Racquet Sport Calorie Burn Calculator

This calculator estimates energy expenditure using MET values (Metabolic Equivalent of Task) looked up in exercise science's standard activity-intensity reference, the 2011 Compendium of Physical Activities (Ainsworth et al.) — for example, it lists tennis singles at 8.0 MET, tennis doubles at 6.0, competitive squash at 12.0, and table tennis at 4.0, values this calculator's lookup table matches directly. The core formula is straightforward: calories burned = MET × body weight in kilograms × duration in hours, so a higher MET number, a heavier body, or more time on court all scale burn linearly. What makes the estimate sport-specific is the MET lookup table, which varies both by sport and by how hard you're actually playing: casual table tennis sits at just 3.0 MET, while competitive squash — one of the most demanding racquet sports physiologically — hits 12.0 MET, four times the intensity. Tennis, badminton, pickleball, and racquetball each have their own casual/moderate/competitive MET tiers pulled from published research, and moving from recreational to competitive play at the same sport typically raises your estimated burn by roughly 60-80% — racquetball climbs the most, from 5.5 MET casual to 10.0 MET competitive, while badminton's casual-to-competitive jump is the smallest of the six sports.

Beyond the single-session total, the calculator projects weekly, monthly, and annual calorie totals from your stated sessions per week, and converts those into a rough fat-loss equivalent using the standard (if approximate) 3,500-calories-per-pound rule. It also translates your burn into equivalent minutes of brisk walking (MET 3.5) or jogging (MET 9.8) for an intuitive comparison. As with any MET-based estimate, this is a population-average figure — actual burn varies with body composition, fitness level, and how continuously you're moving during play, so treat it as a solid ballpark rather than a precise metabolic measurement.