Tennis Calorie Calculator
The number of calories that you burn while playing tennis will depend on a number of factors, including your height, weight, style, and level of play that you are participating in. For example, if you are just working on “volleys” and hitting the ball back and forth, you will be burning fewer calories than if you were playing a singles match of high-intensity tennis.
How to Use The Calculator
Using the calculator is simple. To calculate how many calories you are burning from playing tennis, just input your weight and the time that you’ve spent or plan to be playing tennis for. Then simply select the specific activity that you plan to perform and then hit “CALCULATE”.
Using the calculator step-by-step:
- Choose your unit of measurement (pounds or kilograms)
- Enter your weight
- Select the specific activity of tennis that you are playing. You can choose from singles, doubles, general play, or hitting balls in non-gameplay
- Enter the number of minutes for each selected activity
- Hit “CALCULATE”
You will now see the approximate calories burned boxing.
How The Calculator Works
Our tennis calculator uses MET (metabolic equivalent of task) values in order to find out the number of calories that playing tennis will burn for you. This value is determined by a convention of 3.5 mL of oxygen per kilogram of each minute while doing the specific activity [1].
The calculator has preset levels of exercise and corresponding intensity that playing tennis gives you. Using this calculator will give you a realistic idea of how many calories you will burn.
MET
Using MET to determine your body’s energy expenditure is what our calculator is primarily used for. A MET value is the number that determines the energy it takes to perform various activities, such as playing tennis. This is the ratio that shows the relationship between your active metabolic rate to the resting metabolic rate.
The active metabolic rate (AMR) determines the calories that you continue to burn throughout the day, while the resting metabolic rate (RMR) measures the amount of calories that you are burning when your body is at rest and not actively digesting.
Activities that have a MET value of 1 burn as many calories as your RMR, while activities with a MET of 4 will burn 4 times as many calories as your RMR. This means that you expend 4 times as much energy as the activity with only 1 MET.
Formula
The formula that our tennis calculator uses to determine the number of calories burned per minute is (MET x bodyweight in Kg x 3.5) ÷ 200.
Examples
An individual weighing 175 pounds will burn approximately 418 calories from hitting tennis balls in non-gameplay with moderate effort. This activity has a MET of 5, which means that it burns 5 times as many calories as your RMR.
This is what the formula for calculating the calories burned while playing tennis with moderate effort will look like:
- Calories burned (per minute) = (body weight in kg x MET x 5) ÷ 200
- Calories burned (per minute) = ( 79.4 x 5 x 5 ) ÷ 200
- Calories burned (per minute) = 9 calories x 60
- Calories burned (per hour) = 418 calories per hour
What about playing a singles tennis match? Playing a singles game of tennis has a much higher MET, which is at 8, being the most rigorous tennis activity that you can perform. This time, we are going to calculate the number of calories burned per hour for a 175-pound individual playing a single game of tennis:
- Calories burned (per minute) = (body weight in kg x MET x 5) ÷ 200
- Calories burned (per minute) = ( 79.4 x 8 x 5 ) ÷ 200
- Calories burned (per minute) = 1 calories x 60
- Calories burned (per hour) = 668 calories per hour
Playing a doubles match will have a significantly different amount of calories burned for the average person since you aren’t moving as much as you are in a singles match. The MET for playing doubles is 6 as opposed to 8 in a singles match. The breakdown of the formula for a doubles match is as follows:
- Calories burned (per minute) = (body weight in kg x MET x 5) ÷ 200
- Calories burned (per minute) = ( 79.4 x 6 x 5 ) ÷ 200
- Calories burned (per minute) = 3 calories x 60
- Calories burned (per hour) = 501 calories per hour
What is Tennis?
Tennis is one of the most played sports in the entire world, with professional athletes representing their countries during the Summer Olympic Games, held every 4 years. Tennis can also be played at all skill levels and at any age.
The objective of tennis is to hit the yellow tennis ball with your racket in a direction to make it so the opponent cannot return the ball with a legal hit. Competitive tennis matches involve a “serve” to start each point. The person who serves to start the game will alternate as the game progresses.
