Badminton Vs Tennis: Their Differences

If you are somewhat new to the sports world, badminton and tennis might not seem very different as they are both a racket sport. If you explore it a little, you will realize that they are actually quite different from each other.

The main difference between badminton and tennis are their rules. Badminton does not allow for any bounce before hitting but tennis does allow for 1 bounce before hitting. However, you can also hit the tennis ball before the bounce happens. Although badminton and tennis have vastly different gameplay, how they score a point is pretty similar for the most part.

The other differences include where each sport is played, the equipment you’ll need, the rules and the type of shots there are. Therefore, a different set of skills are required for each sport in order to succeed.

Playing Location

There are many unusual locations and courts that people can play these 2 sports on. To get the best experience out of these 2 sports, a proper court is recommended. Even with proper courts, there are different types for both these sports.

Badminton

Most of the time, people tend to play badminton in indoor courts such as a warehouse or multipurpose gym hall with high ceilings. These indoor courts are usually synthetic PU (green) or wooden.

The reason for indoor courts is due to the fact that the shuttlecock, which is the “ball” for badminton, is very light, and even a light breeze can affect the trajectory of the shot. Professional badminton matches are played on indoor courts due to this issue.

Moreover, it is important to have a high ceiling because shuttlecocks can fly really high when it’s hit well. You do not want the shuttle to hit the ceiling and disrupt the game.

Despite that, there are people that play badminton outdoor mostly because it is much cheaper than renting an indoor court. These outdoor courts are usually homemade in their backyard or on a public rock surfaced court.

The experience, however, will be much less enjoyable due to the expecting conditions outside. You’ll need a perfectly windless time to play. To counter this issue, use plastic shuttles. Compared to feather shuttles, these plastic ones are more stable and durable.

Tennis

Tennis, on the other hand, can be played indoors and outdoors. Outdoor courts are more popular with tennis. Moreover, there are different types of tennis courts such as clay, grass, and synthetic.

There will usually be fences around these courts to prevent the ball from bouncing too far away or doing unwanted damage. Tennis is quite a popular sport in most countries, you should be able to find a local tennis club to have proper courts to play on.

The reason why tennis is more popular playing outdoors than badminton is because tennis balls are usually much heavier than shuttlecocks, so the wind will not affect the trajectory.

Court Difference: Badminton Vs Tennis

The courts of badminton and tennis are pretty similar in terms of layout. The real differences come in the size and the height of the net. In tennis, the court is way bigger and the net is lower as compared to badminton. In fact, tennis nets are on the floor while badminton nets are elevated.

Equipment You Need

The equipment you’ll need for both badminton and tennis are actually pretty similar. For both, you’ll need a racket, a pair of shoes, shuttles/tennis balls and a court with a net.

Badminton

The rackets for badminton are much smaller and lighter compared to a tennis racket. Badminton rackets are long and slim with an oval head. A shuttlecock, which some people called birdie, is the “ball” for badminton like I’ve mentioned.

They are usually made from goose/duck feather or synthetic plastic. Professional players usually use shuttles made from goose feathers since they give the best and most consistent flight.

Nets are usually provided when you hire a court or play in a club. However, you can also buy a badminton kit online to set up your own net in your backyard.

Here is an article on how much you need to start playing badminton either indoors or your own set up.

Tennis

On the other hand, tennis rackets are much bigger, heavier, with a bigger grip, and a bigger oval-shaped head compared to badminton rackets. The shaft of the tennis rackets is quite thick and sturdy.

The reason for this is because a tennis ball is much heavier than a shuttlecock hence, needing more force to hit it. Modern tennis balls are usually made with hollow rubber core wrapped in a wool or nylon shell, also known as the nap. Pressurized air is inside the hollow rubber core, which is what makes the tennis ball bounce so well.

Tennis balls usually weigh about 56 g to 59.4 g or 1.98 to 2.1 ounces while shuttlecocks only weight about 5 g, which is more than 10 times lighter!

Standard Shots Played

When it comes to badminton vs tennis, the shots they perform look and feel very similar but some of them have different names.

Badminton

In badminton, there are 5 different standard shots other than the serve. They include clear, drop, drive, lift and smash.

