Something I heard a long time ago when I first started playing badminton was just recently brought back into my attention. The title says it, how do you "breathe properly" in badminton? I was told basically to breathe in while bringing your racket up and to exhale when you swing. "Release your power." However, I haven't used this at all because I don't have alot of time to stick it into my training and playing. So IF anyone has heard of or knows the "proper breathing method," care to share?
It is said that attempting to force out air against a closed glottis (the valsalva manoeuvre) increases blood and intra-abdominal pressure, allowing you to perform more intensely during that time. It's what you naturally do when you do a guttural grunt to reach or hit a tough shot. Look it up, it's pretty interesting
If you remember to use your abs when hitting you should automatically exhale when hitting. Stamina wise there's not a real breathing-rythm since badminton si such a start&stop game with inregular pace (wich is why it's so tireing!) And again this comes natural if you sue your abs enough. there are more important things to focus on...
Actually, I believe it's not the abs but the muscle underneath, the transverse abdomini that contracts to stabilize your spine when hitting. I think there is far too much emphasis on the abdomial muscles when it is actually quite a number of muscles which contribute to core strength. As for how to best train these muscles, that's another issue altogether!
Not really! The transversus abdominis is an abdominal muscle, and therefore part of your abdominals or abs! Of course, when people say "abs" they usually mean the rectus abdominis, or "six-pack muscles".
On the contrary, I feel it is quite important how you breathe during your gameplay. I hold my breath while moving to back corners to get the shot, and hold it all the way and exhale just after I've hit the shot back (especially when it's a slow controlled drop I'm hitting), not during the shot. This gets me out of breath after long rallies. I use my abs well, but it doesn't feel natural to breathe out while hitting, not to even mention about breathing in when moving to retrieve the shot. Only when smashing I may breathe out while executing the shot.
I expect that actually holding your breath will be detrimental to your play. As you have said yourself, it gets you out of breath!
Hmm... makes me wonder.... is this the reason why tennis star Maria Sharapova do those loud moans (exhaling loudly) when making a shot?
Infact we need to breath out during every shot, and breath out violently during powerful ones such as smashes. I also cannot imagine how you can move, often quickly without breathing. Before learning badminton, I practiced Karate and my teachers always told us to breath out while executing punch or kick, and the exhale should be so quick and violent such as we make the "KIAI" sound. I brought this principle to badminton, and it works the same way. There is just one problem, which is how to breath in. While i do a karate KATA, the inhale comes naturally because i don't have to cover long distances very quickly. Whereas when playing badminton, I sometime find myself too tense when I breath in, especially during fast movement, so eventually my stroke is not good. If anyone has experienced this problem and know how to overcome it, please share his experiences.
Breathing is really important to me when I play badminton. I've done track and cross country running along with some biking before, so when I started badminton, I transfered a lot of the breathing techniques. What I basically do is exhale like everybody's been saying on hits. But I also exhale on my 2nd step (which usually gets me wherever I want to get to on the court, yay for height advantage). I also take a breathe roughly in the time it takes to get back to my center. Then from the center I breathe normally till I see/hear my opponent hit the birdie. I then exhale as I take my first step and start breathing in so I can breathe out during the hit. Of course this all hits the fan if it's a fast pace rally, but I try to keep with this most of the time. Sorry if that didn't make much sense.