Differences Between Tennis and Badminton

Badminton is often compared to tennis since the two games share several similar characteristics. Both sports involve a two-sided court divided by a net through the middle, and players use a racket in both games.

However, several important differences separate the two sports, and learning about them can determine which may serve as a better option for you.

Although both games require players to use rackets, tennis uses a fuzzy yellow-green ball as its primary object, while badminton uses a plastic object called a shuttlecock (or “birdie”).

Both games allow for individual competition if you choose to play one-on-one, and both allow for “doubles” or two-on-two competition.

Tennis is limited to a maximum of two players per team, while badminton can include as many as six players per team. If you have a large family gathering planned, badminton might provide a more inclusive option.

Scoring and rules are also different.

In tennis, the player is allowed (and in some cases required) to bounce the ball once per hit during a volley, but badminton does not allow the birdie to hit the ground.

Badminton uses traditional scoring systems of single points up to 11, 15, or 21. Tennis, on the other hand, has a unique system of scoring in which the player scores either “love,” 15, 30, 40, “deuce,” or “advantage.”

Courts

Both badminton and tennis can lead to vigorous activity. Tennis courts are larger than badminton courts, so tennis tends to lead to more exertion. Of course, another difference is in the net’s height; the badminton net is about 5 feet high, but the tennis net is much closer to the ground.

Learning about the differences between tennis and badminton can help you choose the game best suited for a given day or a new hobby.

The speed of shuttle/ball

In the Guinness World Record, the fastest shot in badminton was 426 km/h (264.7 mph), while the fastest in tennis was 263 km/h (163.4 mph). Therefore, the speed generated by badminton can be faster than in tennis.

The weight of Badminton vs. Tennis

Rackets are the most important gear for players to play in any racket game. The badminton racket design is different from tennis rackets, and their weight is also different.

As for tennis, the racket weight varies between 255g to 365g (9 to 13 ounces). For example, Roger Federer’s racket weights 365g/12.84oz, whereas Murray’s racket weights 345g/12.17oz.

The badminton rackets are weights from 80g to 100g. Normally you will find the “U” in a badminton racket which symbolizes the racket’s weight. To know more about badminton racket, you can go to this page.

Earning Differences

You can vary the earnings of tennis players a lot compared to badminton players. Below is the chart for the top 5 richest players for both badminton and tennis. You can witness the big differences between these two from the chart.

The top 8 richest badminton players:

1. Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia) – $35 million
2. Lin Dan (China) – $26 million
3. Saina Nehwal (India) – $24 million
4. Peter Gade (Denmark) – $18 million
5. Taufik Hidayat (Indonesia) – $11 million
6. Chen Long (China) – $8.2 million
7. Wang Yihan (China – $5 million
8. Jan O. Jorgensen(Denmark) – $5 million

The data is the excerpt from successstory.com

The top 8 richest tennis players:

1. Roger Federer – $300 million
2. Andre Agassi – $175 million
3. Pete Sampras – $150 million
4. Serena Williams – $120 million
5. Rafael Nadal – $100 million
6. Novak Djokovic – $90 Million
7. Maria Sharapova – $90 Million
8. Venus Williams – $75 Million

The data is the excerpt from successstory.com

The chart shows that even the least rich tennis player earns much more than the richest badminton player. The richest badminton player is 8.5 times less rich than the richest tennis player.

Penetration rate

The calculation of penetration rate is the number of participants / total population of the world. Not the number of countries!

First, look at tennis. The sport is mainly relished by Europe, the United States, and Australia. The total population of these countries is:

• Europe: 780 million
• USA:  327 million
• Australia: 25 million

Thus, the total population base of tennis countries is 1.13 billion.

For badminton, the main countries that relished the sport are China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Europe, Britain, and Denmark. Note that badminton is still a trendy sport in Europe.

For China alone, the population is already over 1.3 billion. Therefore, it is not necessary to count for the rest. With this, it is easy to conclude that the penetration rate of badminton is more than tennis.

Exercise Intensity

Most people are using exercise intensity to make a comparison for these two sports.

Let check out some important data:

The running distance for badminton that played for 1 hour and 16 minutes is 6.4 kilometers! While for a 3.5 hours tennis match, the running distance is 3.7 kilometers.

The running distance of badminton is twice of tennis. And the playing time is not even half of the tennis match!

If we look at this comparison, we can see that the badminton match is at least 2 times more active than tennis. We can see that badminton is more intense than tennis because the running distance is already twice that of tennis with a much shorter playing time.

Imagine running 5 kilometers in 1-hour compared to another guy running 5 kilometers in half an hour. Absolutely the latter is doing a lot of exercises than the former.

Other than running distance, there are still other factors that we need to look into:

Way of Running

Badminton requires a player to move a lot in 8-angles, and he needs to do a lot of slamming, while a tennis player is mostly running around the bottom line, and he doesn’t need to run backward.

Jumping and lying down

Tennis players almost didn’t do any jumping and lying down when playing the game, while a badminton player often performs jumping. There is even a lot of jumping happening when playing doubles.

There are more and more lying down happens in the current badminton singles competition! And the pivot of the badminton player changes very sharply. A player needs to bent before the net and leans backward when playing high clear at the backcourt. These are very laborious!

Racket and ball

For tennis, the racket and ball are heavier than the badminton racket and shuttlecocks. However, when compared with the intensity of the gameplay, the weight of the racket and ball become quite insignificant.

Strength for hitting

The three hitting strokes that consume a lot of energy in badminton are smashing, backhand shot, and backcourt high clear. Another technique that requires a lot of energy is when doing a powerful smash.

