Are Badminton And Tennis Courts The Same? Useful Info You Need To Know

For many sport-lovers, badminton and tennis are two of the familiar racket-using sports that are favored worldwide. Some people also suppose that the badminton court bears resemblance to the tennis court. A question has been raised that “Are badminton and tennis courts the same in reality?” If not, then what are the remarkable differences between them?

If you find yourself stuck with the answer, stay on this site. This article will provide all the detailed explanations and a thorough comparison to give you the precise answer!

Let’s kick right in!

Are Badminton and Tennis Courts The Same?

The answer is NO; the badminton courts are different from the tennis courts in some aspects. Though they might look the same, the courts of tennis are much bigger than badminton courts. Some newbies misunderstand this as they have not grown familiar with their functions.

Aside from the size, both racket sports courts considerably vary in surface, flooring systems, and places to play. To have a better grasp on this issue, follow the section below for a detailed comparison.

How Are Badminton Courts Different From Tennis Courts?

Here, we are going to discuss further into four categories to clear up the question, “Are badminton and tennis courts the same?”

1. Court Sizes

The size of badminton and tennis courts is the most obvious distinction. As we mentioned earlier, tennis courts are significantly larger than badminton courts. In particular, the size of tennis courts is nearly 1.5 times bigger than that of badminton.

According to the International Tennis Federation, a tennis court must be 27 feet (8.23 meters) wide for singles and 36 feet (10.97 meters) wide for doubles.

The length of a tennis court is around 78 feet (23.78 meters), which is longer than that of badminton. This is because the tennis sport needs more space to play to avoid the ball from bouncing too far.

If the size of a tennis court is as small as badminton, it can easily injure spectators when unexpected situations occur.

In contrast, badminton courts should be 17 feet (5.18 meters) wide for singles, and 20 feet (6.1 meters) wide for doubles, regarding the Badminton World Federation.

Note that these mentioned dimensions are only about the sizes of the courts. To create a spacious and comfortable place for players, both international organizations suggest having additional space around the court.

It is reasonable to expand the court for tennis because most tennis players spend their time playing outside of the court rather than inside the court.

2. Court Surfaces

There are four different court surfaces in sports following the ITF, including clay, carpet, grass, and hard court. So, are these court surfaces suitable for both badminton and tennis?

In fact, four courts are used at all levels of tennis competition except at the professional stage, where carpets or hard courts are not allowed. Simply put,  these court surfaces will support tennis in any way.

Please make sure that you have enough grip underfoot to be capable of altering the direction of movement to avoid unwanted situations. More importantly, you have to move or run longer distances when playing tennis compared to badminton.

Unlike tennis, badminton allows only one court surface constructed of PVC or other synthetic materials. Permanent and portable courts, built of synthetic resin or wood, are used in international level tournaments or below, as long as they match the BWF regulations.

Another point to note is that you should never play badminton on hard surfaces like concrete due to the possible risk of injury.

Read “Are Badminton And Tennis The Same? Time To Clear Your Mind”  for more details

3. Flooring Systems

The rules for badminton and tennis have their own reasons. The flooring system will decide on your movements in the court smoothly or not. In fact, tennis necessitates a lot of running, so a perfect court surface would be ideal to stop and begin running.

By contrast, since badminton requires you to move faster across shorter distances, you need a greater grip to stop and start moving. In addition, badminton makes you twisting and turning more as you must move side to side and move back and forth on the court.

Having poor grip can lead to twisted knees, ankles, and even slips, which are unexpected at any level.

Badminton requires a lot of jumping and general agility, and traveling around the court with speed and elastic points. Without a superior court to play on, knee injuries are unavoidable.

Flooring systems in sports are divided into four main types. These are:

1. Point elastic

Point elastic is like a synthetic flooring material used for covering an existing surface like concrete. This material is often wet poured polyurethane.

The main purpose of point elastic is to provide an equal playing field and reduce players’ impact. However, because it is simply a top layer, the displacement region when an impact occurs tends to be modest.

2. Mixed elastic

A mixed flexible flooring system contains two main parts: a point top elastic layer and a synthetic area-stiffening. While the former element is stretchy, the latter is placed beneath it on top of the base floor.

When the system is utilized alone, it is likely to generate a larger region for displacement, giving it a superior surface for badminton.

3. Area elastic

Area elastic is quite separate from other types of elastic flooring systems as it has a raised top layer above the sub-floor. The top layer flooring is supported by a structure of beams, which generate hollow areas in the flooring that allow it to bend. This system provides the best region of displacement for force upon impact.

