How old is badminton?

Games with a shuttlecock go back more than 2,000 years, played in places such as China, Japan, India, Siam and Greece. Modern badminton took shape much later, at Badminton House in England in the 1850s.

Why is the sport called badminton?

It is named after Badminton House in Gloucestershire, the country estate of the Duke of Beaufort, where the modern game developed between 1856 and 1859, according to the BWF Coaches' Manual.

What was battledore and shuttlecock?

A European pastime, played mostly by children and families, in which players used small paddles called battledores to keep a shuttlecock in the air as long as possible. It was co-operative and usually had no net, and modern badminton evolved from it.

What is the connection between badminton and Poona?

In 19th-century India a similar game was played in Poona, now Pune, and was sometimes called by the town's name. British army officers carried it between India and England, and the manual dates a badminton code drawn up in India to 1877.

A Chinese game in which a shuttlecock with a weighted base and feathers is kept up with the feet and body, not a racket. It belongs to the same family of shuttlecock games as badminton.

Who wrote the first official badminton rules?

The Badminton Association of England, formed in 1893, codified the game and at first administered it internationally. The International Badminton Federation took over running the game worldwide in 1934.

What were early badminton rackets and shuttles made of?

Early rackets had wooden frames with gut strings, and shuttlecocks were feathers fixed into a cork or similar base. Players often stretched a string or cord across the space instead of a net; frames later moved to steel and then carbon fibre.

Why did badminton move indoors?

The light shuttlecock is easily disturbed by wind, and the game needs little space, so it settled in halls. In late 19th-century Britain it grew in clubs and private halls, where men and women played together.

Badminton · Level 9: Master · Sub-level 9.1

Origins

10 tests · 100 facts · updated 29 October 2026 · markdown

Badminton grew out of games with a feathered shuttlecock that go back more than 2,000 years. The BWF Coaches' Manual lists early players in China, Japan, India, Siam (today's Thailand) and Greece, and says the exact origins are unclear. In Europe the game became battledore and shuttlecock, a pastime for children and families in which players with small paddles tried to keep the shuttlecock in the air as long as possible, usually without a net. In China, jianzi kept a weighted, feathered shuttlecock up with the feet.

According to the manual, the modern game took shape between 1856 and 1859 at Badminton House in Gloucestershire, the Duke of Beaufort's country estate, which gave the sport its name. In India a similar game, sometimes called Poona after the town now known as Pune, travelled with British army officers, and the manual dates a badminton code drawn up there to 1877. Adding a net turned a co-operative game into a competitive one, in which players try to finish rallies by landing the shuttle in the other court. The Badminton Association of England, formed in 1893, wrote the rules and at first ran the game internationally, until the International Badminton Federation took over in 1934.

The facts below cover the ancient games, battledore and jianzi, Badminton House and Poona, the first rules, early wooden rackets and cord nets, the clubs where men and women played together, and why the game spread so quickly.

Each test below is ten questions on Insporta. The list under a test is what the questions check: one fact per question, with the source it was written from. Read it before the test, or come back from a wrong answer.

Test 1Shuttlecock games in the ancient worldTake a test

Shuttlecock games go back more than 2,000 years.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · recall
The manual's list of ancient players.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · recall
Siam is Thailand.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
The manual: the exact origins are unclear.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · recall
The feathered shuttlecock links them.
Source: General badminton reference · applied
Older games came first.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · applied
Feathers, as today's best shuttles.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
Ancient games, then the European pastime, then badminton.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · recall
Closer to the modern game each step.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
Many places over 2,000 years ago.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · applied

Test 2Battledore and shuttlecockTake a test

The bat in the old game.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
Co-operative keeping it up.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · recall
The reverse of the old game.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · applied
It was a keeping-up game.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
A popular pastime.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
Keeping it up.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · applied
The manual's account.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · recall
From co-operation to competition.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · recall
Bat to modern racket.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
The old pastime.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · applied

Test 3Kicking gamesTake a test

Kicked, not hit.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
Kicking.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
Part of the shuttlecock family.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
Chinese tradition.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
It is played with the feet.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
Feet and a shuttlecock.
Source: General badminton reference · applied
The shuttlecock design.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
Feet, paddle, racket.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
Closer to the modern game.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
The kicking game.
Source: General badminton reference · applied

