The Ultimate Badminton Athlete

The Ultimate Badminton Athlete Copyright Badminton Life Inc 2011 Written by Richard Gibney
Welcome To
THE ULTIMATE BADMINTON ATHLETE
Training Guide
In our opinion, badminton is the best sport in the world. The level
of athleticism, understanding of strategy and mastery of skill is
truly incredible. However, the physical demands of badminton can
place a great deal of stress on the body. If a player lacks the
capacity to meet these demands, their success will be limited and
an injury is likely in their future.
To improve physical performance the body has to be pushed
beyond its normal capacities, yet if it is pushed too far for too
long, the body will break down. This presents a challenge to both
the player and the coach. However, if provided with the right tools,
this challenge can easily be overcome.
The purpose of this guide is to provide you, the badminton player
with the fundamental principles of physical training. By improving
your understanding of how the body responds to physical activity,
you will not only be able you to improve your performance in
badminton, but in your life beyond the court as well.
The human body is an amazing machine, capable of truly
incredible feats. However, like most machines the body requires
maintenance. Neglect that maintenance and the machine will run
poorly and eventually breakdown. It is our hope that with the
knowledge provided in this guide you are able to train safer,
smarter and perform like the machine that you are.
Foreword
by Peter Rasmussen
I have always had a reputation as being one of the hardest working
players on the tour. Even as a younger player I trained very hard on and
off the court. The idea for training back in that period was that more
was better. If you didn’t train hard you were weak or lazy.
Unfortunately I trained too hard.
I think that maybe the only thing I would change if I could go back
would be to go a little more easy on my training. Badminton needs to be
fun, but also you have to do it in such a way that you can keep going. If
you end up spending most of your time sitting on the side of the court
watching, or at the physio trying to treat your injuries then that is no fun.
You can’t build up momentum if you are always injured, and that is the
key to success in anything.
Now we know better, that periods of hard work has to be in balance with
periods of rest. Putting in hard work in our life is important, but it is
during our rest that we end up seeing our improvements coming to life.
This is something that I did not do enough of, and it ended up making
my career shorter than I would have liked.
Our idea for this course was not just to teach people how to train hard,
but also how to train smart. Knowledge is power, and our goal is to
provide you with the power to get the most out of your badminton.
Train smart,
Ras
The Optimal Performance Pyramid 5
Foundation 6
Performance 9
Skills and Tactics 11
Movement Preparation 14
Explosive Power and Speed 16
Movement Skills 20
Strength 23
Energy System Development 26
Injury Prevention 34
Regeneration 41
Your Potential Awaits 47
References and Further Reading 48
The Optimal Performance Pyramid
How would you create the “Ultimate Badminton Player”? Where
would you begin? A good place to start would be with the
necessary ingredients, the parts that will make the whole. If you
were going to bake a cake you might go to the grocery store. If
you were going to build a table, you would probably go to the
hardware store. If you were going to build a badminton player,
where would you go? You would go to the “athlete store”. Simply
put, that is what a badminton player is, an athlete. Therefore, to
build your badminton player you will have to understand the
necessary ingredients for building an athlete.
Gray Cook, one of the leading performance specialists in the
United States created what is known as the “Optimal Performance
Pyramid”, a visual representation of the building blocks of an
athlete.
The Optimal Performance Pyramid
Cook 2003
The Skill portion of the pyramid is indicative of the athlete’s sport.
In this section you will find variables such as talent, technical
mastery, and understanding of strategy. The section below Skill is
Performance. It is here you will find physical abilities such as
speed, strength, endurance, and agility. At the bottom of the
pyramid is the Foundation. The simplest way to describe this
section is how well you move. It seems like a relatively simple
concept but in fact it is often misunderstood and undervalued. By
understanding the components of the pyramid and how they
influence one another you can begin to customize a plan to create
your athlete.
Foundation
The human body is an amazing thing. When you are born you are
a small, weak little creature lacking the strength to support your
own head much less stand up on your own two feet. Over time
you grow and gradually gain the ability to move. You start close to
the ground. Rolling over first. Then eventually you start to crawl.
It’s not until after many failed attempts and lots of falling down that
you can even dream of standing.
Fast forward four years, not only are you standing, you’re running,
jumping, tumbling, and yes, once in a while you still fall down.
Fast forward another forty years. You’re much stronger, mostly
because you’re bigger, but for some reason the running and
jumping seem much harder and you can’t remember the last time
you tumbled. Your muscles feel stiff. At one time you could put
your foot in your mouth, now touching your toes is something of
an event. What happened? Yes you got older, but you’re not that
old. Touching your toes shouldn’t be that difficult. The reason is
simple. You just move less. Four year olds don’t stop moving,
ever! You may play badminton or go to the gym, but unless you’re
doing those specific activities, you don’t move very much.
Therefore, if you want to touch your toes, run, jump, and tumble
like you once did, the answer is simple. You have to start moving
again.
The word “function” has become a very popular word in the world
of health and fitness. Everyone is talking about functional
exercise or functional fitness. What does this mean? To gain a
better understanding, we can use the analogy of the car. The
function of your car is transport. It takes you from point A to point
B. If it succeeds in doing this then it has performed its function.
However, if along the way it sputtered, made funny noises, and
gave you a rough ride overall, one could probably say that it didn’t
function well. Your body is designed to do many things. It has
many functions, but above all else your body is designed to move.
If your body hurts when you move it’s still functioning, it’s just not
functioning well. This is where functional exercise comes in.
Functional exercise helps you move well.
If your goal is to train for functional fitness, you have to
understand the two key components of functional movement:
#1 Mobility
The ability to move through given ranges of motion.

