Today, during lunch, I told my friends that badminton is more intense then they think of as the lazy backyard sport. They laughed and said it could never compare to sports like soccer/football, or basketball and hockey based on how "hard" it is to play. Is badminton on the same level as other sports, more intense or less?
This has been debated in quite a few threads going way back. Long story short: 1) In every sport there are people pushing the human body to its limits. Intensity is in the effort of the participant. 2) No sport is better than another. It is 100% subjective. Therefore there is no sense in arguing with meatheads. 3) Don't try to proselytize your sport to those who are uninterested. But be generous with those who are curious.
If they compare backyard badminton with the pro level of othere sports, of course, there's no comparison. If another way around, backyard basketball or park style soccer has no match for badminton WC either. It's a matter of what level of each you are referring to. For the ppl who refuse to believe, simly because "I never see it", then there's no point to even arguing.
My 2 cents. If by intensity you mean burning more calories, this info might help. I guess this is the average number retrieved from different samples. Source: Barmer For a 70kg person doing 15 minutes of these activities (in kcal): Walk: 87 Golf: 93 Cycle 15km/h: 109 Football: 147 Jogging 9km/h: 150 Tennis: 157 Basketball: 160 Squash: 226 I don't have numbers for badminton but I think playing badminton singles is like squash. Anybody that play squash can comment on this? @alexd953, on a side note, maybe your friends only see contact sports as harder or tougher to play. @Fidget: agreed 100%
i know how it feels, trying to prove to people that badminton isn't what they think it is ( a sport for pussys) there are too many misinformed people and all comes from the problem that they see it as a sport where you hit a multicoloured plastic shuttle with a big foam ball around in a garden, because that is their only experience with it. I think professional badminton really needs more exposure around europe and america. here in england it is the number one played racket sport and yet still if i were to ask most of the people at my school what kind of sport badminton is, many wouldn't even consider it one, but rather a leisure activity. but anyway, to answer your question, i believe that badminton is definitely on the same level as other sports, (if you are playing it properly) and 'can' be more intense than others, taking into consideration that it is the fastest sport on the planet, combined with constant movement around the court.
