Is Badminton An Expensive Sport?

Many people I know are hesitating to get into badminton because they think it might be an expensive sport. Many sports can get expensive really fast and put a hole in your wallet. Let’s find out if badminton is one of them…

Badminton is actually relatively inexpensive to play compared to other sports. All you need is a racket, a pair of badminton shoes, rent a court, and have some shuttles. Of course, all this can get expensive if you buy top-notch level gear. You do not have to do this, it is optional.

In this article, I will breakdown the cost of badminton and give you a feel of how much it can potentially cost you. Depending on the option you go with, badminton can become a pretty expensive sport for you.

How Much Does Badminton Cost?

There are several gears that you must get before you start playing badminton. These include things such as badminton shoes, rackets, shuttles, and a court. The type of court you play in will be significant in determining whether badminton is going to be an expensive sport for you.

Badminton Shoes

Badminton shoes usually last quite a long time if you use them properly. I wrote another article breaking down how long a pair of badminton shoes usually last. For most people, they can last about 1 year before replacing them.

They can range from $25 all the way up to $200 if you really wanna get a good pair. If you want to stay injury-free, make sure you wear the proper shoes to play badminton. Without them, you can easily sprain your ankle or get nasty blisters on your feet. Invest in a good pair of badminton shoes before even thinking of spending more money on a better racket.

Rackets

With badminton rackets, they are usually a one-time investment. They can last for many years if you take care of it well. I have a racket that lasts for more than 10 years and it’s still going strong. You cannot expect every racket will last as long. It highly depends on how well you treat the racket and how you keep it.

Badminton rackets can cost anywhere from $20 (sucks) all the way to $300+. I do not recommend buying a cheap racket because they are too heavy and do not hit the shuttle well. It might be different if you are an EXTREMELY casual player.

A decent racket should cost about $60. That is good enough for most people. There’s no need to make badminton an expensive sport unnecessarily. Also, the string and grip of the badminton racket will need to be changed every once in a while.

Cost of String & Grip

String and grip are the other expense you need to consider to give you a complete calculation. They are, however, relatively cheap. You will have to replace those every once in a while. The more you play, the more often you’ll have to replace them. The string and grip last about 3 months, playing 3 to 4 times a week.

A decent badminton racket string cost about $10 and grip is about $1-2 each.

Renting Rackets

If you don’t want to buy a racket, you can also rent it at some badminton clubs but not all of them do that. The price of renting a badminton racket can vary a lot. The average I’ve found online is about $10 per day.

Shuttlecocks

Shuttlecocks are an ongoing cost. If you played badminton at all, you know that quality shuttlecocks can really make badminton an expensive sport. However, this depends on the intensity of your play.

If you are playing at a badminton club, they will usually supply you with shuttles. That’s great, now you can ignore the cost of shuttlecocks. If you are renting a court or playing it outdoor or your backyard, you will have to consider the cost.

Shuttlecocks Used for Outdoor/Backyard

If you are going to play badminton in your backyard, I recommend you play with plastic shuttles. You can also play with feather shuttles but they will cost a lot more. Furthermore, the outdoor environment will destroy them very quickly, driving the cost even higher.

Obviously, the feather shuttles will blow these plastic ones out of the water in terms of flight and quality. But, since you are playing outdoor, durability and stability of the shuttle, is way more important.

If you are looking to play outdoor, I recommend using Yonex Mavis 300. It is a durable plastic shuttle that does a good job. Check the prices on Amazon with this link.

Each tube of 6 Yonex Mavis 300 cost around $15. Playing 2 times a week, I would expect half a dozen of these plastic shuttles to last a minimum of 3 months. This will cost about $0.6 per session of badminton.

Shuttlecocks Used for Indoor Court

When playing on indoor courts, you can choose to continue playing with plastic shuttle (Yonex Mavis 300) or you can choose to play with feather shuttles. This choice depends on your level.

If you are a beginner, playing with the plastic shuttles is fine but if you are a more advanced player, get the feather shuttles. The feather shuttles play better in terms of flight and quality. You will immediately feel the difference as compared to the plastic ones.

For feather shuttles, I usually go with the Yonex Aerosensa line. Considering the balance between the price and quality, the Yonex Aerosensa AS 20 is a good choice. You can get it on Amazon following this link.

A tube of Yonex Aerosensa AS 20 cost around $35 for 12 shuttles. Depending on how aggressive you play, each session, you are likely to use around 2 shuttles to 4 shuttles. This comes up to around $5.80 to $11.50 each session of badminton. As you can see, the cost is 10 times higher compared to playing with plastic shuttles.

Court

Finally, let’s talk about how much badminton courts will cost you. There are 2 places you can play badminton at… backyard courts (outdoor) or indoor courts. These two options will vary a lot in prices. Obviously, indoor courts will be way more expensive in the long term as compared to a backyard, outdoor court. However, you can join a club where they have badminton courts and it will be much cheaper than hiring a court outside.

Joining A Badminton Club

This will vary in prices depending on the country and city you are in. In the United States, joining a club to play a 2 hour badminton session ranges from $1.5 all the way up to $17 for the same service. Some states, such as New York are just way more expensive. So, the best advice I could give you is to check it yourself on Google. Just search something like “play badminton in (your city)” and you should find your answer pretty easily.

The awesome thing about joining a club is that they usually provide you with shuttlecocks, this will cut your cost down even more. Again, this will depend on the club you go to. Moreover, you get to meet new people and play even when none of your friends are free.

Hiring A Court Yourself

Like joining a badminton club, the prices range quite a lot when hiring a badminton court in the United States. What I have found is that some places are actually free to play on as long as they are not occupied. However, in some small cities, on average, the court price is about $50 per hour. New York, unsurprisingly, starts at around $80 per hour.

The good thing about hiring your own court is that you can choose who you want to play wit. Unlike playing in the club where you need to rotate and wait for your turn when there are more players than courts available. Most of the time in clubs, you are forced to play doubles because playing singles is just being selfish.

The disadvantage of hiring your own court is the price you pay. It will be more expensive as you have to fork out $50 to $80 per hour. On top of that, you have to bring your own shuttlecocks which will drive the cost up even higher. Going this route will definitely make badminton an expensive sport for the long term.

Setting Up Your Own Court In Your Backyard (Outdoor)

This is the cheapest option out of the 3. It is also the one that is least enjoyable in terms of the overall experience. As you know… shuttlecocks are very light and even a little bit of wind can disrupt the trajectory. This makes it harder to play and way less enjoyable.

The prices of a set of net and poles are around $40 on Amazon. This is likely going to be a one-time investment. Unless it gets too old or worn out and you want to replace it. Therefore, the more you use it, the lower the cost per session it’s going to be. I’m assuming you play about 2 times a week for a year with these nets. That will be about 100 times of use give or take, which means it will cost you about $0.40 for each session. That’s pretty dang cheap if you ask me.

Conclusion

As you can see, badminton can be an expensive or inexpensive sport depending on which route you take. If you just want to hit the shuttle for fun once in a while, setting up your own backyard court is probably the way to go. You can even get away playing badminton without the proper shoes. There isn’t much intensity if you are this casual, you don’t have to worry about injuries.

On the other hand, if you are more serious about badminton, but on a budget, go and join a badminton club. Get a decent pair of badminton shoes with a decent racket. You are going to need the proper shoes to prevent injuries if you are going to play in a club. People in badminton clubs will want to play with at least decent intensity.

You will be moving around a lot faster and make more explosive movements. This can easily get you injured if you do not have the proper shoes. Going this route will be a little more expensive to play badminton but you will also enjoy it a lot more.

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