#2 Stability
The ability to control or prevent movement

Mobility + Stability = Functional Movement
Cook 2003
Lets return to the car analogy for a moment. Imagine you have a
Ferrari with a high performance engine, but the under-carriage is
poorly assembled. The car will be able to reach high speeds, but
eventually the under-carriage will fall apart and you will no longer
be able to drive it.
The Over Powered Athlete
Cook 2003
For human beings, functional movement is like the under-

carriage. If the small parts that hold us together do not work
properly, we too will eventually fall apart. In other words, if you
work on building a strong foundation, not only will you perform
better but you will also last longer.
Performance
We have discussed human movement and the qualities required
to make that movement functional. Now we will take this concept
one step further and describe what happens when you maximize
the potential of that movement. This is where we introduce the
idea of performance. Not only are we looking to move effectively,
now we are looking at elements such as speed, strength, and
endurance. These are the elements that rule the world of the
athlete.
Performance is not as easy to define as function. Performance is
highly dependent on the requirements of the athlete. Once these
requirements are understood, an appropriate plan can be
implemented to address those needs. To illustrate how this is
done, we will first need to break down the specific factors of
performance.
The 3 Kings of Performance
Strength
Speed
Endurance
When these factors are combined to meet the demands of

performance, such as those required for a specific sport, more
performance factors are created.
Strength + Speed = Power

Strength + Endurance = Muscular Endurance
Speed + Endurance = Speed Endurance
Bompa 2005
If we further implement our concept of function where mobility and
stability come into play, we get even more factors. Movement
performed with precision requires coordination. Without the
mobility necessary to take the body where it needs to go, and the
stability to maintain balance throughout that movement, the
athlete will perform poorly.
Strength + Speed + Coordination = Agility
Bompa 2005
Agility is the ultimate expression of performance and the true

mark of a complete athlete. The ability to combine all of the
performance factors with precision is what separates great
performers from average performers. If we add endurance to the
equation, not only do we get an athlete who can perform, but one
who can do so repeatedly without being affected by fatigue.
Regardless of an athlete’s sport, the ability to meet the physical
demands of competition will greatly determine the level of
success the athlete achieves.
The Under Powered Athlete
Cook 2003
If you look back at performance, you can see that your foundation
combined with your performance provides the base upon which
you can build your skills and tactics. An athlete might be incredibly
talented but if they lack the physical performance to implement
those skills their success will be limited.
Skills and Tactics