As we mentioned previously, tennis matches are played in “singles” or “doubles” formats. As you can guess, a singles match is played between two players head-to-head, while a doubles match is played between two teams of two players each. Singles and doubles have many differences which can influence the style of play and strategy used to win the match.
Tennis is played by millions of recreational players around the world as well as professional players. There are four “Grand Slam” tournaments that professional players can participate in. The Grand Slam tournaments are by far the most competitive tournaments in the world and will give the players great recognition if they can come out victorious, as well as a large pool of prize money.
The four Grand Slam events are:
- Australian Open
- French Open
- Wimbledon
- US Open
The Australian Open is the first of the Grand Slam events that take place in Melbourne, Australia each year, starting in the middle of January. The Australian Open was first held in 1905 and has become one of the biggest sporting events in the Southern Hemisphere [3]. The Australian Open is also the most attended Grand Slam event out of all four tournaments.
The French Open is held in Paris over the course of two weeks, typically beginning in late May of each year. This Grand Slam tournament is played on a clay court, which is unlike all of the other Grand Slam tournaments surfaces. The French Open is considered to be the most physically demanding tournament of all the Grand Slam events [4].
Wimbledon is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, having been held each year since 1877. This Grand Slam event is also considered to be the most prestigious tennis tournament in the world [5]. Wimbledon is held in London and is the only major tennis event that is still played on a grass surface.
The US Open is played in New York City each year, starting on the last Monday of August, and running for two weeks through Labor Day. The US Open’s origins trace back to 1881 and are one of the oldest tennis championships that exist today. In addition to the standard events, the US Open has events for seniors, juniors, and wheelchair players.
Notable Tennis Players
There are many tennis players that have propelled themselves to be considered as the best of all time. Among men’s players, the following tennis players are considered to be the best to ever play the game of tennis:
- Andre Agassi
- Rod Laver
- Rafael Nadal
- Roger Federer
- Novak Djokovic
Women’s tennis also has a rich history of many notable players that are considered to be the best to ever play the game. The top women’s tennis players of all time include:
- Serena Williams
- Venus Williams
- Billie Jean King
- Steffi Graf
- Chris Evert
Tennis Equipment
Unlike many other competitive sports, tennis doesn’t require an excessive amount of equipment to be able to play in competition and recreationally. In order to play the game of tennis, you only need a racket, tennis balls, and a court to play on.
Some other common accessories that are used while playing tennis include:
- Sunglasses
- Tennis shoes
- Hats & visors
- Tennis bags
- Grips & tape
The Bottom Line
Tennis is a sport that people of any age, ability, and experience can play. In addition to the enjoyment that the sport of tennis provides, it’s also a great way to exercise and burn calories while having fun.
Tennis continues to be one of the most popular and widely viewed sports in the world, and the Grand Slam tournaments draw in crowds from all across the globe. The minimal amount of equipment that is needed to play the game of tennis makes it an attractive sport for people of all ages and skill levels.
Be sure to check out all of our other activity calculators at FitnessVolt.com!
References:
- Jetté, M., Sidney, K., & Blümchen, G. (1990). Metabolic equivalents (METS) in exercise testing, exercise prescription, and evaluation of functional capacity. Clinical cardiology, 13(8), 555–565. https://doi.org/10.1002/clc.4960130809
- “Grand Slam Tournaments”. ITF. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
- “Melbourne Park ready for 2019 Australian Open”. Australasian Leisure Management. 17 January 2019. The Australian Open 2019 is the largest annual sporting event in the Southern Hemisphere and the biggest sporting event in the world in January.
- Clarke, Liz (15 May 2020). “The French Open, ‘unique in all the world’, demands a dancer’s agility and an iron will”. The Washington Post. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
- Clarey, Christopher (7 May 2008). “Traditional Final: It’s Nadal and Federer”. The New York Times. Retrieved 17 July 2008. Federer said[:] ‘I love playing with him, especially here at Wimbledon, the most prestigious tournament we have.’
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