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Are Badminton and Volleyball Nets the Same?

The Badminton club which I play for uses a school’s sports hall as a venue. I turned up for practice one night and saw something I’ve never seen since. Someone had turned up early and set up the nets ready for people to play when they got there. But this person used Volleyball nets mistakenly with the Badminton posts instead of the actual Badminton nets. The results were strange, to say the least.

So are Badminton and Volleyball nets the same? The simple answer is no, Badminton and Volleyball nets are very different. Volleyball courts are much wider and longer than a Badminton court so the net is much longer. The holes in a Volleyball net are also a lot bigger, Badminton nets being much smaller to stop the shuttle passing through. Volleyball nets attach to their posts in a different way then a Badminton net does.

Seeing the Badminton courts setup with Volleyball nets was a mess and I can’t believe the person didn’t stop to think something wasn’t quite right, made me laugh a little at least. Mentioning some of the differences between the different nets lets look into these differences in more detail.

The big differences between Badminton and Volleyball nets

If you lay down both a Volleyball net and a Badminton net next to each other the differences become more obvious.

Volleyball nets have much bigger holes in them as they only need to stop a volleyball which is quite big. Bigger spacing in netting also means it’s easier to see what’s happening on the other side of the court for players. Badminton nets have much smaller holes as they need to be able to stop the shuttle passing through. For the same reason, the holes are not too small so that players can see the shuttle and the opponent on the other side.

Both nets Volleyball and Badminton nets have a thick cord running along the top of the net covered by tape. For Badminton this is to stop the shuttle passing over the net every time without resistance. If there were no thick cord the shuttle will most likely pass over the net the majority of the time in erratic ways creating an element of luck for those who could exploit it. For Volleyball the cord serves the same purpose.

The difference is that a Volleyball net has the tape run around all sides of the net and there is also another thick cord that runs along the bottom of the net so the net can be tightened at the top and bottom. For Badminton the net only needs to be held tight at the top.

A Volleyball net can be set up at various height depending on who is playing whether it be men, women or younger children or teenagers. Badminton nets are only even set up at on regulated set height, it doesn’t vary for any reason not even for Para-Badminton players. Due to this difference Volleyball nets normally have a lot of extra cord so that it can reach the tying points at varying heights.

Probably the biggest difference of all is the length of the net. Volleyball nets are roughly 32 feet/9.75 meters long whereas Badminton nets are only 20 feet/6 meters long. So there is absolutely no way you could set up a Volleyball court with a Badminton net.

Badminton net regulations

The BWF (Badminton World Federation) and the FIVB (Fédération Internationale de Volleyball) are the two governing bodies that maintain and create new laws for both sports. They both made changes to the rules over the years but normally much doesn’t change.

Along with the laws for the rules of the sport, there are laws about the regulation of equipment. This is to keep the sport as fair and as consistent as possible not matter where you play it.

The full specifications and restrictions for Badminton equipment can be found in the official BWF Laws of Badminton guide. It stated that posts shall be 1.55 meters tall from the courts surface and must be able to stand still when the net is “strained”. This could be either from tightening up the net ties or from the shuttle hitting the net etc.

The posts shall always be placed on the doubles side line regardless of singles or doubles being played. The net mesh should be made from fine cord and a dark colour. The mesh should be between 15mm and 20mm for each empty space.

The net itself should be 76cm from tape to the bottom of the net and should be at least 6.1m wide to cover the width of the court. The top of the net should be set with white tape 75mm doubled over thick cord running the length of the net.

The net should be tightly set and flush with the top of the posts. It is mentioned that the net can dip a little in the centre as it can never be perfectly taut. 1.524 meters at the centre of the net is the acceptable height. The last part mentioned is that there should be no gap between the net and the post. Any gap should be closed by tying the cords on the bottom of the net to the post as well.

Casual multi-sport equipment

There are products out there that are designed for multi-sport use but they’re for casual play, mainly for outdoors. So you can buy a popup net from somewhere like Amazon that you could use outside in the garden for a casual knock up with family members.

Just because we like to play to improve and get better at the sport doesn’t mean these can’t exist for those who just want to have some friendly family fun. If it also gets people talking about the sport more the more the merrier.

Are Badminton and Volleyball posts the same? No, Volleyball net posts are much taller for the taller net height. The way a Volleyball net is tied to it’s posts is different as well. Volleyball nets are more complicated to set up because the net has to be pulled tight there are normally cranks on the side to tighten and hold the net.

What is a Badminton net made out of? Badminton nets are normally made out of nylon but have been made out of vinyl and polyethylene before that. Even the tape that runs along the top of the net is made from nylon.

If you found this article useful or know someone who might find this useful please leave a comment and share. If you feel I’ve missed anything out or have other advice, please leave feedback and share your help with others below. Thanks again for reading.


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