It is the skills and tactics required for a sport that differentiate one
sport from another. The structure of the game, event, or match will
determine the skills an athlete must acquire and the tactics they
must learn to utilize. In badminton, there is an amazing amount of
different skills required. Some are more difficult to acquire than
others. Like your physical abilities, your technical abilities have
foundational and performance components as well. The ability to
smash, backhand clear or spin net shots are performance
variables. These are necessary skills to achieve success.
However, without the proper foundation provided by the proper
grip or swing mechanics, producing those skills with quality and
consistency will be difficult.
The Under Skilled Athlete
Cook 2003
For a badminton player, speed is a fundamental component of
getting to the shuttle. Power is required to execute a smash, and
endurance is absolutely necessary to perform these tasks over
and over again. If your body is breaking down due to injury or if
you lack the fundamental mobility and stability to move properly,
your potential to perform will be limited. The dynamic physical
requirements of a badminton player are undeniable. However, if
the technical fundamentals are not in place, success on court will
never be achieved.
The Goal
You want to create the ultimate badminton athlete. Imagine that
you are standing in our hypothetical “athlete store”. Armed with
the knowledge of the optimal athlete pyramid, you can now put
together your shopping list. You have three aisles to choose from.
Aisle one is foundation, aisle two is performance, and aisle three
is where you will find skills and tactics. Where are you going to
shop first? Look at your athlete, what do they need the most?
What is going to make their pyramid optimal?
The goal of “The Ultimate Badminton Athlete” is to provide you
with the necessary ingredients found in the foundation and
performance aisles. By focusing on building your foundation and
creating the highest quality functional movement, your potential
for injury will decrease and your potential for athletic performance
will increase. You will become a stronger, faster and more
balanced athlete. Stamina will become one of your greatest
assets as you outlast opponents. Lastly, this program will teach
you how to recover from strenuous matches and training. By
learning how to accelerate the recovery process you can return to
training sooner and play at higher intensities more often.
Of course, technique and strategy are paramount if you are to be
successful in badminton. This program does not address these
components, what it does do is put you in control of the factors
that affect your ability to use and develop your skills. You will gain
the ability to control fatigue, give yourself more time to hit the
shuttle, keep your mind focused on the match instead of tired
muscles, and of course have less time away from the court due to
injury.
Badminton is the greatest sport in world. If even one person’s
ability to enjoy this great game is improved through the use of this
program, then we will have achieved our goal. Have fun and
remember, if you have a body you are an athlete.
Movement Preparation
One of the first things athletes learn in training is how to warm-up.
This is getting the body ready, the heart pumping, and muscles
loosened up.
For young athletes, the importance of this concept is often lost.
They just want to get out there and get going. For older athletes,
the importance of warming up becomes far too obvious as the
body doesn’t do what it once did, and avoiding an injury becomes
more of a focus. However, whether you are young or old, you
cannot expect to perform your best if you do not properly prepare
your body to move.
The term “warm-up” really only describes one thing, getting warm.
Elevating the core temperature and increasing circulation are key
components of getting ready to move. However, movement is a
very complex physical process which involves all of the bodies
systems, not just the heart and blood. Movement requires
coordination, flexibility, stability, and strength. The more complex
the movement, the more complex the involvement of these
systems.
For a sport like badminton, the body must move in multiple
directions with both speed and accuracy. The bending, lunging
and twisting forces your muscles and tendons to contract and
lengthen. Sport is dynamic, therefore your preparation should be
dynamic. The act of sitting down on the ground and touching our
toes has little transfer to sport.
The exercises listed in the movement preparation section are
designed to systematically prepare the body for movement by
waking up key muscles, creating length in the body, stimulating
the nervous system, and improving coordination, all while heating
up the body and increasing blood flow.
Key Concepts For Movement Preparation
• Prepare like we train
• Take the body from a state of rest to state of high activation
• Ensure that the body is ready for training / competition
• Address all of the bodies movement systems
• Activate the core
• Engage key stabilizer muscles
• Increase body awareness
• Flexibility:
• Actively lengthen muscles, using multiple planes of motion.
• The body is a connected system of muscles that work
together in movement.
• Sitting down and holding a stretch has no relevance to
movement.
• Coordination and Neural Activation:
• Integrate movements
• Activate the nervous system
• Cardio-Vascular:
• Elevate Heart Rate
• Increase Circulation
• Elevate core temperature
Explosive Power and Speed
One of the most defining characteristics of the badminton player
is the ability to move. Very few sports are as demanding of an
athlete’s ability to start, stop, jump, twist, and produce force as
badminton is.
In order for us to maximize these abilities, it is important to
understand how they work together. Explosive power is great, but
it can be dangerous if one cannot control it. Acceleration must be
accompanied by the ability to decelerate. The ability to jump can
increase the potential for injury if a player lacks the necessary
strength and control for landing. Within this program we will
address these movement demands through the use of strength
training but more specifically, within the sections of Plyometrics
and Movement Skills.
Plyometrics
The goal of plyometrics is to increase an athlete’s performance by
using exercises like jumping and bounding to take advantage of
ground reaction force and the elastic properties of muscle.
Ground reaction force describes how the application of force to
the ground causes an equal return of the same force in the
opposite direction. When a muscle is stretched rapidly, the muscle
fibers detect that stretch and respond by forcing the muscle to
contract and shorten. This process of stretching followed by
shortening is called the stretch shortening cycle (SSC) and is the
basis of plyometric training. The greater the force of stretch on a
muscle, the greater the resulting force of contraction. When you
add the ground reaction force with the force from the SSC there is
a huge production of power.
Having the ability to generate force in as little time as possible is
what makes someone powerful. As we mentioned, muscles will
respond to stretch by contracting, but not everyone’s muscles will
react with the same speed. It is through the application of these
plyometric exercises that you will teach your muscles to react to
stretch faster. You develop what is called reactivity. For the
badminton player, reactivity is absolutely essential.
This program is divided into three phases. The first phase of
Plyometrics will focus on what is called dynamic stability. This
is the ability to control ballistic movements such as jumping,
hopping, and bounding. The exercises in this phase will not only
increase your speed but also improve your balance and control.
In the second phase of Plyometrics the focus will be on
developing elasticity, the ability to utilize stored elastic energy
within muscles. By performing a counter movement squat before
jumping, you are teaching your muscles to respond to stretch by
contracting forcefully. The faster your muscles can respond to that
stretch, the faster and more effectively you can generate force.
In the third phase as our program becomes more integrated,
plyometrics, movement and strength become one. You will learn
to create continuous explosive movement with control and
precision. This is where you become truly powerful. Not only will
you be capable of generating force, but you will be able to
generate that force in as little time as possible. This is the
definition of power.
Key Principles of Plyometrics:
• Stretch Shortening Cycle: The sequence of muscles stretching
and shortening (like a spring, or elastic band).
• Ground Reaction Force: When you exert a force against the
ground an equal force will be directed back at you in the opposite
direction.
• Intensity: Plyometric movements are only beneficial if
performed at maximum Intensity.
• Rest Periods: Allow the body to fully recover from a plyometric
exercise so that you can perform each set at maximum intensity.
• Movements:
• Vertical
• Horizontal
• Rotational
• Multi-Directional
• Lower Body Plyometrics:
•Jump: Propelling one’s body off the ground with two legs
and landing on two legs
• Hop: Leaving the ground from one leg and landing on the
same leg
• Bound: Leaving the ground from one leg and landing on the
other leg
• Upper Body Plyometrics
• Body Weight
• Medicine Balls
• Tubing
• Progressions
• Dynamic Stability: You must learn to land before you can
take-off if you are to avoid injury.
• Explosive Power: Teaching the body to produce force at
the highest rate possible is the ultimate goal of plyometric
training.
• Reactivity: The ability to land and rapidly take off with both
force and control.
• Non-Counter Movement: These movements involve no pre-
loading. They begin from a static position followed by an
explosive muscle contraction.
• Counter Movement: This type of movement utilizes stored
elastic energy by using a rapid stretch of a muscle followed by
an explosive contraction.
• Continuous: This movement is similar to the countermovement
in that it utilizes store elastic energy. However, the ground
reaction force is greater due to continuous repetitions.
Movement Skills
As stated earlier, badminton is a sport comprised of extremely
complex movements. Technique is the foundation of skill
development. The potential to become a great badminton player
is limited by the extent of the holes in your technical
fundamentals. All of this being said, movement is also a skill. A
skill that often becomes taken for granted because to some
degree, we can all do it. However, moving and moving effectively
are not always the same thing.
Throughout this program we will teach your body the
fundamentals of moving. Understanding that badminton requires
you to move in multiple directions will be a key element to the
exercises throughout all three phases of this program.
Acceleration is more important than top speed
Badminton is a game of stops and starts. If given enough distance
to get their legs going, many people can move pretty fast.
However, what often separates great athletes from the average
athlete is the ability to move quickly off the mark and over short
distances. With this in mind, we will spend a great deal of time
working on acceleration. The faster you can reach top speed, the
better.
Badminton players tend to move laterally
The interesting thing about badminton movement is that although
there is a great deal of forward and backward movement, the way
this movement is achieved is different than most sports. In the
game of soccer, players will run in a straight line to move forward
and will back peddle to move backward unless they have to move
larger distances. In badminton, the most common movement is
actually sideways or lateral. Of course, the footwork is often very
complex, but for the most part it is the ability to shuffle laterally
that helps us get around the court effectively. Therefore, it is
important that we place a lot of emphasis on the ability to move
sideways.
In the beginning of this program we will introduce movement skill
drills to groove the proper movement patterns for badminton.As
you move forward, we will introduce exercises of greater
complexity in order to challenge your body and take advantage of
your improving fitness level. In the final phase, the movement
skills component blends more into the rest of the program and
begins to mimic movements more specific to badminton match
play.
Key Concepts of Movement Skills:

