Is Badminton Considered a Girly and Gay Sport?

Some people think badminton is a girly or gay sport because most people playing in the game tend to be soft and relaxed. The shuttlecocks that used to play badminton are also full of feathers that are light and soft.

Besides, the game they play is not like other sports such as soccer and basketball that need strength to play on the ground.

Because of that, they think that badminton belongs to girls.

Why is it “Feminine Sport”?

As we know, badminton was originated in India during the British colonization.

What followed was that the original badminton sport was brought back to the UK by British officers and soon became popular in the UK. The sport got standardized and then widely spread to the Commonwealth countries and coastal countries of Western Europe and Southeast Asia.

Although men mainly attended the sport initially, it was then favored by more and more women. So, the sport has gradually formed the impression to be “feminine sport.”

Some Data and Statistics on Badminton

Do you agree with that? For me, I would love to share something with you no matter if you agree or disagree with it.

We can see from the picture below that badminton is one of the few sports where more females than males are playing. Because of this, most people will have the impression that badminton is actually a girly sport.

Let’s take a look at the different sports that different age groups play. From the chart below, we have the categories of 6 different age groups range from below 15-year-old to above 55-year-old.

From the chart, we can see that badminton is a sport that is loved to play by people of all ages. Ping pong is the game choice for the elderly. Young kids relish basketball, the middle-age group prefers soccer, and tennis has many age group players for 36-45 years.

There are other calculations and measurements on badminton compare to the sports of basketball and soccer as shown below:

A 45-minutes badminton match	– Average movement for every rally is 159m. – Average stroke for every rally is 19 times. – 80% of the time need for acute turning and stopping. – Arm swing for more than 100 times. – Body move for 300+ times. – Every time body turn is 90 degrees and above. – Running on the court is 6,000m. – Stride for 210+ times. – Hitting shuttles 1000+ times (Doubles). – Average shuttle speed 289km/h(Doubles). – Jumping 160+ times.
An NBA match that has a score of 100	Running for 3,500m
A soccer match	Running for 7,000m

Remark:

• An average badminton match takes 40 to 70 minutes.
• The match in history that took the longest to finish is the women’s double which took 159 minutes.

If someone tells you badminton is a sport suited for girls, the elderly, and children, you can tell them the statistics shown above. The truth is, for many matches, badminton requires more stamina and energy than ping pong, soccer, basketball, and tennis.

The data shown in the table is only a calculation for a 45-minute match. In fact, most of the world tournaments basically required 80+ minutes to finish a match. So, you can actually double the calculation and see how exhausted the sport of badminton is.

People Feel Girly Because They Are Not Watching on the Spot

Most people are watching badminton matches on television. The game plays are not very intuitive through the television screen.  The sound capturing system is placed very far away for the screen to express all the players’ movements, and the lens is placed very high. This resulting in a lack of power and speed when people watching badminton matches on television.

But if you are watching live on the spot for badminton matches,  the sound of hitting the shuttles can be scary and thrilling.

Body Confrontation

Other than looking at the perspective of badminton on the body, playing venue, equipment, etc., we should also look at other aspects before concluding that badminton is a very “masculine” sport.

We also need to pay attention to men’s love for a certain sport, not only because the sport has extremely high requirements for the body, playing venue, equipment, and so on.

Men’s favorite sports like soccer, basketball, and American football are all directly confronted by a large amount and intense body competing.

Therefore, the public’s impression of the feminization of badminton is mainly because there is no physical confrontation, other than the sport’s requirements for the body, playing venue, and the equipment.

Maximum Heart Rate For Your Age

Since playing badminton requires a lot of stamina, you need to know if you can cope with the sport by not getting exhausted when playing the game, which may do great harm to your body. One thing that you need to ensure is your heart rate.

You may have no idea what heart rate is all about. I will give you a formula on how to calculate the rate of your heartbeat:

[208-(0.7 x Age)] x 0.8=Maximum exercise heartbeat

Exceeding this heart rate will cause physical discomfort.

For example:
John is 30-year-old.

The calculation will be:
[208-(0.7 x 30)] x 0.8 = 149.60

The maximum exercise heart rate for John is 149.60.

Therefore, it is a trivial matter if you have a sore leg or sore ass after playing badminton. If you have nausea or difficulty breathing, you most probably have exceeded the maximum exercise heart rate. It would help if you slowed down by not playing too aggressively.

It is not a good thing for anyone to bring sexism to sports. You shouldn’t do that, and you shouldn’t encourage people to think in that way as well. It is disgraceful and not respectful to all badminton players by categorized the sport as “girly,” “gay,” or “feminine” sport.

All badminton players are training very hard to make themselves better players every day. They are putting their sweat, blood, and tears into the game. It is unfair to make such a classification that may ruin the players’ passion and zeal for playing badminton.

Many Good Characteristics on Female Who Playing Badminton

Not only that, playing badminton is not girly at all. Even for female players, playing badminton can show various good aspects of female characteristics.

They are full of fun

Girls who love playing badminton are always having fun themselves. They are self-cultivating and not monotonous.

They are having a lot of pleasure by playing badminton. They walked into the badminton hall to cleanse their body and mind.

They feel joyful when they walk out of the hall. They know how to adjust their mood and how to stay happy always. With this, they can bring a lot of happiness to the people around them.

They look young always

Girls who like to play badminton tend to look young. When you look into those girls who play badminton,  they are separated from their peers who seldom exercise.

Playing badminton makes their bodies more sturdy and firmer. The badminton court is their beauty salon.

Every drop of sweat is detoxification of the body. Every insistence makes their age be just a number!

Thus, a sporty woman is always energetic and always looks young.

They have connotation

The girl who loves playing badminton has a connotation. They tame their temperament through exercise and cultivate their qualities. They don’t need heavy makeup, yet they look very simple and elegant.

They know how to live their life

Girls who love playing badminton know how to live their life. They know how to live a healthy life and seldom get themselves into illness.

They are not practicing any dieting to lose weight. They enjoy vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.

They can take good care of their family

They are active and having good control of the rhythm of their life.  They also take care of their family’s life.

They love to share

Badminton is not a sport that you can accomplish alone. It required coordination and cooperation from many parties. Such coordination and cooperation can bring happiness to them.

Girls who often play badminton know the importance of sharing. This spirit of sharing is also manifested in life. They are happy to share good things with the people around them. They know willingness to share will bring more happiness and enjoyment to them and others.

They are healthy

A healthy body determines the quality of life. The health index of women playing badminton is much higher than those of ordinary people.

When going to travel, they can see more scenery than others.

When going to work, they are always the ones who can stay focus on their work.

When going to the party, they are always the ones with the most active and energetic ones.

Playing badminton has broadened the length and depth of their life.

You may also be interested to know if it is safe to play badminton if you are pregnant.