Badminton Tips for Injury Prevention

Tags: Beginner   Xiao Jie   Zhao Jianhua   Complete Badminton Training  

In this second to the last episode of the Complete Badminton Training video series, Coaches Zhao Jianhua and Xiao Jie team up to discuss injury prevention and badminton physical fitness.

Like any competitive sport, the risk of injury is always present. Although badminton is one of the safest sports to play, we should be aware that injuries can still happen at any time. Fortunately, most of the injuries common to badminton are preventable by practicing good habits. The first thing we need to do is understand the causes of these injuries. The following badminton injuries can be summarized by two causes; overuse and incorrect movement:

  • Ankle, calf, achilles tendon injuries due to poor footwork.
  • Straining of the back simply due to overuse.
  • Repeated impact from running, lunging, and jumping takes a toll on the knees over time.
  • Shoulder, wrist, and elbow pains from swing the racket, also commonly known as tennis elbow.

The obvious solution to overuse injuries is simply to not over-train or over-play pass one's limits. However, proper badminton warm up exercises and post-game relaxation can also help. Injury due to incorrect movement is a matter of technique or the lack thereof. Badminton footwork training would be an essential basic for injury prevention.

Many players simply pick up their badminton racket and start playing with no warm up. They may think that they are in good physical shape and may not feel like they need to warm up, but this certainly puts them at a higher risk of getting hurt. With tense, stiff, or cold muscles, a single explosive badminton motion can result in injury.

Coach Zhao Jianhua recommends doing targeted badminton warm ups; warm ups that specifically focus on the joints and tendons where most movements occur in badminton. In addition, start by playing lightly rather than jumping and sprinting at 100%. Coach Xiao Jie also adds that after playing, it is important to take some time to cool down and to let the muscles relax. This is very important because it will affect your performance the next time you play. You should also take the time to gently stretch all of the muscles you used during the game.

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