1. Clear

A clear is when a player hits the shuttle from his end of the court all the way to the other end of the opponent’s court. This is usually a defensive shot and often hit quite high to give yourself time to recover and prevent your opponent from cutting it off. Additionally, it can also be played lower so your opponent gets less time to react to this shot.

2. Drop

A drop shot is when you hit the shuttle in a way that you place it near the net of your opponent’s side. This shot can be played from anywhere in the court. Usually, this shot is to make your opponent lunge for the shot near the net and set yourself up for a smash.

3. Drive

A drive shot is a relatively flat shot. You hit it in a way that the shuttle goes just above the net. This is usually a very fast shot that is played from the front of the middle of the court. Drives can be used as a defensive or offensive tactic depending on the play.

4. Lift

Lift is a defensive shot when you hit the shuttle from the front of the court all the way to the back of your opponent’s court. A lift usually comes right after a drop shot. When drop shots are hit close to the net, you got no choice but to do a lift as it would be hard to do any other shot.

5. Smash

Smash is probably everyone’s favourite shot to perform in badminton. It is a fast-paced shot downwards toward your opponent’s court. The main purpose of smashing is to put pressure on your opponents or win the point.

This is oftentimes a winning shot because it can be so fast that your opponent just can’t react quickly enough to catch it. Top badminton players can smash a shuttle as fast as 200 mph! This is the most offensive and arguably most impressive shots out of these 5. Smash can be performed from anywhere on the court as long as you get to hit the shuttle downwards.

Tennis

In tennis, there are 4 different standard shots other than the serve. They include drop, forehand/backhand ground stroke, lob and volley.

1. Drop

Similar to badminton, a drop is a shot where you place the ball near the net. This will usually make the opponent sprint to catch the ball. However, this shot is much harder to perform compared to badminton. Therefore, you will not see as many drop shots in tennis compared to badminton.

2. Forehand/Backhand Stroke

This is by far the most common shot in tennis. Most of the time, they are performed at the baselines of the court with the goal of pushing the opponent as far away from the net as possible. Ideally, you want to hit the ball with force while keeping it flat.

Usually, with this shot, you want to get it to as far into the boundaries of your opponent’s court as possible. This is equivalent to drive shots in badminton except in tennis, you perform these shots way more often.

3. Lob

A lob is like a badminton’s lift shot where you hit the ball high to the back of your opponent’s court. This is usually done when the opponent is near the net and you want them to run back.

4. Volley

A volley is when you hit the tennis ball before the ball bounce on the floor. This is usually done near the front of the net where you cannot afford to let the ball bounce. Volleys will put a lot of pressure on your opponent and if done right, you can easily win the point from this.

Despite that, this is a highly risky shot with high reward as well. Once you decide to volley, it is hard to change back to regular strokes until the point is over.

Maximum Number of Players for Badminton & Tennis

The official maximum number of players you can have for badminton and tennis are the same even though the court sizes are vastly different. You can only have 2 players on each side of the court for both badminton and tennis.

Sometimes, you will find people playing with more than 2 players on each side of the court for both sports during casual plays.

Point System Work: Badminton Vs Tennis

When it comes to point system, they have some similarities but at the same time, a lot of differences.

Point System of Badminton

Badminton is a game with a rally scoring system. Each set of game ends once a player or team hits 21 points with a minimum of 2 point advantage. Badminton is a game with the best of 3 sets. In order to win the game of badminton, a player or a team has to win 2 out of a possible 3 games.

No matter which player or team is serving, a rally scoring system will award a point. In the past, points are only awarded to those who served first in a rally and the game ends at 15 points instead of 21.

Furthermore, a player or team can only win with a 2 point advantage. For example, if the score is 21-20, no one has won yet because there is only a 1 point advantage. This is called a deuce and it is capped at 30 points. So, whichever player or team reaches 30 points first, are victorious even if the score is 30-29.

Point System of Tennis

Tennis also uses a rally scoring system but it is much more complex compared to badminton’s. Similar to badminton, a player or team has to win 2 out of 3 sets to win the entire game. In some instances, such as singles Grand Slam, Wimbledon doubles, and the Olympics are the best of 5 sets.

