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Conditioning | Soans Badminton

Conditioning

Conditioning is about making your body ready for the physical demands of badminton. It is essentially fittness specified to the sport. Fittness needed for badminton is strength, endurance, speed, flexibility and power. Please see below on how to achieve these fittness goals.

STRENGH

More about strengh

Strength is the ability of the muscles to produce force. In badminton strength is important in the core, arms and legs. However muscles work together to produce the same outcome, so it is important to work on all areas of the body. Most motions have a major muscle and a support muscle. Therefore developing the body as a whole will increase strength more efficiently overall than simply isolating certain muscles.

ENDURANCE

More about endurance

Endurance is the ability of the body to continue exerting energy for a prolonged period of time. This is usually known as cardio and involves longe periods of moderate activity. Badminton, particularly singles, requires excellent endurance in order to maintain the rally, retrieve and play shots. Badminton involves almost all muscle groups in the body so endurance is vital to play quality badminton.

SPEED

More about speed

When we mention speed in badminton, we mean speed in movement, not speed in reactions or how fast you can hit the shuttle. These things come with experience and technique. When we mention speed, what we really mean is footwork. Often you see professional players almsot gliding around the court, making it look small. This is because their footwork is superb. Speed is required as you have to get to the shuttle early to play a quality stroke. This will put your opponent under pressure.

FLEXIBILITY

More about flexibility

Flexibility is the range of motion through a given joint. In badminton it is important to be flexible as your body is often stretching and bending to retrieve the shuttle. The most important area however in badminton is your legs. Lunges are a crucial movement in badminton, particularly at the net. Flexibility however is not enough by itself in badminton. It must be combined with strength and power in order to produce the best results.

POWER

More about power

Power is not the same as strength, It is a combination of strength and speed. It is important to have strength but is even more important to transfer that strength efficiently on the badminton court. A good example of power in badminton is the ability to quickly change direction. Or another example is the smash. You may be physically strong but a good smash comes from the ability to generate racket speed combined with strength - and of course technique.