• Linear Speed: A term describing the maximum velocity
achieved when moving in a straight line.
• Multi-directional Speed: A term describing the ability to achieve
high speed while moving in multiple directions.
• Acceleration: The change in velocity during movement over a
given length of time. The shorter it takes to achieve one’s
maximum velocity the better one’s ability to accelerate.
• Deceleration: The ability to go from moving at a given speed to
a stationary position.
• Agility: Generally an expression of excellent movement. More
specifically described as the combined sum of strength, speed,
balance, flexibility and all other athletic abilities.
• Intensity: In order to receive benefit from training movement
skills one must work past a certain threshold so that the body is
forced to improve. However, as with learning any skill it must be
practiced with quality.
• Rest Period: Movement skill drills must be followed with a full
recovery. The purpose it to perfect and hone a skill and therefore
fatigue must be not be allowed to negatively affect the execution
of the movement.
The Methods:
• Repetition of Movement Mechanics
• Reaction Drills
• External Load (Medicine Balls)
• Resisted Movement Drills
Strength
The topic of strength training for badminton players has had its
share of debate. There was a school of thought centered around
the belief that strength training or lifting weights would make
players slow and bulky. Thankfully this mindset is becoming less
and less prevalent and the benefits of making one’s body stronger
are starting to be realized by many more athletes. Being stronger
will improve every athlete’s performance, whether they are a long
distance runner, a sprinter or a gymnast.
What is muscle contraction?
To understand strength you have to understand muscle, and more
specifically you have to understand muscle contraction. When
you move your muscles undergo a series of shortening and
lengthening. When muscles shorten they pull on your limbs and
create movement. This contraction is what enables you to spring
forward from a dead stop.
When a badminton player lunges into the net the muscles in his
lead leg lengthen as he sinks his weight downward to reach for
the shuttle. If his muscles could not control the speed at which he
sunk into the lunge he would probably collapse and fall over.
The combination of these two types of strength is what enables a
badminton player to move well. In other words one type of
contraction helps you start and the other helps you stop.
What does this mean?
Well it means you need to be strong when you push off and when
you stop. Therefore, without the ability to land from a jump or
control a lunge, you will be slow and weak.
Badminton players are NOT body builders
It is understandable that people would think strength training is
counter-productive to badminton. When people think about the
type of bodies associated with strength training many picture body
builders with heaps of muscle. But that isn’t the case. Every
aspect of this training program is based on the philosophy that to
make you a better badminton player we need to make you a
better athlete. Every exercise is based on those needs.
In the first phase the exercises will be relatively simple and will
focus on creating balanced strength throughout your body. We will
also be grooving your movement patterns, ensuring that all of the
exercises are done properly and effectively. This is called the
foundational phase of strength training.
As you move to the second phase the volume of work will
increase. More exercises will be included and the body will be
forced to adapt to new stress. This is called the extensification
phase of strength training. Our goal here is to develop what is
called relative strength. This is an expression of how strong you
are compared to how big you are. In badminton this is extremely
important. We don’t want to make you bigger but we do want to
make you stronger. The stronger you become while staying the
same size the greater your relative strength.
The third and final phase is called the intensification phase. In
this phase we start to bring different elements of the program
together. Plyometric exercises and strength training exercises will
be paired up to compound their training effects. External loads
such as medicine balls will be added to movements skills to
create strong badminton specific movements. This further
intensifies the work load of the work out, forcing the body to
become more powerful and explosive. It is in this phase that you
will develop starting strength, which is the ability to generate
force from a static position and reactive strength, which is the
ability to react to force.
Key Concepts:
•Types of Muscle Contraction:
•Concentric Contraction: Tension produced in muscle as it
shortens.
•Eccentric Contraction: Tension produced in a muscle as it
lengthens.
•Isometric Contraction: Tension produced in a muscle
while its length remains constant
•Strength Training Phases:
•Foundation: Preparatory phase of strength training where
the main focus is developing balanced strength in the body
and proper movement patterns
•Extensification: Volume of work is increased
•Intensification: Intensity of work is increased
•Qualities of Strength Training:
•Relative Strength: An increase in muscle strength proportionate
to an individuals size
•Reactive Strength: The ability to react to a force by creating
force
•Starting Strength: The ability to produce force from a stationary
position
Energy System Development
Energy system development or cardio as it is referred to by many
people is a crucial component to a badminton players
performance. The reason we use the term energy system instead
of cardio is simply because the term cardio does not accurately
describe this type of training. Cardio comes from the word cardiac
which means anything to do with the heart. The reason that this
term is not descriptive enough is that everything you do involves
the heart and the methods you use to derive energy for sports
and exercise is actually much more complicated than that. Every
exercise you perform, uses energy and that energy comes from
many different systems within your body.
Aerobic, Anaerobic Lactic and Anaerobic A-Lactic
There are three main pathways or systems used to derive energy.
The aerobic system, anaerobic lactic system, and the anaerobic
a-lactic system.
The aerobic system is the most efficient. By utilizing oxygen it is
able to produce energy for long periods of time. The draw back
however is the rate of energy production is slow. During more
intense activities the aerobic system cannot keep up with the
energy needed. This is where the two anaerobic systems come in
to play.
The anaerobic lactic system, also known as the “glycolytic
system”, is able to produce energy much faster rate than the
aerobic system because it is able to use carbohydrate stored
within muscle without the presence of oxygen. The downfall of
this system is that it produces lactic acid. The longer you remain
in this system the more acidic your blood becomes which
eventually will lead to fatigue.
The anaerobic a-lactic system is able to utilize energy directly
stored within muscle without the presence of oxygen or the
breakdown of carbohydrates. This enables energy production to
be immediate, however these energy stores are very limited and
during intense exercise run out very quickly.
Although these systems seem to have their own distinct
advantages and disadvantages, it is important to note that all
three systems are in use at the same time. The demands placed
on the body will determine which of these systems will be used as
the dominant system.
The information below illustrates the specific roles of the 3
energy systems in producing energy.
Note:
•Power: refers to the highest rate of energy production.
•Capacity: refers to the length of time the system can
produce energy.
•Recovery: refers to the length of time the system requires
to recover from producing energy. i.e.; 1 to 5 means that it
takes 5 times as long to recover as it took to do the work.
Anaerobic A-Lactic System
•Power: 3 – 5 seconds
•Capacity: 10 – 12 seconds
•Poor Recovery (1 to 5 work to rest)
Anaerobic Lactic System
• Power: 15 – 30 seconds
• Capacity: 3 min
• Medium Recovery (1 to 3 work to rest)
Aerobic System
• Power: 3 – 5 minutes
• Capacity: Hours
• Greatest Rate of Recovery (1 to 2 or 1 to 1 work to rest)
With this information at our disposal when can now go about
creating an energy system program to meet the energy
requirements of the athlete.
The elite sprinter takes about 10 seconds to sprint 100 metres.
The world class rower will take just under 2 minutes to row 500
metres, and the fastest marathon runners will finish a marathon in
close to 2 hrs. Understanding the dominant energy systems of
these three sports is pretty straight forward. The energy
requirements of badminton are more complex.
Below is a breakdown of the energy expended during the average
badminton match.
Average Badminton Rally: 7-15 Seconds

