Badminton Injury does occur to a player when they are not properly warmed up or this also happens when fatigue kicks in after playing or training for too long. Also there are times when you don’t really know what hit you.
So I think it is good that you understand the few common badminton injuries in case you are unlucky and injured yourself. However, you should always seek professional medical advice if that happens.
Warm Up
To prevent Badminton injuries or reduce the risk, general and sport specific warm-up is important. It increases activity of prime muscles, improves concentric and eccentric power, flexibility and endurance capacity. The duration of warm up and stretching should be approximately 15-30 minutes (evident by a raise in heart rate by 5-10bpm, increased body temperature by 0.5 degree Celsius and mild sweating)
A Typical Warm Up Might Include:
- 5-10 minutes of gentle rhythmic movement such as jogging, skipping
- Short stretches of about 15-30 seconds
- 2-3 minutes of small movement of specific joints e.g. shoulder circles, hip forwards and backwards movements, pelvic rotations, arm and knee bends and trunk twists
- Slightly longer stretches on ‘tight’ muscles
- Specific warm-up such as shadow drills, short warm up such as drops and lifts, clears, etc…before starting to play or practice
Why Stretch?
- It reduces muscle tension
- Prepare the player for physical activity
- Prepare the player mentally for sport
- Help coordination by allowing for freer and easier movement
- Good and regular stretching habit prevents badminton injuries
- Promotes circulation
Guidelines for Safe Stretching
- Warm up prior to stretching
- Always stretching before and after exercise
- Stretch slowly and gently
- Stretch through pain free range and do not overstretch
- Stretches must be held for at least 15 seconds
- Precede all training sessions with 15-20 minutes of stretching
- Static stretching
- PNF Stretching(proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation)
- Ballistic stretching
Cool Down
Cool down is the process by which the body is helped to gradually recover from exercise and adjust to rest. It helps to remove waste products (lactic acid) of exercise that have accumulated.
Doing all the above will not guarantee you from not picking up badminton injuries, but it will certainly reduce the risks. I wish you an injury free badminton career!
