Why Is Badminton Played Indoors? (Reasons and Alternatives)

When I was a young kid, my mother bought us a couple of badminton rackets, and we played outdoors with a smile on our faces. Only later in life, I discover that badminton is, in fact, an indoor sport. That’s because all competitive games are played inside. Why is that?

The most important reason why badminton is an indoor sport is the weather. A shuttlecock weighs around 0.17oz (5g), so the wind and rain will drastically impact its movement. Also, badminton is the world’s fastest sport, and indoors provide the optimal facilities for speed, clarity, and endurance.

That being said, badminton can still be played outdoors but only in a recreational sense. Competitive tournaments need to be as clear from any external factors affecting how the game is played. These factors would always be unfair for the other and an unearned advantage for the other.

To fully understand why badminton is played indoors, stick with me, and I’ll walk you through the different reasons individually.

Why Is Badminton an Indoor Sport?

In essence, badminton is an indoors port for three reasons: The Weather, Shuttlecock, and Endurance.

1. Weather

As we all know, there are many different weather conditions such as high temperatures, blinding sunlight, howling winds, and pouring rains. All of this affects how badminton is played and how well the players can compete with their skills without focusing on excessive rain or other elements.

Did you know that the wind can affect the trajectory of the shuttlecock so much that badminton halls aren’t even equipped with fans, only air conditioning? Compare how little the fan on a big badminton gym’s roof to an open wind outdoors.

As badminton is the world’s fastest sport, blinding sunlight or changing lighting can and will drastically affect how well the game can be played. This is always the advantage of one player and the disadvantage of another because one player would get more sunlight, disturbing the view. In fact, a shuttlecock has been struck to the speed of 306mph (493kph), so imagine receiving a strike like that while the sun is half blinding you.

2. Shuttlecock

When it comes to the shuttlecock, there are two kinds you can play with: Nylon and Feather shuttlecock.

A feather shuttlecock is always used in competitive matches because it has better aerodynamics than a nylon shuttlecock. On the conside, a Nylon shuttlecock is far more durable than a feather one, which is actually really fragile. In fact, an average badminton match uses around 20 shuttlecocks depending on the players and how the match will proceed.

Well, what does this have to do with why badminton is an indoor sport? As feather shuttlecocks won’t last that long, high temperatures, sand, dust, and sunlight can make the birdie even less durable, which would waste many shuttlecocks.

Also, many badminton gyms have humidifiers for keeping the feather birdies because they will last longer and keep their natural characteristics as intended to be played. However, high temperatures and direct sunlight will dry out the feathers and cork, which can alter the trajectory of the shuttlecock, making the game of badminton unplayable.

Nylon shuttlecocks are a great way to play badminton outdoors because they are far more durable than feather ones.

3. Endurance

Finally, badminton requires a huge amount of endurance, energy, and focus. Indoor badminton courts often have air conditioning, optimal court surface, and better playability overall, which improves the player’s endurance in the game.

However, outdoors can have high and low temperatures, pouring rain, or powerful winds that will reduce the player’s endurance and make it harder to give their best on the court because these elements make it harder.

Also, the playing surface of an indoor court is optimal to the explosive and fast movement in badminton. However, an outdoor court wouldn’t be as good because there would be sand, dust, and debris on the ground, which would harden the movement on the court.

Can You Play Badminton Outdoors?

As you learned, there are many reasons why badminton is an indoor sport. However, can it be played outdoors, and how well can it be done?

Badminton can be played outdoors as a recreational sport and for fun. For outdoor badminton, you should use nylon shuttlecocks because feather ones can be damaged outdoors. However, competitive badminton is never played outdoors because of weather, shuttlecock complications, and endurance reasons.

Nylon shuttlecocks like the ones from Champion Sports are a great example of a great outdoor birdie. They have a full nylon construction, which makes sure they are durable enough for the outdoors.

Another thing I want to point out is that you should check whether your badminton racket has natural gut strings or not. If they do, don’t store them outdoors because the strings don’t like high temperatures, direct sunlight, and humidity. As natural gut strings are the most expensive ones, you wouldn’t want to break them.

However, if you are a recreational player and have bought some badminton rackets to play with, the chances are good that they have nylon strings.

For example, the rackets in this Portable Badminton Set have nylon strings, and the whole set is outdoor-friendly. Only high-quality badminton rackets that are meant for serious play have natural gut strings.

What Is Air badminton?

Thanks to the modern era and many resourceful people, there are many alternatives for outdoor badminton than just badminton. For example, Air Badminton is a new development by the Badminton World Federation (BWF), which is badminton made for the outdoors by using an AirShuttle.

An AirShuttle is like the shuttlecock or birdie in badminton, but it is completely made for outdoors by being extra durable and resistant to air! However, the rackets remain the same, which makes it even greater because if a badminton player wants to play AirBadminton, all they lack is the AirShuttle!

AirBadminton is meant to be played on various surfaces such as hard, grass, and sand. The surface options are great because AirBadminton is meant to connect people worldwide, no matter what surfaces are available.

Learn more about AirBadminton from the video below or here from Badminton World Federation.

What is Crossminton?

Crossminton, on the other hand, is an older sport than AirBadminton, which is more of a hybrid of badminton, tennis, and squash. Anyways, Crossminton is made for the outdoors.

Crossminton is played with specific equipment made for it. These include a racket with a considerably larger head and a ”birdie” called a speeder.

The sport is played by setting up two boxes 42ft away from each other, where each player needs to stay during the game. The goal is to strike the speeder inside the other player’s box where the other can strike.

A point is lost if you can’t receive the speeder when it comes inside of your box or when you strike the speeder outside of your opponent’s box.

Crossminton, also called Speedminton, is a really fun sport that can be played on any surface because the boxes are all you need, which are extremely easy to set up.

Learn more about Crossminton from the video below. It’s really fun!