Quick answer: A regulation badminton net is 1.524 m (5 ft) high at the centre and 1.55 m (5 ft 1 in) high at the posts. The net is 6.1 m (20 ft) wide and 760 mm deep, and the posts always sit on the doubles sidelines — even when you are playing singles. That small 26 mm difference between centre and post is deliberate, not a sagging net.
Get the net height wrong and everything else about your game shifts with it. Serves that should be legal clip the tape, net kills sit up invitingly, and juniors coming off a club court onto a garden set wonder why nothing feels the same. It is the single most commonly mis-set piece of equipment in badminton, and in most UK sports halls nobody checks it from one season to the next.
This guide gives you the official Badminton World Federation (BWF) measurements, explains why the net is higher at the posts, shows you how to check yours properly with a tape measure, and compares badminton net height against the other sports sharing your sports hall. At the end you will find the kit we stock at Central Sports to get a court set up properly.
Official badminton net height and dimensions
These are the figures set out in the BWF Laws of Badminton, and they are the same ones used by Badminton England for affiliated club and league play in the UK. There is no separate "UK size" — the international measurements apply everywhere.
- Height at the centre of the net: 1.524 m (5 ft)
- Height at the posts: 1.55 m (5 ft 1 in)
- Net width: 6.1 m (20 ft) — the full width of a doubles court
- Net depth (top edge to bottom edge): 760 mm (2 ft 6 in)
- Mesh size: 15 mm to 20 mm square
- Top tape: 75 mm (3 in) white tape, folded in half over the cord
- Post height: 1.55 m, standing vertical under net tension
The net itself should be dark-coloured fine cord of even thickness, so the shuttle is easy to pick out against it. The white tape along the top is not decoration — it is the visual reference players and umpires use to judge whether a shuttle has passed over or under, and it is why a grubby, greyed-out tape is worth replacing.
Why a badminton net is higher at the posts than in the middle
This is the part almost every net-height guide skips, and it is the reason so many club nets are set up wrongly.
The 26 mm difference between the posts (1.55 m) and the centre (1.524 m) is designed in. A correctly tensioned net will always dip slightly across a 6.1 m span, so the rules define both the post height and the centre height to make sure that natural dip lands in a consistent, playable place. The centre measurement is the one that actually matters in play, because that is where the majority of net shots and net kills happen.
What goes wrong in practice is that people tension the net until it looks flat. A drum-tight net measures correctly at the posts but sits above 1.524 m at the centre, quietly making every tight net shot harder than it should be. The opposite fault — a slack, sagging net — can drop the centre to 1.45 m or lower, which makes net play far too easy and gives players a false sense of their own touch.
How to check yours properly: measure at the posts first and set them to 1.55 m. Then take the tape to the exact middle of the net, measure from the floor to the top of the tape, and adjust the tension until you read 1.524 m. Always measure the centre last, and always measure with the net under playing tension rather than loose. A two-minute job that most clubs have never done.
Court dimensions and where the posts go
Net height only makes sense alongside the court it spans. A full badminton court is 13.4 m long, 6.1 m wide for doubles and 5.18 m wide for singles. The net divides it exactly in half at 6.7 m from each back boundary line.
The rule that catches people out: the posts are always placed on the doubles sidelines, whether you are playing singles or doubles. You do not move them in for a singles match. If a court is marked for singles only, the posts still go where the doubles sidelines would be, and many clubs use thin slot-in posts or a tensioned cord to represent them.
The net must run the full width between the posts with no gaps at the ends, and the bottom edge should sit as close to the floor as the fittings allow. A shuttle passing under or through the net is a fault, so a badly hung net with a 10 cm gap at the base creates arguments that the Laws simply do not anticipate. If you are also brushing up on service judgements and faults, our badminton rules and serving guide covers the calls that come up most often alongside net disputes.
