Does tennis mess up my badminton?

[Josh B.]

I've been pondering over this for awhile now. I play tennis as well as badminton and tennis season is nearing. I usually start to play tennis around now to get warmed up for the summer when I play at tournaments and stuff. But I'm finding that when I go to play badminton after playing tennis I can't play badminton very good. It's not the strokes or footwork, it's the whole game! Does anyone have an answer to my problem?

[SystemicAnomaly]

It doesn't have. My tennis strokes were already pretty well grooved when I picked up badminton. It took 4 to 6 months b4 I could switch between the 2 sports easily. It just took a little bit of work & patience. Even tho' your concious mind knows that there are differences betweem the 2 sports, it takes your body a while to make the adjustment.

Initially, tennis helped me with the hand-eye coordination for my entry into badminton. It took a while for me to revise my tennis-type strokes in my badminton game. Eventually, I learned the mechanics for proper badminton strokes.

After years of playing both sports, I am finding that badminton helps my tennis game quite a bit. It doesn't do too much for my groundstrokes, but it helps considerably with my tennis smashes, serves, reflex volleys, stamina & movement on the court.

Try to stick with it for a while. As you get closer to your tennis season forget the badminton for a while. Once your competitive tennis period is over, focus on badminton until you get your game back. At that point see if you can switch between the 2 sports.

If you are serious about your tennis & not willing to go thru an adjustment period, then just focus on tennis for now; get back to badminton afterward. At that time, if you are not going to be competing in badminton (for a while), try for that period of adjustment. If you play both sports equally well already, it may take you less time than it took me.

[Josh B.]

I really want to play both of them equally. But of course, I will play badminton more often than tennis since badminton is indoors and tennis is only good in warm weather.

[Jason]

i used to play tennis before i played badminton more regularly... and after a while, i went back to tennis... i cannot adjust because the racket is sooo much heavier!
however, tennis helps tremendously with your wrist strength... and the vollys also help with your badminton... just make sure u dont do a volly in badminton as u would in tennis :P

[SystemicAnomaly]

do repetitive drills that emphasize both strokes and footwork for both sports. hopefully this will make the transition/adjustment between the 2 sports easier (eventually). be very conciencious about it... don't get lazy or sloppy about the stroke mechanics for either sport; don't blur the mechanics & the footwork between the two. there are many differenes as well as similarities.

remember that for badminton net play, the racket foot is always forward, whereas for tennis volleys, the racket foot steps forward on the BH and the other foot steps forward on the FH.

just keep working at it till the problems disappear. you will find that eventually 1 sport will actually help the other.

[Iwan]

I think its the tactics... In badminton you play with all four corners of the court a lot. From back you can go forward and from forward you can go back altogether very easily. But in tenis, once you go forward, you usually have to stay forward because if your opponent throws a drive shot to the far back, then you're really screwed, arent you?

Plus, I think the strokes can be quite a problem too. Not much wrist play in tennis, serious wristplay in badminton. FYI this is coming from a person who has played badminton for 9+ years and tenis for ONLY 3 months which happened two years ago. So maybe my advice is not that great, but do give it a thought.

[SystemicAnomaly]

The wrist does NOT play the role that you think it does in badminton. The wrist is cocked (flexed back) for most badminton shot but it does not experience a significant back to front (extension) motion as may players seem to think; many books and coaches have been misleading us all for years. Biomechanical studies have shown us otherwise. Forearm rotation & finger power are considerably more important than wrist movement in generating power in badminton.

Forearm rotation & wrist cocking are also very important in tennis, especially on smashes & flat serves. The mechanics of smashes for badminton & tennis are nearly identical. Wrist cocking is used on tennis grounstrokes & volleys.

Forearm rotation is also employed somewhat on groundstrokes, especially with Western & Semi-western grips. Finger power can also be used in tennis, particularly on volleys (and smashes).

[Cheung]

Just my 2 cents worth,
I used to play both when younger.

At a lower level of standard, say high school...it probably doesn't make much difference. In fact, improvement may be seen, perhaps just by the time used up in coordinating body movements. Your body and brain improve in hand-eye-movement coordination.

At a higher level of play, I think that's where small differences might have a bigger impact on court. A tennis stroke rather like the clay courters groundstrokes would be slow in a badminton stroke (even if modified to a smaller backswing).

I don't play much tennis now. I don;t think it's useful for badminton and I'm still trying to unlearn some tennis movements that have hindered badminton progress. They are not big things but if I want to get to the next level up.......

[Dan]

I used to think that way too. It all depends on the individual. If you are the type who can adjust to both type of sport, then I think it is alright. I've seen some who cannot play badminton at all, still using their tennis stroke.