Comparison of Badminton & Tennis Rackets

Tennis and badminton are similar sports with a common heritage. Both require players to use rackets (or racquets) to hit a ball or shuttlecock over a net in the center of a rectangular court. However, despite their similarities, the sports and the rackets they use have some significant differences.

  1. Use

    • In tennis, players often use both hands to smash the ball back across the net with as much force as possible. In badminton, though, players always hold the racket in one hand and hit it over the net (which is kept higher than a tennis net) in an arc.

    Construction

    • Tennis and badminton rackets both have the same basic parts: head, gut, throat, shaft and handle. In general, though, tennis rackets have a heavier construction, because they need to be able to withstand a greater force of impact. One of the quickest ways to differentiate a tennis racket from a badminton racket is by looking at the shaft and throat. The throat of a badminton racket connects with the head at one point, while most tennis rackets now connect with the head at two points, which gives more support.

    Materials

    • Both types of rackets were traditionally made of wood, gut and leather. Today, though, all three of these materials are virtually gone from both sports. Instead of animal gut for the stringing and leather for the handle, both types of rackets use synthetic polymers for these parts. Instead of wood, manufacturers make tennis and badminton rackets out of carbon, graphite, fiberglass, Kevlar, boron, and aluminum. They often even mix these materials.

    Dimensions

    • The International Tennis Federation stipulates that the width of a tennis racket frame cannot exceed 12.5 inches in width, and that the stringing surface cannot exceed 15.5 inches in length or 11.5 inches in width. Badminton rackets cannot exceed 26.77 inches in overall length and 9.05 inches in overall width.

    Similar Rackets

    • Squash and racquetball both use rackets that are comparable to tennis and badminton rackets.