To win a set, you have to win 6 games with a 2 win advantage. If both players or teams are tied at 6 wins each, then a tiebreaker set is played. The play continues until a player or team has a 2 win advantage over the opponents. The player or team wins the set once there is a 2 win advantage.

For tennis, the score starts at 0, also known as love, then followed by 15, 30, 40, and game. Every time you win a rally, the score will increase to the next in line (0, 15, 30, 40, game).

The game ends after a player or team wins a rally after 40 points. When tied at 40 points each, a player or team has to win by 2 rallies to conclude a game. Winning a rally after 40 all is called an “advantage” which is abbreviated with “adv”.

How Do You Win Points?

You win a point for both badminton and tennis when your opponent fails to catch your shot given that it lands within the boundaries of the court.

Like I’ve mentioned in the beginning, when it comes to badminton vs tennis, the main difference is that tennis allows for 1 bounce while badminton allows for none.

Point scored in badminton when:

• The shuttle lands inside the boundaries the court
• The shuttle is out of the boundaries of the court (including shuttle landing on your own court)
• The shuttle hits the net
• There is a foul (touching the net, shuttle touching body, moving before services started, etc.)

Point scored in tennis when:

• The ball does not land in the boundaries of the court it is suppose to on the first bounce.
• The ball bounces twice.
• A foul is made (same as badminton)

These are the basics of how points are scored for both badminton and tennis. Of course, there is more to it than what’s listed. So, if you want to go more in-depth, I actually wrote an article about all the badminton rules that you need to know about before starting. It is presented in a way that is actually easy to understand and absorb.

If you want even more details, you can find the official rules for badminton here and tennis here.

How Long Does A Full Game Last?

How long a game lasts for badminton and tennis will vary greatly from players to players. For badminton, a full game of 3 sets usually takes about 45 minutes to slightly over an hour at the highest level for singles. On the other hand, tennis can take up to 5 hours for the best of 5 sets for singles.

Which Is More Intense?

The answer to this question is different for everyone. Both badminton and tennis are very intense and fast-paced sports. They require quick movements around the court and accurate shots.

The rest times for badminton are shorter compared to tennis, so in terms of intensity, badminton is arguably more intense. In tennis, you are allowed up to 30 seconds to serve the ball while badminton only allows up to 5 seconds.

However, tennis requires more strength because the racket and the ball are much, much heavier as compared to badminton. You’ll need way more force to hit a tennis ball compared to a shuttlecock.

Tennis is like a marathon and badminton is like a sprint, each has its own difficulties. Overall, I would say badminton is more intense due to the short rest times between points and sets.

Which One Earns More Money?

The more popular a sport is, the more prize money they get whenever they win a competition. There is no competition in this category, tennis is way more popular than badminton hands down. If you win a Wimbledon, you get almost 3 million dollars and 70 thousand dollars or so if you win The All England badminton competition.

Even compared to other sports, badminton’s prize money is a joke. Top athletes from most other sports can support themselves just by winning competitions but not badminton players. Most pro badminton players depend on endorsements and other financial help to keep themselves afloat. A little unfair isn’t it? Maybe…

Which One Should I Play?

As you can see from this article, there are quite a few differences between badminton and tennis. Nevertheless, they are both great sports. Each of these sports will require different skillset in order to be good at it.

Badminton is more of a vertical movement sport while tennis is more horizontal. Furthermore, badminton demands more from your forearm and wrist while tennis demands more from your arm. Movements in badminton are usually very delicate and subtle while tennis has wide and big.

Personally, I like badminton better but I strongly suggest you give both of these sports a try and pick one for yourself. Another factor in deciding which to pick is to check what courts do you have in your areas.

If there is no tennis court in your vicinity and you have to travel 2 hours to get to the nearest one, it might not be a smart choice. Ultimately, it comes down to how much you enjoy each sport, everyone is different.

Conclusion

To conclude, badminton and tennis are similar in some ways yet very different in others. You’ll also need to develop a different set of skills for each sport. Lastly, both are pretty intense in their own way and will get your heart pumping in no time.

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