Average Badminton Game: 11-15 Minutes
Average Badminton Match: 25-35 Minutes
If we apply what we know about energy systems to the
information we have regarding the demands of badminton how do
we decide where to begin in designing our program?
The average rally is less than 15 seconds, clearly anaerobic.
The average game is more than 10 minutes, clearly aerobic.
The average match is more than 20 minutes, also aerobic.
Therefore, it would appear that the sport of badminton exists on
opposite ends of the energy system continuum. This makes our
program design tricky, as we have to be a sprinter and an
endurance athlete at the same time. What further complicates
things is that although a match may take 20 minutes, it is broken
up into multiple stops and starts of rallies of varying, yet brief
lengths of time. 20 minutes is an aerobic time frame. However,
this is only accurate if that 20 minutes is continuous.
Confused yet? How about this, 7 seconds falls into the anaerobic
a-lactic time frame, but in badminton we are given a maximum of
20 seconds between points. If you refer back to our breakdown of
the energy systems, the a-lactic system needs at least 5 times the
length of the work period to fully recover. That 20 seconds, which
in most matches ends up being closer to 10 seconds is not nearly
enough to replenish the a-lactic system. However, 10 seconds is
enough to partially replenish some of our a-lactic power, therefore
we can continue to produce speed through repeated efforts.
After a few rallies the energy debt built up through incomplete
recoveries catches up to us. In order to keep going, the a-lactic
system is going to need some help.
This is where the anaerobic lactic system kicks in.
With the immediately available energy stores running out, the
lactic system is able to find you some more energy through the
breakdown of carbohydrate stored in muscle. This extra energy is
great. You can keep playing, however as we mentioned earlier the
by-product of the anaerobic lactic system is lactic acid, which you
cannot tolerate for extended lengths of time. This is why you’re
legs feel heavy and your muscles burn. At this point in time,
depending on the length of the rallies, you’re probably towards the
end of the first game. You’ve got at least one more game to go.
How are you going to manage to keep going?
The aerobic system to the rescue.
The aerobic system has excellent recovery and can sustain
energy production for very long periods of time with the help of
oxygen. Piggy backing behind your anaerobic systems, the
aerobic system supplies you with more energy for work. Also, in
the situation of the badminton player the aerobic system is
actually able to help clear lactic acid from the blood, which in turn
enables the anaerobic lactic system to supply more energy as
well.
This is a lot of information to take in. As we mentioned earlier in
our introduction section, badminton is a highly complex sport.
How we develop our Energy System program is a clear example
of how this is true. The section below will clearly show the
breakdown of the energy system program we have developed
and the principles that it is based upon.
Key Points:
Energy Systems in Badminton
• Anaerobic A-Lactic System: Allows you to produce speed
and power during rallies
• Anaerobic Lactic System: Allows you to last during long
rallies
• Aerobic System: Helps you recover between rallies and
last throughout an entire match
Maximum Heart Rate Formula

