What Are the Badminton Net Dimensions?

Badminton has come a long way since its early days of being a friendly backyard sport for housewives. Today, both men and women duke it out on the badminton court, smashing the shuttlecock at speeds of over 200 miles per hour, to take home the trophy. However, to play a game of badminton, one of the most important pieces of equipment is the net.

A regulation badminton net must measure 20 feet (6.1 meters) wide and 2 feet 6 inches (1.55 meters) tall. When mounted to the posts, the center of the bottom of the net should be 5 feet (1.524 meters) above the midline, while the bottom corners of the net are 5 feet 1 inch above the doubles sidelines.

In this guide, I’ll explain in greater detail the measurements of a badminton net and how to set one up, as well as how badminton nets compare to the nets for other net sports.

Badminton Net Dimensions

The measurements of a badminton net per Olympic standards, are 20 feet wide and 5 feet 1 inch tall. It’s important that you stretch a badminton net out as far as possible to keep its measurements as close to the aforementioned figures as possible. Even the tiniest deviance can lead to confusion when playing in tournaments.

Parts of a Badminton Net

The structure of a badminton net is not unlike that of tennis and volleyball nets. There are four important features that a badminton net must have for proper setup—the tape-covered cord on top, the nylon mesh, the side pockets, and the mounting poles.

Tape-Covered Cord—The way you can tell how to orient a badminton net is by looking for the tape-covered cord. The tape denotes the top of the badminton net, so you should insert it on its poles from the bottom first. By tensioning the cord, you can ensure that the net is as parallel to the ground as possible.

Nylon Mesh—The nylon mesh is the main portion of the badminton net. The nylon is weaved in such a way that it creates a perfectly parallel barrier to the ground. It has a bit of flex that makes it easy to tell whether the shuttlecock has made contact with the net. The holes in the net should be slightly wider than the shuttlecock’s cork tip but narrow enough to prevent the shuttlecock from flying through the net completely.

Side Pockets—In most badminton net sets, the net will have side pockets that slip over the mounting poles. You should also pay close attention to the vertical clearance between the top and bottom corners of the side pockets relative to the ground.

Mounting Poles—These are metal poles that keep the badminton net in place. Most badminton sets will come with metallic telescoping poles for quick and easy assembly and storage.

Setting Up a Badminton Net

Setting up a badminton net is fairly simple. If you purchased a badminton net set, such as the Badens Champions Volleyball/Badminton Combo Set, the included paperwork should give you a pretty good idea of how to put it up and take it down.

However, if you want to set up your badminton net to make it adhere as closely to Olympic standards as possible, here’s what you need to do.

Look for a flat surface in your backyard

The first thing you should do is to find a sport on your property that is as flat as possible. That way, the net will remain as parallel to the ground as possible.

Install the mounting poles

After finding a spot that you’re happy with, you need to drive the stakes and pole stands into the ground. After the stakes are in, insert one of the mounting poles. Now, find another spot for the second stake and pole that is exactly 20 feet away from the first pole. The Badens set comes with a guide to help you figure out the perfect spacing. Now, drive the stake into the ground and mount the second pole onto it. Extend the mounting poles until the tops are precisely 5 feet 1 inch above the ground.

Insert the poles into the net’s pockets

Now, it’s time to get the net up. Carefully slip the mounting poles into the side pockets of your net, making sure that the top of the pole doesn’t poke holes into the pocket. Repeat this for the other mounting pole, making sure that you don’t inadvertently misalign the positioning of the first pole in the process. However, you can always double-check your work.

Getting the right measurements

Use the following chart to get your badminton net setup as close to Olympic standards as possible.

Badminton Nets vs. Other Nets

Although Baden’s combo net caters to 2 different sports, you shouldn’t mistake badminton nets for volleyball nets and vice versa. In fact, badminton nets are a lot different from the nets of other net sports. The following chart should give you a good idea of how badminton nets differ from the nets in other popular net sports.