the games, increasing the risk of injury.

If the ground isn’t even, you might have to remove and replace the topsoil (a costly endeavor but one that is needed to have a playable court).

Step 3. Clear the Ground

The area where you’re going to construct the court needs to be clear of any obstructions, tree stumps, rocks, or any other objects that might interfere with the gameplay.

If you also have grass in the area, mow it to about 2 inches in height with a lawnmower.

Finally, water the area with a garden hose. This is crucial to make the dust settle down before moving on to the next step.

Step 4. Mark the Corners

Using skates, mark the four corners of the court, creating a rectangle that measures 44ft long and 22ft wide (the size of the court).

Once you’re done marking the corners, you should have two squares (boxes) of equal size.

Tip: To confirm that both the squares are of equal size, measure diagonally between opposite corners. If the two squares are indeed of equal size, the two measurements will also be equal.

Step 5. Outline the Court’s Perimeter

To outline the court’s perimeter, run a string around all four skates; this will define the backline for doubles games and back boundaries for singles as well as doubles.

Leave the taut string line on the ground and spray-paint the boundary lines on top of it. The string line will help you paint fully straight lines.

Step 6. Draw Boundaries/Lines

You can draw the boundaries in the following order:

1. If you haven’t done this already in the previous step, draw the outermost lines first. They are 44ft (long) by 20ft (wide).
2. Draw “Sidelines” inside the outer lines — these are lines drawn along the length of the court.
3. Make “Front Service Lines”, which are horizontal lines right in front of the court, on both sides of the net.
4. Draw “Back Service Lines”. They are also horizontal to the net but are drawn next to the boundary lines.
5. Draw a line to divide the court in half. This line should begin from the outermost line and end at the front service line. Make sure to draw this line on both sides of the court.

Step 7. Install the Net

Standard badminton nets are 5’1″ at the edges and sag slightly at the center, dropping to a height of 5′. Here’s how you can set up a badminton net:

1. Assemble the Poles

Different nets come with different types of poles. Let’s look at the commonly available types of pole setups and how you can erect them:

a) Bottom Poles

Bottom poles let you adjust the net stand on both sides. All you have to do is to push one of them into another.

To assemble a net that came with bottom poles, go to one side and push one of the poles into the other, before fitting it with the T-shaped foot.

Follow the same instructions to assemble the net stand on the other side.

b) Two Stands

If your net didn’t come with poles and instead only has two stands, start by pushing one pole into another and inserting a stake into the ground.

Next, pull the net taut and note down the distance from one pole to the other before determining where you’ll set up the second pole. Based on your calculations, insert the second pole into the ground.

2. Install the net

Start by tying the upper part of your net to the top of the pole, before tying the lower part to the pole’s bottom.

After you have tied up the net at one side, it’s time to move to the other side.

Step 8. Set up the Lighting

The lighting on the badminton court should meet a two-point criterion:

1. It should be bright enough to illuminate the entire space
2. It should be bright enough for those not playing (and even those who are) to view everything in the arena

Per a rule of thumb, two lights of 150W each, installed on both sides of the net, will be enough to brighten up your outdoor badminton court.

If you are going to only use the badminton court during the day, and there is enough natural light, then you can skip this step.

FAQs

Conclusion

There aren’t many better ways to spend your weekends and whatever free time you can muster during the week than smashing the shuttlecock on your own badminton court.

Now I want to hear from you:

• For how long have you been playing badminton?
• Do you prefer playing badminton indoors or outdoors?
• Do you have a question regarding the creation of the court?

Feel free to reach out to me in the comments section below, I’d love to answer your questions and hear your feedback. We are also on Instagram @healthyprinciples_.