• 220 – Age = Max Heart Rate (i.e. 30 year old is 190 max heart
rate)
• Predictive formula
• Used as a guideline
Heart Rate Training Zones

Zone 1 = 60 to 70% Max Heart Rate
Training Phases of Energy System Development
Athlete’s Performance 2009
Phase 1
• Establish Aerobic Base
• Creates foundation for other training phases
• Primarily Zone 1
• Interval Training
• Develop all 3 energy systems
• Increase work capacity
• Increase recovery rate
• Primarily Zone 1 and Zone 2
Phase 2
• Linear
• Training moves to court surface
• Uses linear movements (Jog to Sprint)
• Zone 3 work periods, Zone 1 rest periods
Phase 3
• Multi-Directional
• Introduce changes in direction (acceleration / deceleration)
• Uses maximum power and speed
• 100% effort during work period
• Sport Specific
•Simulates game play
•Develops maximum power and speed
•Work to rest should be 1 to 1
•100% effort during work period
Injury Prevention
The old adage, the chain is only as strong as the weakest link
carries over to many objects. Cars will eventually give it’s owner
difficulty if the brake pads, wheel barrings, and tires are not kept
in good shape. A house will not stand the test of time over the
course of rough winters and harsh weather if the foundation was
not laid properly or if the window frames are not installed properly.
In the grand scheme of things the human body is no different.
We’ve all of heard of rehabilitation. In fact many of us are more
familiar with the term than we would like. Coming back from an
injury is often a painful and tedious process. From a performance
perspective, nothing will hinder your progress through the
competitive ranks if your body breaks down. With all that being
said, we can probably all agree that getting injured is bad thing.
Therefore, it would make sense that the best course of action is to
not get injured. Instead of rehabilitating, lets pre-habilitate.
The Ferrari with Low Performance Tires
Shoes are a billion dollar industry. There are running shoes,
dress shoes, casual shoes, and in the case of badminton there
are court shoes. Shoe companies spend enormous amounts of
time and money on trying to create the perfect shoe. One of the
main reasons for this time and money is injury. Gel injected into
the sole of the shoe to minimize the impact of running. Motion
control on the sides of the shoe to prevent unwanted rolling of the
foot. With all these amazing advancements in shoe technology,
how is it that shoeless Kenyans can win gold medals at the
Olympics without destroying their feet? The answer is quite
simple. We were never meant to wear shoes.
Wearing shoes has made our feet weak
Instead of our shoes protecting us they have made us weak. The
cushioning has allowed us to run heavy. The wedge of rubber
under your heels has ruined your running mechanics and the anti-
pronation / supination technology has left you with lazy feet and
ankles.
One of the major concerns with bad feet is that they lead to bad
knees. By spending so much time in our shoes the muscles of our
feet become weak. The arches collapse and the foot begins to
rotate inwards. This creates a chain reaction up the inside of the
leg. The shin follows the direction of the foot. Because the knee is
attached to the shin, the knee now has no choice but to follow as
well. We now have a knee that is collapsing inward. This creates
an enormous amount of stress on the inside of the knee.
Do You Have a Sleepy Butt?
Another scenario for knee pain is what Nick Winkleman from
Athlete’s Performance in Arizona referred to as the “Dormant Butt
Syndrome”.
On our pelvis, or hip we have muscles on the front and muscles
on the back. The muscles on the front are called our hip flexors.
These muscles pull the thighs towards the waist. They are also
capable of bending of us over, pulling our upper-body towards the
ground. The muscles on the back of the hip are called the hip
extensors (also know as your glutes or butt). These muscles pull
our legs backwards and downwards away from the waist. Imagine
kicking a soccer ball behind you with a straight leg. The hip
extensors are also the main muscle group that enables the body
to stand up straight from a bent-over position.
The hip flexors and extensors have what is called an agonist /
antagonist relationship. Simply, this means they work in
opposition. When the hip flexors shorten, the hip extensors
lengthen. When the hip extensors shorten, the hip flexors
lengthen. Now that you understand the relationship of the hip
flexors and extensors we can illustrate how a problem with this
relationship can lead to injuries.
In todays society we spend a lot of time sitting down. We sit down
in our cars. We sit at work. We sit at school, and at the end of
the day we sit on the couch. In the sitting position our hip flexors
are in a shortened position. Over time, this makes our hip flexors,
tight. If you recall from earlier, short hip flexors leads to
lengthened hip extensors. Why is this bad? A lengthened muscle,
is a weak muscle. Therefore our tight hip flexors have left us with
weak glutes or a dormant butt.
The impact that weak or under-active glutes have on the body is
huge. When our glutes don’t fire or do their job properly, other
muscles have to take over. The hamstrings and the lower back
are also involved in hip extension. With weak glutes, these
muscles have to do more work than they are used to. This can
eventually lead to lower back injuries and hamstring tears. When
we run our glutes stabilizes our hips and prevent the pelvis from
rocking side to side as we strike the ground. When this muscle
doesn’t work properly the lower back is placed under a great deal
of stress as the pelvis below it moves excessively. In regards to
the knee, the glutes also prevent the thigh from rotating inwards
when we run or lunge. Weak glutes inhibit our ability to control
this inward rotation, which in turn causes excess stress on the
inside of the knee, leading to potential injury.
The Desk Jockey
One of the most common and most debilitating injuries for a
badminton player is a shoulder injury. Of course if our movement
is impaired by a lower body injury playing badminton is going to
be extremely difficult, but if our shoulder is damaged, playing is
going to be almost impossible.
Like the pelvis, the torso has muscles on the front and on the
back. To keep things simple, the muscles on the front pull our
arms and shoulders inwards towards the centre of your body.
Where as the muscles on the back open our arms and pull our
shoulders backwards. As we mentioned in our section on the hip,
people today spend a great deal of time sitting. This not only
leads to issues with the hips and lower back, but with the
shoulders as well.
Most of us don’t have very good posture when we sit down. Our
shoulders slump forward, our upper back rounds, and our heads
perch forward toward the book or computer screen in front of us.
Spending extended and repeated lengths of time in this position
causes the muscles in the front of our torso, particularly our chest
muscles to become tight and short. This will cause the opposing
muscles to become lengthened and as a result, weak. This is not
a good thing for our shoulders. The muscles of the middle back in
between the shoulder blades and the rear aspect of the shoulders
play a key roll in stabilizing our shoulders. When these muscles
are weak excess strain is placed on our rotator cuff muscles. A
group of small muscles responsible for controlling the movement
of our shoulder blade and upper arm. Further more the tightness
of the chest and muscles of the neck pulls the head of our
humerus, the long bone of the upper arm into the shoulder joint.
This creates what is called an impingement, a condition where
one of the rotator cuff tendons gets pinched inside the shoulder
joint. As we move our arm, especially through overhead
movements, this tendon becomes irritated and inflamed.
Eventually, moving the arm overhead becomes too painful.
In badminton we repeat overhead movements of great speed and
force over and over again. Say in an hr of play, you perform 100
overhead shots, and you play 4 hrs a week. That’s 400 overhead
shots. Of those 400 shots, maybe 50 of those shots might be
overhead backhands. The point here is that there is an
imbalance between our movements. The muscles for overhead
forehand shots are getting much more work than overhead
backhand shots. Couple this with our body’s already less than
ideal posture from sitting at the desk and you have a recipe for
disaster.
Pre-habilitation
We understand now that the body works best when the shoulders,
core and hips work together in unison. Therefore, it would make
sense that we must protect the more delicate individual
components of these systems to keep the body healthy and
functioning properly.
To revisit the car analogy, going in for an oil change, getting the
tires rotated, or having the fluids topped up can be inconvenient
and costly. However, in the long run it has been proven that
regularly scheduled maintenance will cost a car owner much less
money than waiting for some disastrous problem to occur
because the car was not taken care of.
Think of the injury prevention component of this program as your
regularly scheduled maintenance. The exercises in this section
will not only prevent common physical ailments like shoulder
tendonitis, lower back pain, knee pain, plantar fasciitis, and so on.
It will also improve the way your body moves by eliminating
improper movement mechanics brought on by compensations
from nagging injuries.
In short, we are preventing injuries before they happen by building
a better functioning, more efficient, and resilient body. The work
put into this section will improve your performance not just for
tomorrow but for the duration of your badminton life.
Key Concepts:
Causes of Injury
• General Movement Dysfunction:
• Decreased Performance
• Loss of Power / Force Production
• Decreased Efficiency
• Decreased Function
• Decreased Mobility
• Decreased Stability
• Weak Feet:
• Plantar Fasciitis
• Shin Splints
• Knee Pain
• Back Pain
• Tight Hip Flexors = Weak Glutes:
• Back Pain
• Knee Pain
• Hamstring Strains
• Tight Pecs = Weak Upper Back:
• Shoulder Pain
• Rotator Cuff Tendonitis
• Loss of Shoulder Mobility
• Neck Tightness
Goals of Injury Prevention