4. Combined elastic

Lastly, the combined elastic is the greatest flooring system for badminton because it combines the advantages of both point adaptability and area flexibility. The system comes with a flexible area design and an adjustable point system on top. It has a big influence on the absorption and endurance properties of a point elastic system for sports.

In general, four systems come with different characteristics and materials to suit each sport. The point elastic flooring system is inappropriate for badminton; the three left are still good to play.

4. Places to Play

Different from tennis, which originated as an outdoor sport, badminton features no specific regulations regarding outdoor courts. This is because the sport was never designed to play outdoors.

Tennis stems from an outdoor lawn activity and has been changed to suit the indoor playing style. Badminton, on the other hand, has never had an outdoor court counterpart as it seems impractical to play outside.

A shuttlecock only weighs from four to six grams, which is much smaller than a tennis ball (around 60 grams). As a result, it is impossible to play badminton outdoors when it is windy or pouring because a shuttlecock is very light.

Can You Play Badminton On A Tennis Court?

No, you cannot play badminton on a tennis court for many reasons. First, tennis and badminton courts are different in size. Obviously, they require different skills and speeds to move and run around the courts. Especially in professional competitions, it is not a good idea to play badminton on tennis courts.

Read “Sports Knowledge: Can You Play Badminton On A Tennis Court?” for more details

Another reason is that the positions of the badminton and tennis nets are also different. Regarding measurements, the top of the tennis court’s net is around 36 inches, which is nearly 30 inches more than a badminton net (60 inches).

Put another way, playing badminton on a tennis court will limit your ability and power to hit the shuttlecock and beat off your competitors.

Moreover, people always play tennis outside and badminton inside. As a shuttlecock is much lighter than a tennis ball, it will go in the wrong direction and affect the result of the competition when the weather turns bad.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Are Tennis and Badminton Shoes Similar?

The answer is NO. Badminton shoes are generally lighter than tennis shoes. In reality, each sport has different types of shoes to suit its courts. Similar to tennis shoes, they are designed for only a specific tennis court surface. It means these shoes will not match with the badminton sport.

If you wear tennis shoes to play badminton, it may somehow limit your movements on the courts, leading to unexpected performance. Therefore, many experts advise against wearing tennis shoes to play badminton and vice versa.

2. Which is More Difficult: Tennis or Badminton?

Well, it is not easy to state which one is harder. Each type of sport has its own advantages and challenges; it all depends on the ability and preference of each person.

However, if we put them on the scale, badminton seems complicated to play compared to its counterpart. Badminton requires you to have strength in speed, explosive power, and even agility. It also needs more stroke variants than tennis, so there is a lot more to master.

3. Is There A Difference In Size Between A Tennis Court and A Badminton Court?

As we mentioned above, a tennis court is nearly 1.5x larger than a badminton court. Hence, the tennis sport requires a lot more energy, endurance, and plenty of stamina.

4. Can four players play badminton and tennis?

Definitely YES, why not? Both badminton and tennis sports allow four people to play on the double court. Four people can easily and comfortably move and run around.

Please remember that four people should not play badminton in a single court as it is only suitable for two people. Imagine that you can play comfortably and perform well when you have a limited space to move and run, or even worse when you strike fair in your partner’s face.

Thus, four players who play badminton and tennis need to notice the size of the court before starting to create an exciting match and ensure everyone’s physical health.

5. What is the main difference in rackets between badminton and tennis?

Players of both sports have to use rackets, but they are designed with different sizes and features. Tennis rackets are much bigger than badminton ones. As you may not know, a badminton racket has a smaller grip and a smaller racket face than a tennis racket.

Additionally, the shaft of a tennis racket is reasonably solid and durable. This is partly because of the tennis ball’s heavier weight, which takes more force to return to the opponent than a shuttlecock.

6. Is It Possible For Tennis Players To Play Badminton?

There is no specific answer to this question. In general, tennis players can play badminton easily. Still, it will be tough for a player to become a professional badminton or tennis player because these two sports come with different regulations and requirements.

Sometimes, tennis players will struggle to play badminton since their muscle memory has been trained to strike a shot in a particular manner.

Conclusion

At first sight, badminton and tennis courts seem very similar. It is now clear that they are totally different in many factors: court sizes, surfaces, flooring systems, and places to play. You need to notice these differences to choose a proper court to play both sports comfortably and enjoyably.

If someone asks you, “Are badminton and tennis courts the same?” Will you be confident to answer?. Surely you will be after reading this article. We hope to provide enough detailed information to clear up your queries. Thanks for reading, and see you in our next post!