Badminton net height vs volleyball, tennis and pickleball
Most UK sports halls share their floor between several sports, and shared net posts are a frequent source of confusion. These sports are not interchangeable:
- Badminton: 1.524 m centre / 1.55 m posts
- Volleyball (men's): 2.43 m — considerably higher
- Volleyball (women's): 2.24 m
- Tennis: 0.914 m centre / 1.07 m posts — much lower, with a far bigger post-to-centre drop
- Pickleball: 0.86 m centre / 0.914 m posts
So no — a badminton net is not the same height as a volleyball net, and it is nowhere near a tennis net. Badminton sits roughly two-thirds of volleyball height and about 60 cm above tennis. If your hall uses multi-sport posts with fixed brackets, check which bracket you are clipping into before every session, because the badminton setting is rarely the default.
Setting up a net for a club, school or garden
For affiliated club and league play there is no flexibility: 1.524 m at the centre, measured and checked. Most UK leisure centres use floor-socket posts, and the usual fault is worn tensioning gear rather than the posts themselves — if you cannot reach 1.55 m at the post without the net going slack in the middle, the cord has stretched and wants replacing.
For schools and junior clubs, keep full height wherever possible. Lowering the net teaches habits that have to be unlearned later, and juniors adapt to regulation height faster than most coaches expect. A more useful adjustment for young or beginner players is a slower shuttle rather than a lower net.
For garden and beach play, treat 1.524 m as the target and accept that uneven ground makes it approximate. The bigger factor outdoors is not net height at all — it is the shuttle. Feather shuttles are unusable in any breeze, so a durable nylon shuttle is what makes casual outdoor badminton actually work.
You can see our current net stock at Central Sports on the badminton nets collection, and we supply clubs, schools and county organisations on account — Badminton England registered members get preferential bulk pricing on shuttles once logged in.
Top picks from Central Sports
All prices and stock checked on the day of publishing at centralsports.co.uk.
- Yonex GR-202 ST Badminton Set — £228.00. A 20-racket club set built for schools, colleges and junior clubs. If you are setting up courts from scratch, this is the one purchase that equips a full session rather than a single pair of players.
- Yonex GR 303S Outdoor Badminton Racket 4-Piece Set — £45.60. Designed for garden and beach play, where net height is always going to be approximate. Four rackets in one box makes it the sensible family option.
- Yonex Mavis 300 Synthetic Shuttles (half dozen) — £11.50. The nylon shuttle that makes outdoor badminton viable. Far more durable than feather and much less affected by wind. Available in yellow and white.
- Yonex Aerosensa 30 Feather Shuttles — £43.04. Club and league standard for indoor play on a properly set net. Currently in stock in speed 78 (3), the usual choice for UK sports halls.
Browse the full range of badminton rackets and feather shuttles to complete a court setup.
Frequently asked questions
What is the height of the net in badminton?
1.524 m (5 ft) at the centre and 1.55 m (5 ft 1 in) at the posts. The centre measurement is the one that governs play.
Is a badminton net the same height as a volleyball net?
No. A men's volleyball net is 2.43 m and a women's is 2.24 m, both far higher than badminton's 1.524 m. They are not interchangeable on shared multi-sport posts.
What size is a professional badminton net?
Exactly the same as a club net — 6.1 m wide, 760 mm deep, 1.524 m at the centre, with 15–20 mm mesh and a 75 mm white top tape. Professional nets differ in build quality and cord, not dimensions.
Is a badminton court 20 feet by 44 feet?
Yes. A doubles court is 6.1 m (20 ft) wide by 13.4 m (44 ft) long. A singles court narrows to 5.18 m (17 ft) wide but stays the same length.
Should the net be lower for juniors?
Generally no. Keep juniors at full height and use a slower shuttle instead — lowering the net builds habits that have to be unlearned when they move to regulation courts.
Getting it right
Badminton net height is a two-minute check that almost nobody performs: 1.55 m at the posts, 1.524 m at the centre, measured under playing tension. If your club has not measured its nets this season, it is worth doing before the league campaign starts — a net set 3 cm high changes the game more than most players realise.
Need to kit out a court, a club or a school hall? Central Sports has supplied UK racket sports clubs for decades and holds accounts for schools, clubs and county organisations. Browse badminton nets or get in touch about bulk and club pricing.