Test 4The game at Badminton HouseTake a test

The country estate.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · recall
The Duke of Beaufort.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · recall
The manual's dates.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · recall
Gloucestershire.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
Named after the estate.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
Where the game developed.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · applied
The 1850s.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · recall
1850s, 1893, 1934.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · recall
Estate, national body, world body.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · recall
Badminton House.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · applied

Test 5Poona and the British armyTake a test

Poona, now Pune.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · recall
Pune.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
Named after the town.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
Officers took it home.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
The manual gives 1877.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · recall
Colonial links.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
The Indian town.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · applied
1850s, 1877, 1893.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · recall
Older pastime, 1850s, 1877.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · recall
The game was called Poona.
Source: General badminton reference · applied

Test 6From keeping it up to winning ralliesTake a test

A net makes it competitive.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
Win the rally.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · recall
Rally scoring.
Source: BWF Laws of Badminton 2027 (player's view) · recall
The rally ends when it lands.
Source: BWF Laws of Badminton 2027 (player's view) · recall
Rules for competing.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
Keeping it up.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · applied
Land it in.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · recall
From pastime to sport.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
Increasing competition.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
Competition.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · applied

Test 7The first rules and associationsTake a test

The manual: 1893.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · recall
It ran the game worldwide at first.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · recall
Common rules.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
The IBF from 1934.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · recall
The All England.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
The English association.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · applied
1850s to 1893.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · applied
1893, 1934, 2006.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · recall
Wider each step.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
The Badminton Association of England wrote the rules.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · applied

Test 8The name and the early equipmentTake a test

Wooden frames.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
Feathers and a base.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
A cord across the space.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
Indoors and outdoors.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
Wind.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
Wooden rackets are early.
Source: General badminton reference · applied
Badminton House.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
Materials over time.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
From cord to modern net.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
Materials changed over time.
Source: General badminton reference · applied

Test 9The game in the clubsTake a test

Clubs.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
Small, indoor.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
Mixed participation.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
Social clubs.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
Travel and rules.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
Common rules.
Source: General badminton reference · applied
A founding member.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · recall
Wider and wider.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · recall
Outwards over time.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
Mixed club play.
Source: General badminton reference · applied

Test 10Why the game spreadTake a test

Early satisfaction.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · recall
Adjustable intensity.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · recall
Safe indoors.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · recall
Equal access.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · recall
Cheap and simple.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
Simple to start.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · applied
The manual's figure.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · recall
From play to sport.
Source: General badminton reference · recall
Rising level.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · recall
Early satisfaction.
Source: BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 1 · applied

Questions people ask

How old is badminton?: Games with a shuttlecock go back more than 2,000 years, played in places such as China, Japan, India, Siam and Greece. Modern badminton took shape much later, at Badminton House in England in the 1850s.
Why is the sport called badminton?: It is named after Badminton House in Gloucestershire, the country estate of the Duke of Beaufort, where the modern game developed between 1856 and 1859, according to the BWF Coaches' Manual.
What was battledore and shuttlecock?: A European pastime, played mostly by children and families, in which players used small paddles called battledores to keep a shuttlecock in the air as long as possible. It was co-operative and usually had no net, and modern badminton evolved from it.
What is the connection between badminton and Poona?: In 19th-century India a similar game was played in Poona, now Pune, and was sometimes called by the town's name. British army officers carried it between India and England, and the manual dates a badminton code drawn up in India to 1877.
What is jianzi?: A Chinese game in which a shuttlecock with a weighted base and feathers is kept up with the feet and body, not a racket. It belongs to the same family of shuttlecock games as badminton.
Who wrote the first official badminton rules?: The Badminton Association of England, formed in 1893, codified the game and at first administered it internationally. The International Badminton Federation took over running the game worldwide in 1934.
What were early badminton rackets and shuttles made of?: Early rackets had wooden frames with gut strings, and shuttlecocks were feathers fixed into a cork or similar base. Players often stretched a string or cord across the space instead of a net; frames later moved to steel and then carbon fibre.
Why did badminton move indoors?: The light shuttlecock is easily disturbed by wind, and the game needs little space, so it settled in halls. In late 19th-century Britain it grew in clubs and private halls, where men and women played together.

Sources

BWF Coaches' Manual Level 1 (2017), BWF regulations and history, Olympedia; original questions authored, nothing reproduced. Numbered rules belong to the Rules category (Badminton - Laws of Badminton).

General badminton reference52
BWF Coaches' Manual L1, Module 146
BWF Laws of Badminton 2027 (player's view)2