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?
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.
