Footwork and breathing

[carlo]

I was thinking this morning about the link between rhythm in footwork and breathing. You know Yoga or Pilates instructors always stress the connection between breathing, posture/balance and movement. For example exhaling naturally leads to abs contraction, so exhaling while hitting a smash should help in getting more power.

It would seem logical then that 'proper' breathing should be a part of regular footwork. Eg inhale when you jump up to hit a smash or prepare for a split step etc. Of course in some instances of actual play you would be lucky to be able to breathe at all. But still when practicing footwork at a normal speed there should be an "optimal" way of breathing. Paying attention to this when practicing footwork should help in getting a good 'rhythm'.

I haven't figured out just yet what this 'optimal' way is, but I'm becoming more aware of my breathing when I play and it seems to help (at least when I get it right). Has anyone else experimented with this?

[yy_ling]

I remember is an article about rudy hartorno, they said something about breathing

[martin8768]

actually you should exhale during every shot if possible, specially the powerful ones. for example, in tennis the grunts that the players make is wen they exhale during a shot, some make a sound some dont. its all about preference. but they all exhale. Also, mostly in doubles, u hear the backcourt player grunt almost like in tennis because their exhaling. When you grunt it tenses up the core muscles and increase power and accuracy.

but badminton is a gentelman/woman's sport so the grunting is not very loud and is often barely audible. i dont like it wen people grunt in badminton but exhaling is a must to me.