I am wondering if doing footwork drills on sand produce better resistance and has less impact on the knee joints.
Possibly, but at least to me, it would seem the sand would alter how you did the footwork and might have a negetive effect when on court.
hmmm...did you seen this on a video in youtube? that's what Chinese national players do. it won't ruin your footwork as long as you practice on court as well, but it ain't easy, even the Chinese players were stoked after a few minutes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1WCa0pf_Aw video made by a fellow forum member. it's LYB singing with China team photos and videos of them training. for Lin Dan, Gao Ling and WS 1st team singing, http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41589 enjoy
sand would be a great way to improve footwork and leg strength!! infact when I was trained by some Danish coaches a few years ago they would get out big crash mats and have us perform "fast feet" drills on them... you know running on the spot and stuff like that... infact damn i'm going to do this next time i'm out for a run!! beach footwork would be great!
ok i just watched the video and noticed that the chinese aren't actually doing footwork on the sand! they are doing various jumping/running on the spot type things to improve the leg muscles here... you COULD do footwork stuff too though but it would have the same effect as what they did in that video
I've done footwork in sand before. Its much more difficult. I'm sure they do various plyometric excercises on the sand. I also heard that in indonesia there is a court that on one side it is raised so the player on normal height has to defend more b/c the player on the raised side cna get more angle on attacking shots.
I play outdoor beach volleyball in the summers and indoor beach in the winters. I find that it DEFINATELY improves foot speed and leaping ability when you get back on the court. I find the sand easier on the knees but there is still a risk of spraining ankles whether you play barefoot or sandsocks. Another factor <it's the beach...girls....bikinis....you play harder and train harder to impress> Hope this helps PeteLSD.... FYI....I hear Vancouver will open an indoor beach facility within the next year or so.. Can't wait!
http://www.northbeachvolleyball.com/torontoind7.htm according to an image on their main page...it's opening "soon" I play at this facility in toronto during the winter. But summer is approaching...you should be outside.. I think you need a tan. and their late night drop in sessions should suit you the most (early breakfast!)
I've heard very good things about sand... although, living in Winterpeg, Manisnowba, I haven't got much of a window to try it...
Me don't like a tan . BTW, what are beach socks for? Are they more like shoes for beach? I think someone posted a linky in one of the forums but couldn't find it.
I see it as more of a GPP type exercise (GPP= general physical preparation). Basically, GPP exercises are the ones that can be considered "playground" or "strongman". The idea is not to overly stress your system, rather it provides a base of fitness -> it is training to prepare for training, as opposed to training for performance directly. One thing to consider is that the sand completely changes the ground reaction forces for the initial pushoff and the stroke pushoff. These are the most critical parts of good footwork IMO. This doesn't mean that sand training is useless, it just means that it's necessary to consider this and put this type of training into your training plan if it is something that you need.
Here, I found a linky on sand socks: http://www.sandsocks.net/product.cfm?action=show_product&product_id=6
If the sand is REAL hot...it's definately very helpful to have them on so that you don't burn your feet or get blisters). I'd say that moving in the sand is similar to playing badminton with ankle weights. That would be the best solution for you Pete if you don't want a tan. So Pete...you don't need the tan...but you do want to check out the girls at the beach right...wink wink...if you're wondering...all the outdoor beach volleyball in the summer is at Kits Beach.. My brother-in-law plays there all day and all summer long. Sir Dink is in SoCal ...he should have this luxury all year long showing off his massive arms....and his gentle panda side...=)
damn beachies, i live in a praierie half a country away from the nearest ocean beach. And all the lakes have so many twigs and litter in them you cant even walk barefoot.
Training on sand is definitely TOUGH. I went for a 3 day training stint at a beach before. Jogging, footwork, jumps, agilities etc was all done on sand. It was super duper hard on the legs, yes, definitely. But when I got back on court the next time my speed had increased remarkably. And that was only after about 10 hours on the sand. Can you imagine the vast improvement if you train on sand more often?
