Badminton is a sport that can be played both casually and competitively. It is typically played as a single or doubles game with either two or four players. The object of the game is to hit the shuttlecock, also known as a “birdie,” over the net and into your opponent’s court.
In terms of speed, badminton is the fastest racket sport. The world record for the fastest badminton shot was set by Malaysian badminton player Tan Boon Heong when he hit the shuttlecock at 493 kilometers per hour. To put that in perspective, the world record for the 100-meter dash is just 9.58 seconds, which equates to 37.6 kilometers per hour. In other words, Tan Boon Heong’s badminton shot was more than 13 times faster than Usain Bolt’s world-record 100-meter dash time!
Why badminton is considered the fastest racket sport?
Why is badminton considered the quickest racket sport? To answer this, let’s compare badminton with other similar sports.
Badminton Vs. Squash
While badminton is technically the quickest racket sport, it is not necessarily the most exciting to watch. That distinction probably goes to squash, which is widely considered to be the most action-packed racket sport. One of the reasons squash is so fast-paced is that the ball can ricochet off of all four walls of the court, as opposed to just two walls in tennis. Squash rallies can also last significantly longer than badminton rallies since there are no service faults and players can continue to hit the ball even after it has bounced twice.
In terms of speed, Cameron Pilley hit the squash ball at an impressive speed of 283.2km/h, setting a new world record.
While badminton might not be as exciting to watch as squash, it is still an excellent way to get a workout. In addition to being quick and explosive, badminton is also a great cardio workout since players have to constantly be moving around the court. If you are looking for a fun and challenging way to get in shape, badminton is definitely worth considering!
Badminton Vs. Ping Pong
Although the game of Ping Pong, also known as table tennis, shares some rules with lawn tennis, it is primarily played indoors on a divided table. Two players use small bats to hit a ball back and forth across the net to their opponent in an effort to score points. This game, similar to badminton, is widely played in Asian countries such as China and Japan.
In 2016, Łukasz Budner from Poland achieved the fastest ping pong ball speed – 116 km/h. The record was set during the championship in Częstochowa Sports Hall.
Badminton Vs. Tennis
Tennis is a popular racket sport that can be played both competitively and recreationally. The game is typically played between two players, but there are also doubles tennis tournaments where teams of two players compete against each other. Recently, one of the best tennis players ever–Roger Federer–took retirement. He was considered by many to be a GOAT (greatest of all time).
Though technically, the scoring way in badminton and tennis is similar, the gameplay differs a lot. A tennis player has to make sure that the ball bounces first on their own court before hitting it again, while in badminton, the player can hit the birdie/shuttlecock whenever they want as long as it goes over to the other side of the court.
In 2012, Sam Groth from Australia hit the world’s fastest serve at 263.4 km/h on the Busan Tennis court.
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Conclusion:
In conclusion, while badminton might not be the most popular racket sport to watch, it is definitely the quickest and most entertaining. With speeds reaching up to 493 kph, badminton shots are some of the fastest shots in sports!
Although some other sports games have faster speeds, such as formula 1 cars (Highest Speed Record: 372 km/h), skydiving (396 km/h), and speed skiing (400 km/h). Badminton is still the racket sport with the fastest recorded speed.