Stella Y.

Grade 9
28th January 2021
Are Badminton and Tennis more similar or different?

At first glance, Badminton and Tennis may look similar as they both use rackets to hit the
tennis balls or shuttlecock across the net. However, there are also quite a lot of differences
between the two when it comes to rules and regulations or the nets. In this essay, I will
compare the two sports by looking at the rules and regulations, history, competition,
participation and equipment to see whether Badminton and Tennis are more similar or
different.

Despite its recent introduction to the Olympics, badminton has a long history which can be
traced back to the mid-1800s when the games of “battledore and shuttlecock” were played
in ancient Greece, India and China. “Battledore and Shuttlecock” was a children’s game
which involved a paddle (battledore) being used to try and keep the shuttlecock in the air as
long as possible. The Games of Badminton began without a net and the opponents being
closer to one another. When a net was added, the game got a new name called, “Poona”.
With rising popularity, rules and regulations began to form around the 1870s. Unlike
Badminton, Tennis has a much longer history and dates back all the way to the 12 th century.
The history of tennis originates to a French handball game called “Paume”( Palm) where the
ball was struck with the hand. Afterwards, the game was developed into “Jeu de
Paume" (game of the palm) where racquets were used. Development of tennis racquet and
tennis balls underwent frequent modifications. Originally, tennis balls were made from
wood and were later filled with cellulose material to make the balls bouncier. The history of
Tennis and Badminton are quite different with different originated locations as well as the
original equipment being vastly different – Tennis using hands and wooden balls and
Badminton using paddles with shuttlecocks.

(Badminton: image collected from source 1) (Tennis :image collected from source 2)

At first glance, Tennis and Badminton have very similar equipment. However, they are quite
different to one another. Firstly, Badminton courts and Rackets are much smaller than
Tennis. Badminton courts are 44 feet long and 20 feet wide where else Tennis courts are 78
feet long and 36 feet wide. Badminton rackets are also much lighter than tennis rackets,
weighing 90 grams at most while tennis rackets weigh an average of 300 grams. Contrarily,
Badminton nets are positioned much higher compared to tennis nets. It stands at 5 feet tall
and tennis stands only at 3 feet. Although they have different courts and equipment, they
have similar uniforms. The uniforms for both Tennis and Badminton are similar with a
simple and light shirt and shorts or skirt.

As for the rules and regulations, Tennis and Badminton have some similarities and
differences. Both games can be played as singles or doubles on a court and are both racket
games which require an object to be hit over a net. However, rules and regulations differ
between the two in serving and point system. In Badminton, serves are only allowed to be
performed from the waist and below and faults are not eligible and costs a point. On the
other hand, Tennis you are given a second opportunity. Furthermore, the point system of
Badminton and Tennis also drastically differ. Tennis scoring is much more complex. To score
a point in Tennis, the ball will have to go over the net and hit the ground with the
parameters of the court twice unlike Badminton which scores a point as soon as the
shuttlecock hits the ground within the parameter of the court. To win a match in
Badminton, the player must be the first to reach 21 points and have at least a 2 points
difference. On the other hand, Tennis is scored on intervals of 15, 30, 40, then game.

Both Badminton and Tennis are very popular and competitive sports and sits on the top 10
most popular sports. To name a few, Badminton is played in the Olympics, World
Championships, Junior world Championships. As for Tennis, the most popular tournaments
are the Wimbledon, US open, Australia open and French open. Badminton is much more
popular in Asia compared to Tennis which on the other hand is much more popular in the
western countries. However, looking at the global participation rates statistics, Badminton is
played by much more people worldwide with 220 million people and Tennis is played by 60
million people worldwide.

To sum up everything that has been stated so far, I think that although Tennis and
Badminton may look similar at first glance, they are very different to one another in terms
of the rules of serving and point system as well as its equipment, courts, uniform and
history. They use different techniques and require different skills and the differences should
not be overlooked.

Bibliography:

1) Stuart, John. “Badminton History - Everything You Need To Know.” Badminton Skills.net,
16th October 2020. https://www.badmintonskills.net/badminton-history-a-brief-
history/. (Accessed 30th January 2021)

2) _ _ _. N/A. The History of Tennis, TennisTheme.

https://www.tennistheme.com/tennishistory.html. (Accessed 30th January 2021)

3) Pechenkov, Litah. “Comparing Sports: Tennis vs. Badminton.” Sportamix Blog, March 7,
2019. https://sportamix.com/blog/comparing-sports-tennis-vs-badminton/.
(Acccessed 31st January 2021)
4) Team, Realbuzz. “Top 10 Most Popular Participation Sports In The World.” Realbuzz 5,
March 11, 2019. https://www.realbuzz.com/articles-interests/sports-
activities/article/top-10-most-popular-participation-sports-in-the-world/. (Accessed 4th
February 2021)