• Prevent Absence From Training and Competition
• Pre-hab Instead of Re-hab
• Maintain or Regain Functional Movement
• Mobility First
• Stability Second
• Provide Longevity In The Sport
•Improve Overall Enjoyment of The Sport
Regeneration
No area of physical training has come farther than the concept of
recovery. Contrary to what many people believe, exercise actually
makes us worse, at least in the short term. When the body is
placed under stress, be it moving against a resistance in strength
training or pumping blood at a to working muscles during a run,
we are inducing fatigue.
If the body is given enough time after this stress, the body will
recover or regenerate, allowing us to once again resume training.
After a certain amount of exposure the body will recognize that
the stress from training is something it must get used to. This is
how adaptation occurs. The body becomes more resilient to
stress. The body is pretty amazing at adapting to its environment.
However, as with all things physical there is a limit to what the
body can handle. If we don’t allow ourselves rest from stress,
eventually exhaustion will set in. The body is no longer capable of
dealing with what is asked of it. We break down. Physically we fall
apart, our immune system is compromised, and we become more
susceptible to injury. Mentally, we burn out, our concentration
breaks, and our motivation fizzles.
The following Model developed by Hans Seyle to illustrate what
he called General Adaption Syndrome is used to describe the
sequence of events that an organism under goes when exposed
to stress. For our purpose that organism is you.
Alarm Reaction Stage of Resistance
Exhaustion
Stage 1. Alarm Reaction:

The system is exposed to the stressor.
This can be both physical or mental
Immunity is lowered, fatigue, and soreness set in
Stage 2: Resistance:
The system anticipates the stressor
Immune system boosted
Increased resistance to stress
Stage 3: Exhaustion:
The system succumbs to the stress
Resistance drops, immunity collapses, we pushed too far
Fatigue is overwhelming, body can no longer function properly
It is important to understand that stress is a necessary component
of physical training. Unless the body is asked to go above and
beyond its abilities, adaptation will not take place, and the wanted
gains in performance will not be achieved. Therefore some kind
of balance must be achieved between work and rest. Mark
Verstegen of Athletes’ Performance, a famous strength and
conditioning coach for numerous high level athletes, preaches the
importance of this concept with the equation,
Work + Rest = Success
Throughout the Ultimate Badminton Athlete program, the one

component that is a part of every training day is regeneration. We
want to maximize the gains from our training by speeding up
recovery time. This is achieved through various techniques to
help speed the repair of our muscles, the restoration of our fuel
sources, decreased potential for injury and the recovery of our
mind from the psychological stress of training. There are many
things we can do to increase our recovery, but the one most
important thing we can do is rest. By integrating planned rest
periods and designated regeneration days we dramatically
improve our ability to recover. Even just changing the environment
can do wonders for a person’s motivation. Lastly, the king of all
recovery methods is sleep. Nothing will allow you to get back at it,
and ready to train like a good nights sleep.
The following is a sequential breakdown of the principles and
methods used in our regeneration component.
Restore and Maintain Tissue Health
Athlete’s Performance 2009
Key Goals:
• Increase Circulation / Flush Toxins
• Massage (Self or Therapist)
• Low intensity aerobic exercise
• Hydrotherapy: Exposing the body to cold water has been shown
to reduce muscle soreness and inflammation from training.
• Hot / cold showers
• Cold tubs
• Saunas
• Restore Tissue Length and Quality
• Dynamic Stretching (Pre-Workout)
• Active Isolated Stretching (Post-Workout)
• Foam Rolling, Trigger Point
• Therapist
• Relaxation
Nutritional Support
Key Goals:
• Re-Fuel: Post Workout Nutrition
• Protein to repair damaged tissues
• Carbohydrate to replace lost muscle sugars
• Re-Hydrate: Replace lost fluids and electrolytes
• Water (replace 500 ml to 1 L for every .5 kilos lost)
• Gatorade or other drinks with sodium and potassium will
accelerate recovery faster than water alone
Psychological Recovery
• Planned momentary escapes from training can lead to increase
performance
• The mind needs rest as much as the body
• Active Rest: Replacing the training environment with another
activity has many benefits
• Increased motivation
• Maintains enthusiasm
• Maintains activity level
• Planned Rest Periods:
• Designated Regeneration days
• Vacations
• Hobbies
Sleep
• The more the better
• Restores the mind and the body
• 8 hrs minimum / 10 hrs optimal
• Naps: 20 min + (1 – 3 p.m. best window)
• Benefits:
• Increased energy level
• Increased mental alertness
• Increased physical performance
• Reduced risk of illness
Your Potential Awaits
If you’re reading this section, it means that you have collected all
of your ingredients from the aisles of the “athlete store”. It’s now
to time to check out, make a mess in the kitchen and see what
you can create. Will it be an elite level competitor? Perhaps you
like creating things in bulk and will use these ingredients to create
a healthy, well conditioned group of competitive junior badminton
players. You might have an older model of badminton player that
has won and lost a lot of battles. Your athlete ingredients might
keep this player from prematurely hanging up the racquet.
We at Badminton Life have a passion for this great sport.
Whatever your goals are, we hope that you find the information in
this guide helpful. Go have fun. Use the body you were given.
Push it, work it, make it sweat, but above all else take care of it,
because remember... you only have one.
References and Further Reading
Baechle, Earle, Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning.

2nd ed.. Champaigne, IL.: Human Kinetics, 2000
Bompa, Tudor and Michael Carrera, Periodization Training For

Sports. 2nd ed.. Champaigne, IL.: Human Kinetics, 2005
Chu, Donald, Jumping Into Plyometrics. 2nd ed.. Champaigne, IL.:

Human Kinetics, 1998
Cook, Gray, Athletic Body in Balance, Champaign, IL.: Human

Kinetics, 2003
Verstegen, Mark and Pete Williams, Core Performance, United

States of America,.: Rodale, 2004

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The Ultimate Badminton Athlete Copyright Badminton Life Inc 2011 Written by Richard Gibney

The ability to move through given ranges of motion.

The ability to control or prevent movement

The Over Powered Athlete

For human beings, functional movement is like the under-

When these factors are combined to meet the demands of

Strength + Speed = Power

Strength + Speed + Coordination = Agility

Agility is the ultimate expression of performance and the true

The Under Powered Athlete

Skills and Tactics

The Under Skilled Athlete

Key Concepts of Movement Skills:

Average Badminton Rally: 7-15 Seconds

Maximum Heart Rate Formula

Heart Rate Training Zones

Goals of Injury Prevention

Stage 1. Alarm Reaction:

Work + Rest = Success

Throughout the Ultimate Badminton Athlete program, the one

Baechle, Earle, Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning.

Bompa, Tudor and Michael Carrera, Periodization Training For

Chu, Donald, Jumping Into Plyometrics. 2nd ed.. Champaigne, IL.:

Cook, Gray, Athletic Body in Balance, Champaign, IL.: Human

Verstegen, Mark and Pete Williams, Core Performance, United

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