ultimate_athlete_ebook_guide

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

http://badmintonlife.com/ultimateathlete/


Welcome To

THE ULTIMATE BADMINTON ATHLETE

Training GuideIn 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.






Forewordby 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 PyramidHow 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.

FoundationThe 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 movementMobility + 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.




PerformanceWe 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

StrengthSpeed

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 TacticsIt 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 GoalYou 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 PreparationOne 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 SpeedOne 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.

PlyometricsThe 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 SkillsAs 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




StrengthThe 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 DevelopmentEnergy 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 PreventionThe 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




RegenerationNo 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 AwaitsIf 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


http://athletics.wikia.com/wiki/Essentials_of_Strength_Training_and_Conditioning

http://athletics.wikia.com/wiki/Essentials_of_Strength_Training_and_Conditioning



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