Last checked: August 2026 · Written by the player-led team at Badminton House
Run a 90-minute badminton club training night from one visible clock: warm up together, hit in pairs, complete two named drill blocks, change over on the caller’s signal, and protect the final 30 minutes for games. Give every person a court, feeding, counting, or side-station job before the first shuttle is struck.
Related reading: players can use the club-night bring list; organisers who need an open-play queue can use the separate court-rotation guide.
About this plan
This is a suggested club-session template from Badminton House. Adapt the timings and difficulty to your group; the linked federation sources support the broad sequence but do not prescribe this exact plan.
What does the 90-minute running order look like?
The plan uses 20 minutes to prepare bodies and rackets, 25 minutes for two focused drills, five protected transition minutes, 30 minutes for games, and 10 minutes to cool down and pack the hall.
That broad sequence is consistent with the BWF Shuttle Time lesson plans, which move from warm-up and physical work to technical work and then competition, while allowing timings and difficulty to be adapted. Badminton England’s archived official Performance Hub session expectations PDF also includes warm-ups, cool-downs, match-play opportunity, and sessions that challenge the players present.
| Clock | Activity | Layout and jobs |
|---|---|---|
|
0:00–0:08 8 min |
Group warm-up | One caller leads the whole group in clear shared space; rackets stay down until the movement area is clear. |
|
0:08–0:20 12 min |
Paired hitting | Two half-court lanes per court. On-court pairs rally; extra players feed, count clean contacts, or complete the marked side task. |
|
0:20–0:32 12 min |
Drill A: cooperative build | Pods use a clear–drop–net pattern. One pair works while pod partners feed starts and count rallies completed at controlled pace. |
|
0:32–0:34 2 min |
Collect and move | Shuttles go to the tube, pod leaders read the next court card, and everyone changes together. |
|
0:34–0:47 13 min |
Drill B: serve plus third shot | The server, returner, third-shot player, and quality counter rotate within each pod. The rally stops after the third shot. |
|
0:47–0:50 3 min |
Collect and set games | Shuttles are collected once. The caller sends the posted match pods to courts and the others to their side task. |
|
0:50–1:20 30 min |
Conditioned games or matches | Four-player pods follow the prewritten round sheet. Off-court pods practise serve and return at low pace in the marked area. |
|
1:20–1:30 10 min |
Cool-down and pack-up | Players cool down together, then each pod returns one assigned item before leaving. |
Drill A: the pair keeps the shuttle controllable enough to recover to base before the next shot. Drill B: the third-shot player begins balanced and contacts in front. If either cue disappears repeatedly, reduce pace rather than adding a new instruction.
How do 16, 20, or 24 players fit on two or three courts?
Build four-player pods before the warm-up. A drill court can host two pods because only the designated pair in each half-court lane swings; the other pod members have feeding and counting jobs outside that lane. A game court hosts one pod, so unused pods move to the marked side task instead of forming an unassigned queue.
Each game round includes its own changeover.
| Players / courts | Drill layout | 30-minute game block |
|---|---|---|
| 16 / 2 | Eight per court: two pods of four, one pod assigned to each half-court lane. | Four match pods; six 5-minute rounds give each pod three court rounds. |
| 16 / 3 | Intact-pod loads of eight, four, and four. Two pods share one court; at 0:32, swap which two pods share so every pod keeps its four roles. | Four match pods; four 7½-minute rounds give each pod three court rounds. |
| 20 / 2 | Eight per court plus one four-player side-station pod; rotate that pod at the scheduled transition. | Five match pods; five 6-minute rounds give each pod two court rounds. |
| 20 / 3 | Intact-pod loads of eight, eight, and four. Two pod pairs share courts; at 0:32, rotate which pod works alone so no pod is split. | Five match pods; five 6-minute rounds give each pod three court rounds. |
| 24 / 2 | Eight per court plus two four-player side-station pods. Do not place 12 swinging players on one court. | Six match pods; six 5-minute rounds give each pod two court rounds. |
| 24 / 3 | Eight per court: two pods of four, with one pod assigned to each half-court lane. | Six match pods; four 7½-minute rounds give each pod two court rounds. |
For a fixed three-court station route rather than this flexible two-or-three-court template, use the dedicated three-court club session plan.
What should the caller say at each transition?
Use the same short call at each transition so everyone moves together.
“Stop. Shuttles in. Read your next job. Move with your pod. Rackets up only when I call play.”
- Before the session: write the two drill names, pod letters, court numbers, and game rounds on one board.
- At 0:32: call the full 2-minute collect-and-move transition; do not let individual courts restart early.
- At 0:47: end drilling even if a pod has not finished its turn. The 3-minute game setup is protected.
- At 1:20: call the final stop once. Nobody starts another game.
How do you fix standing around and a late game block?
Write every player’s job and every changeover time on the board before play. That keeps players involved and stops drills from running into the game block.
Give everyone a job
If any player cannot answer “What is my job now?”, pause that court and assign hitter, feeder, quality counter, or shuttle collector before restarting.
Start games at 0:50
End Drill B at 0:47. Collect once, send pods to their posted places, and start the game clock at 0:50 even if a drill rotation was missed.
Safety stop: stop a lane immediately if a feeder, counter, or side-station player enters a hitter’s swing or landing space. Reset the marked positions before play resumes.
Print this before the booking
- Write the eight clock times where everyone can see them.
- Make four-player pods and assign each pod’s first job.
- Mark the side task outside every swing and landing area.
- Start the timer once and let the caller own every transition.
Leave a comment
This site is protected by hCaptcha and the hCaptcha Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.