If i were to buy ONE non-badminton related item for training...

**ChocoChipWaffle** · 09-19-2006, 12:48 AM

what should i buy? price range should be around $200 or below, and it can be something like weights or training vests etc. As long as it BUILDS my smash power or leg muscles etc. what's recommended?

**noluckjim** · 09-19-2006, 12:57 AM

A coach if you can

Or a decent pair of shoes, assuming this is something you may not have. There's nothing worse in training than not being able to move around the court due to your shoes - sliding, unstableness, etc = not cool

wait, non-badminton? I guess my preference is to try and improve footwork over smashes - perhaps some ankle weights? Any of your suggestions can work, so long as you know how to effectively utilise them.

**Chire** · 09-19-2006, 01:11 AM

Skipping rope, a gym ball (or whatever it's called) that weighs 1-1,5 kg as well as an elastic band (believe me, it is of utmost importance for a badminton player to do excercises with an elastic band, I think I'll start a thread about it sometime soon).
Cheap and effective, in total something like $20-30.

But that's not one. But then again, the cost is extremely low as well.

**jerby** · 09-19-2006, 07:09 AM

a jumpign rope and a cheap squash racket? (~30 euro's total..)
and maybe a chin-up bar..

**crosscourt** · 09-19-2006, 07:22 AM

I'm not sure what they're called but they are like squeezy balls that go in the palm of your hand. They strengthen fingers and forearm muscles

**jerby** · 09-19-2006, 07:24 AM

Originally Posted by crosscourt

I'm not sure what they're called but they are like squeezy balls that go in the palm of your hand. They strengthen fingers and forearm muscles

I know what you mean, I've got a GripII ball. is pretty difficult to sqeeze the first 2 times..after that it's all soft..

and personally: I don't think it works as well as a squash racket. the ball train your fingers/wrist to grip tightly, but slow. the squasher teaches your msucles to contract fast and hard..

**crosscourt** · 09-19-2006, 07:38 AM

Originally Posted by jerby

I know what you mean, I've got a GripII ball. is pretty difficult to sqeeze the first 2 times..after that it's all soft..

and personally: I don't think it works as well as a squash racket. the ball train your fingers/wrist to grip tightly, but slow. the squasher teaches your msucles to contract fast and hard..

..but you can just squash the ball more slowly can't you? You might be right about the squash racket being better. I supose the advantage of a squasher is that you can carry it round and be strengthening those muscles whilst on the train/bus/walking etc

**jerby** · 09-19-2006, 08:09 AM

Oh wait...With "the squasher" I meant my squash racket...silly nickname, sorry...
well, you can try squashing the ball faster, to get the squashracket-like practise...but I can't really do it.

another fun practise is to try open&close your hand twice within a second