I have a really old, unused racket. I will attach a 1/2 lbs on the head and just do a figure 8 movement with the racket any chance I get while watching TV/reading. Eventually, I'll add more weight. Would that be useful for badminton forearm training? I don't want to waste my time if it is useless.
1/2 lb at the end of a racket is too much! It will lead to tendinitis! It's been said that resistance exercises for the forearm is more appropriate for badminton. Such as those armchair exercises that Paul Stewart the coach has on YouTube, using racket head cover on the racket head.
Start with a small water bottle and do the figure 8. When you're used to it...then get a bigger water bottle and do the figure 8.
Hmm, maybe for beginning it could be lower...but won't gradually increasing the weight as time goes by be beneficial? i.e 50 grams every 2 weeks.
Put it this way: even tennis players don't use their forearm and wrist in that manner when they play with their tennis rackets and their racket don't weigh half a pound at the head end. At the beginner to intermediate levels, speed and timing is more critical than strength and power.
Correct. That's why you train more for speed of muscles, not strength of muscles. *Especially* at beginner to intermediate levels.
All right I'm going to try the excercises in Paul's video. I'm still interested to know if gradually increasing the weight would help with muscle speed though. Or would it help more to increase the cover's area to add resistance. Sticking a large styrofoam on the unused racket's head can do that while not adding significant weight.
You will find significant gains from doing Pauls armchair exercises with little to no wait added at the end. Just the cover is very beneficial, and adding the book like paul mentions is also very good. I would personally do a large range of exercises with some additional weight, than the same exercise over and over again with more and more weights. Good luck! Matt
I want to ask that when doing Paul's armchair exercises, is my elbow supposed to be up in the air or can I support it on the chair? Because when I'm doing the exercises my arm can get tired quite soon when it's holding up in the air unsupported.
