i usually do stretches for about 5 minutes, stretching my quads, calfs, forearm, bi/triceps. and maybe add a few swings to loosen up my shoulders. however, after i finish playing, i'm usually not sure how to cool-down. all the videos i watch say cool down is important but it doesnt teach me how to do it. do you guys have a cool down routine at all? thanks
Full-length high clears require hard hitting. It's like waking up and stepping right into a boxing bout. Unless you have an off-court warm-up routine, the ideal warm-up sequence would be net play > half-court pushes > drops > half-smashes > drives > smashes > clears. It's interesting to note that, before a match, professional players rarely practice clears. Instead, they go through the other varieties of shots. As mongoose once pointed out, professional players seem inclined to rehearse the shots likely to be used the most during the match.
usually when i warm up on court ive done some prior warmup off court like some shuffling and some stuff to make sure that im already warm when i step onto the court. Then on court usually always start off with some clears quickely to make sure hitting right and clears dont require that hard of hitting at all. then spend more time working on drops, smashes, drives and finally end with some serves and net play thats for doubles with my partner btw. for singles usually the same minus serves. for a cool down usually streching and thats about it actually if its during training then will finish up with some net shots or some serves then go into streching at a tournament its just usually stick my warmup gear back on asap get off the court and strech maby do some light routine to cool down as well.
Rope skipping and shadow playing of strokes for warmup if I have space. Drives and smashes afterwards. Warm down/ cool down consist of light stand up stretches for the limbs.
You'd be better off saving these stretches for after you play. Static stretches before sport are now thought to reduce performance (specifically, jumping height and perhaps other explosive movements), and do not protect against injury. It doesn't make much sense to lengthen your muscles before you play. Afterwards, however, your muscles will become shortened; static stretches return them to normal length. Static stretches can also promote recovery by squeezing lactic acid out of the muscles. For the warm up, you should do some light aerobic exercise such as jogging, skipping, or cycling; this raises your heart rate and muscle temperature. Then you want to get your muscles moving, preferably with badminton-like movements: swing the shoulders, do a few lunges, shadow footwork, or whatever. Just get your muscles moving gently. Ideally, you should spend 5-10 minutes doing this before you even hit a shuttle. This will ensure that your heart rate is up, your muscles are warm (muscles perform better when warm, and are less prone to injury), and the blood supply to your muscles has been increased.
I have to agree with Gollum. Stretching after gameplay. I've always been told muscles are like organic elastic bands, if you stretch them when they're cold they can snap but when they're warmed up their elasticity is increased. I find post play stretches also reduce next day 'soreness' especially in your legs, glutes and lower back.
I only play once or twice a week. And after sitting in the office all day, the muscles are very tight. I need that 5 minutes of stretching of all my muscles. Lately, I also started a warm-down routine. Simply walking, stretching help my recovery also. Hmm! Gollum has a very good point here. So far, I concentrate on my muscles. Haven't thought about getting my heart rate up. I am going to try it next time. I have a few instants that my heart was pounding in my first game and would only recover from the second game on. Looks like getting my heart rate up during warm-up would do me a lot of good. Thanks,
Static & Dynamic stretching A new philosophy on stretching has emerged in the past few years. As mentioned by Gollum & others, static stretching is often suggested after play or exercise as part of the cool-down routine. However, quite a few experts are now suggesting that static stretching can be done prior to play as long as they are done at least 30-60 minutes beforehand. After the static stretching, the athlete will engage in a dynamic warm-up, including dynamic stretching and shadow strokes & footwork. Some people will do their static stretching at home, head off to the gym and do their dynamic warm-up before playing.
While static stretching can possibly reduce soreness and help with flexibility in the long run, it does degrade muscle performance, typically for 30-60 minutes or more. If you you engage in just a little bit of easy static stretching about 20-30 minutes before commencing play, you may be ok if you follow the short static stretching session (just a few minutes), with a good dynamic warm-up. However, if you engage in an extensive static stretching routine, then give yourself an hour (or more) before your dynamic warmup and play. This idea of doing static stretches somewhat before doing your dynamic warm-up may actually be much more benefical for alleviating soreness and improving flexibility rather than saving all your static stretching for your post-game routine. ( I posted these ideas a few months back in a tennis forum. If anyone is interested, I can try to dig up the resources where I found this recent stretching & warm-up philosophy).
When i warm up, i jog around the courts around 4 times, then start stretching. When on court, start with half court clears then after 2mins do full clear. For cool down, just stretch & loosen the muscles.
^ Heong, as mentioned already by several of us in this thread, stretching should not be a part of your pre-badminton warm-up unless they are dynamic stretches. Check out the recommendations above for static stretching.
So basically if we are to do an extensive static stretching routine, we need to wait an hour or so for the muscles to go back to their regular elasticity before we play. That way we won't get hurt due to over flexibility/extension of the muscles.
That's really interesting. I just do a few stretches before i play. I guess i have to stretch before i leave home. Thanks for the info SystemicAnomaly.
^ Yes, you could pretty much do some light, easy static stretching just about any time of the day -- just avoid doing so immediately prior to competition. If you engage in more extensive static stretching, then it is probably wise to warm up a bit before doing so. (Post-exercise or post-match static stretching is also strongly advised). Once you get to the courts, be sure to include some dynamic stretches in your warm-up -- arm circles, arm swinging, walking or alternating lunges (do not hold for more than a second or so), etc.
One thing to bear in mind: Static stretching is generally a good thing, because most people tend to get shortened muscles and lack flexibility. But excessive stretching can be harmful, because you can become hypermobile. Your goal should not be to achieve maximum possible flexibility in all your joints. It's possible to be too flexible. What athletes describe as "flexibility", doctors often call "joint hyperlaxity". I've been extremely flexible from birth, because I'm hypermobile: my ligaments are naturally very loose. Hypermobility is bad for badminton players (for one thing, it led to my shoulder injury).
People typically have some joints that are hypermobile and others that are lacking in mobility. Interestingly, if you go through the body joint by joint you'll often find that it alternates between too much and too little mobility. Overhead athletes (like javelin throwers, baseball pitchers, ..., badminton players!) typically have too much mobility in the shoulder. All explosive swinging motions are essentially ballistic stretches to the shoulder. So, a part of your specific warm-up for the shoulder would be to emphasize shoulder stability. Meanwhile, static stretching for the shoulder would not be a great idea. Right by the shoulder you'll find the thoracic spine. Because of too much sitting or bad posture or whatever, many people have really bad thoracic spine mobility (think hunch-back). If you have an exercise that can improve the mobility here, then the range of motion required by the shoulder can be reduced, resulting in better shoulder health. So, insert a few thoracic spine mobilization exercises into your warm-up. Below the thoracic spine is the lumbar spine. This is the part that hurts when people say their back hurts. Typically, these people have a poor ability to keep these joints stable, and so they become way too mobile. Some bridging exercises might be appropriate during the warm-up to make sure these work properly. Under the lumbar spine are the hips. Here we have a couple of problems related to a lack of mobility. They both stem from the large amount of time people spend sitting down. The hip flexors in the front get shortened from sitting, while the hip flexors, particularly the glutes, often become deactivated from getting stretched and lack of use. Also, range of motion may be lacking in the lateral and rotational directions. So, warm-up should certainly have a hip mobility component, and there are many exercises out there used to deal with this. Beyond that, the knee needs stability, the ankle needs mobility and the foot needs stability. You guys can figure what that means in terms of what to do during warm-up.