For tennis, serving is the most laborious. You can see that badminton’s hitting strength is not the same as tennis! It is not easy to make the comparison, but badminton is more inclined to explosive power.

Recess time

Serving out a tennis ball can take quite a lot of time, and the letting rate is very high! There are many buffer times for the player to grab some time to rest. The rally tends to be short as well.  So tennis is considered aerobic exercise because there are too many buffers and rest times.

The exercise volume of badminton is enormous! And the strength is at least 4 times more than tennis.

A 2007 study published in the “British Journal of Sports Medicine” concluded that elite badminton players could enjoy even greater cardiovascular benefits than tennis players.

Appreciation-deserving

This comparison is rather hard to do because there are no scientific statistics on this factor.

I will carry out this comparison more comprehensively and objectively. Ornamental, of course, means that ordinary people will feel cool and addicted to watching the badminton gameplay.

For the sake of objectivity, I will explain it from the perspective of an ordinary audience.

How do we determine if a sport is entertaining? I think to be entertaining. A sport should cover the following points:

Intensity and consistency

You definitely prefer to watch the NBA instead of other basketball tournaments. This is mainly because the former is more intense!

You also like watching TV shows without ads because shows without ads are more coherent and more consistent.

For badminton games, it is obviously more coherent and more consistent compare to tennis. The rhythm of badminton is much faster while tennis is too dragging.

Badminton can bring the emotions of the audience! Watching the badminton men’s doubles is better than watching tennis men’s doubles matches!

The diversity of playing strokes

Badminton has a variety of different playing strokes. And the shuttle angle is very accurate. The shuttle will cover almost the entire court, the high clear is very high, and the smash is undeniable! There are many changes in the playing strokes before the net!

There are also a lot of net play strokes. It is also a big attraction in the game! Most tennis balls are placed near the bottom line and are flat without sudden high clear and sudden smash except serving.

The plot of the game

It’s enough of the game to be ups and downs, enough to be exciting! I think this is the same for both badminton and tennis!

Playing court

This tennis court is much larger, so it is more convenient for more audiences to watch the game!

It is not easy to have a conclusion for appreciation-deserving as there is no scientific, statistical analysis! What I can say is that each has its own pros and cons.

But from the perspective of the average audience, badminton is obviously easier to drive emotions! And badminton men’s doubles are definitely better than tennis doubles!

Entertaining

Entertaining also is something that you can’t evaluate scientifically.  But there are several factors that we can take into consideration.

One factor is the ease of getting started to play the game. The easier it is to get started playing, the easier it is to have fun!

Another factor is easy to reach. The easier it is to get in touch with the sport, the easier it is to have fun and enjoyment.

It is easier to get started with playing badminton. Because of this, many people love to play badminton, and people of all ages can play the game.

It is less suitable for women to play tennis because the strength requirements to start playing are higher!

Indoor vs. Outdoor

Badminton is an indoor sport, so you can play at any time without the need to worry about the weather. While tennis is an outdoor sport, you will not be able to play the game if there is raining or the weather is too hot or snowing.

Cost

Some said the cost of playing badminton is less than tennis. This can be true in certain equipment. But it will not be true on the shuttles as the consumption can be really fast, costing you a lot of money.

Since badminton uses the shuttle, it will drop on the courts and not roll far away. So you don’t need to spend time and energy to chase and pick the shuttle. This can be different if playing tennis.

Exercise Value

For the exercise value, badminton mainly exercises physical fitness, agility, explosiveness, and body coordination!

Tennis mainly exercises the strength of the upper body, physical fitness, and body coordination!

Commercialization

This has no direct relationship with the sport. In fact, as long as there is a market, it can be commercialized and professionalized in theory!

Let’s take a look at the world’s commercialization of professionalism. We will find that commercialization basically happens in Europe or America! Even snooker, people can commercialize it!

This shows that badminton can definitely be commercialized! Because there is a huge market for sport! It’s not at the moment is due to the Asian economy and power are still behind in Europe and America! In addition, the Chinese are still at a very mentally retarded level for commercialization!

Why are Asians playing better badminton than Europe and America?

Some people have the wrong perception that since badminton is more intense to play with, it should not be a sport that Asians can dominate because Asians are not so good physically.

We need to know that all ball games are comprehensive physical games. If badminton is only about physical, marathon runners should dominate since they have very good physical.

There are several other important physical qualities of badminton which include agility, speed, explosiveness, physical fitness, and physical coordination!

Indoor Versus Outdoor Badminton Play

Badminton is a wonderful sport to play. It is simple enough to play it and enjoy it even if you are a beginner, yet it is also a sport that allows for highly-developed skills and intense competition.

This is a sport that you can play indoors or outdoors. You need to understand the differences between playing in those two different locations.

When badminton is played outdoors, there are a few factors that you need to take into consideration. Outdoors often interfere with the wind, which can take the birdie off of its intended course.

When playing outside, you have to keep in mind that the glare from the sun can harm your ability to see the birdie, and it crosses over to your side of the net.

Of course, you also have the temperature to worry about. When playing indoors, you do not have to worry about the wind, sun, or temperature. However, it is those uncontrollable elements that often make the game more intense and exciting.

Badminton is fun to play both indoors and outdoors. When deciding where to play, you need to remember the differences between the two locations to prepare yourself for the game mentally. Whatever you do, do not forget that badminton is a game and that its main purpose is to help you have fun and get some exercise.

When comparing these two sports, I will mainly consider these aspects: penetration rate, exercise intensity, appreciation level, fun level, exercise value, commercialization.