What level would my child start at?

Six questions, about two minutes, and you get a real answer — which level your child would begin on, ladder by ladder, on the same roadmap our coaches work from.

No email address, no sign-up, nothing sent to you. The answer appears on this page.

Answer honestly rather than kindly. Nobody sees this but you, and an over-flattering answer only produces a wrong level. If you're not sure, picture the last time you actually watched them play and pick the nearest option.

1. Has your child played badminton before?

Never — they've never really picked up a racquet
A bit — the backyard, the beach, a few goes at school
Fairly regularly for a few months or more
They train weekly with a club or a coach

2. When a shuttle comes down high above their head, what happens?

This is the overhead clear — the single most telling shot in junior badminton.

They swing and usually miss it completely
They connect sometimes, but it doesn't travel far
They can hit it to the back of the court most times
They can do that on the move, from anywhere on court

3. Do they get underneath the shuttle, or reach for it where it is?

Getting the body behind and under the shuttle is a named skill in its own right, and it's the one that separates a swing that works from a swing that only looks right.

They stand still and stretch for it
They'll take a step if it's close by
They usually move their feet to get under it
They move early and are set before it arrives

4. Can they keep a rally going with someone?

Not yet — it's one hit and the shuttle's on the floor
A few hits, if the other person feeds it gently
Yes — a proper back-and-forth rally
Yes, and they choose where to put the shuttle

5. After they hit the shuttle, what do they do?

Recovering to the middle is what makes the next shot possible. Almost no self-taught player does it.

Stay exactly where they are and watch
Wander back towards the middle eventually
Move back towards the middle fairly promptly
Recover to the middle and reset, ready for the next one

6. Do they do a small bounce or hop just as the other player hits?

This is the split step. If you've never noticed one, the honest answer is almost certainly the first option — it's a coached habit, not a natural one.

No — and I've never heard of it
Not really, they're usually flat-footed
Sometimes, when they're concentrating
Yes, pretty much every rally

And how old are they?

Not scored — it only stops us placing a very young child above where they'd enjoy themselves.

5 to 7
8 to 10
11 to 13
14 or older

This quiz needs JavaScript to work out the answer. If you'd rather not turn it on, no problem — book a free trial and a coach will place your child properly in person, which is more accurate anyway.

How this works

Why these six questions

They aren't arbitrary. Each one maps onto a named skill from our actual coaching pathway — getting under the shuttle, recovering to the middle, the split step. Those are the things a coach is watching for in a trial, so asking you about them gets surprisingly close to the answer.

What it can't do is see your child hit. A questionnaire can't tell a grip that's nearly right from one that's wrong, and it can't see whether a swing falls apart when the shuttle moves. That's what the free trial is for — and it's why this quiz will never place a child at Level 4.

See the full roadmap How we grade a skill

What level would my child start at?

Why these six questions

The real answer takes one class, and it's free.