A "Badminton Skills Assessment" is not a pass/fail test. It is a measurement of the athlete's skill at a point in time.
Racquet Strokes are individually scored from 0 to 4, and averaged from 5 attempts. The points earned are progressive, meaning, the previous condition must be met before evaluating the next condition. The requested stroke is viewed in ts entirety: preparation (moving to meet the bird), backswing, point of contact (e.g., highest point when executing clear, drop, or smash), and follow-through. We then consider whether or not the bird lands "in" (for serves) or inside the court (for all other strokes), trajectory (is it downwards, flat, or arcs?), height over the net, and where the bird lands inside the court (distance and placement). For athletes in the Learn to Train and Train to Train stages of LTAD, coaches should start with a manageable set of basic strokes (see example list below). At higher stages, coaches who choose to continue using assessments may add more advanced strokes, define higher points for smaller targets, and increase the complexity by blending footwork and multi-shuttle feeding.
| Points | Conditions |
|---|---|
| 0 | No contact made with bird or incorrect racquet stroke |
| 1 | Requested stroke was performed but bird did not land inside the court |
| 2 | Bird lands "in" or inside the court |
| 3 | Bird's trajectory is satisfactory and bird lands close to the ideal zone of the court |
| 4 | Bird lands in the ideal zone of the court |
The 8-Point Footwork / Court Movement is executed twice and scored from 0 to 2 for each element. The footwork is a fundamental badminton-specific agility exercise that incorporates change of direction, develops explosiveness, increases the demand for speed and recovery, challenges one's balance, combines a shadow stroke for coordination, and teaches correct body positioning and alignment to mitigates accidents and risk of injuries.
| Points | Conditions |
|---|---|
| 0 | Never performed |
| 1 | Sometimes performed |
| 2 | Always performed |
This "Badminton Skills Assessment" was revised for the 2024-2025 season.
| Current | Originally | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Backhand Serve (max 4 points) | Backhand Serve (max 3 points) | All racquet strokes are now consistently scored from 0 to 4 |
| Half Court | Full Court | Requires more accuracy. More likely to penalize a mis-hit |
| Progressive Scoring | Component Scoring | Previously, an incorrect racquet stroke could still earn points by landing inside the court |
| Video Assessment | Live Assessment | Videos permitted multiple reviews of racquet strokes and/or footwork. |
| Progress | Removed as it was simply a visual representation of Score. | |
| Consistency ★★★ | Consistency ✓ | Previously, if the range of values was <= 1, there was a checkmark. This is now calculated as a ratio of the average absolute deviation from the mean. |
