Comparison and Contrast Essay: Tennis and Badminton

A lot of us may wonder, what makes Tennis and Badminton different from each other. Aside from being a racquet sport, some say that Tennis is harder and Badminton is easier. I can say that both are hard to do because I have tried both. People may see it differently but there are similarities in these racquet sports. The purpose of this essay is to show the similarities and differences of Tennis and Badminton in movements, equipments used, and point system.

First, there are differences in movement. In Tennis, sideward movement is done while in Badminton, forward, backward, diagonal right and left are the movements present. Badminton is a faster sport because you need to hit the ball or shuttlecock before it touches the ground. On the other hand, for Tennis, you can still wait and anticipate longer because the ball is allowed to bounce on the ground. Service is done in Tennis and Badminton; this is when you serve the ball or shuttlecock to the opponent. In Tennis, service is done behind the baseline while in Badminton while in Badminton, you are to serve in front of the baseline. It is said that both services are done underhand but this is disadvantageous for the Tennis players because their opponents can immediately hit the ball with greater force and speed. This is considered a bad move in Tennis because the court is a lot bigger and players would not be able to hit the ball because chances are, the ball will travel very far from the player.

Second, let us discuss about the equipments used in playing this sports. We all know that both are racquet sports. However, their racquets differ in size and strings. Tennis uses a bigger racquet while Badminton is played with a lighter and longer racquet. A Tennis racquet is heavier and the head is wider than that of a Badminton racquet. Next are the balls used in these sports. Tennis balls are round while shuttlecocks are triangular-like in shape with a round end at the head. Tennis balls are reusable while shuttlecocks can easily be destroyed. For the courts, in Tennis, it can be played on grass, clay or sand type of court while Badminton courts are made of taraflex. Nets are also used in Tennis and Badminton. They are shorter and are tied to the ground for Tennis. On the contrary, nets are tied at the height of five feet for Badminton

Last is point system. Both Tennis and Badminton use a rally point system. They differ in how many points you have to earn before you win. In Tennis, you only need 4 points; they are counted as 15-30-40-60. In Badminton, it is from 1 to 21.

I may have pointed out similarities between Tennis and Badminton earlier but there are more similarities that you may not know about. I have said that both are racquet sports, both involve the use of courts, balls and many more. Tennis and Badminton have the same events for men and women. Both have men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles and mixed singles and mixed doubles wherein men and women are to play with each other. Also, both sports are played in Olympic and Asian games. These are the similarities these sports have.

I have tried both sports but I prefer to play Badminton. They may differ in movements, equipments used and point system but I still prefer to play Badminton. I have been playing it for more than 5 years and have fallen in love with it.

Reflection:

I did not have a hard time making this essay since I know the topic very well. I am a bit satisfied with my essay but I did not use references so I think not everything is correct about the essay. I only based it on what I have learned before. If I had used a reference, I think the essay will be better.