Apart from rest, and maybe changing techniques to reduce stress on the arms, can you tell me what you do to reduce pain in the shoulder/elbow joints? As I get older, I've noticed that if I play hard for two days in a row, my right shoulder becomes sore and stays that way for a week. I'm thinking of trying massage, ice packs, heat creams, acupuncture, taking cod liver oil pills, etc. but if anyone tried any of these and found any to be particularly effective, I'd appreciate the feed-back. Thanks.
This is of course highly individual, but I used to have problems like this about a year ago. However, I switched to a lighter racquet, and also started to build up my arm and shoulder musculature more consciously. Now I can switch to heavier racquets (or even squash racquets for training purposes) and I experience none of these problems anymore. Of course, I assume you are stretching relogiously after (and possibly during) sessions...?
Here's another vote for strength training and stretching. I had the same problems until I returned to building arm & shoulder muscles, concentrating on the rotator cuff, which is used a lot in any throwing motion (i.e., most badminton strokes).
Perhaps a change of tactics may help as well. Rather than putting so much physical effort into smashes, accurate smashes with less speed can help win points.
I had similar problems a number of years ago. There were three parts to get to my solution. 1. I had to experiment with various racquets. Racquet stiffness, string type, string tension, grip and racquet weight all entered into the equation. I must have tried over 3 dozen different racquets before finally getting one that I felt suitable for my play. 2. Physical fitness - cross training and weight training. This includes as well flex training and warming up properly before playing. 3. Changed my stroke and technique. This was the hardest and took over six months to accomplish. BTW, I had similar problems with knees as well, and used the same approach (shoes/cushions, weight training and footwork correction). Cheers
