Go to http://badminton-coach.co.uk/ and look at the "armchair exercises". They are fantastic. Pay attention to the one with the brick and the one with the racket cover. Matt
Ask your coach, s/he would know you best. MSeeley mentioned above a good site: http://badminton-coach.co.uk/139/armchair-exercises-to-improve-your-game-lesson-two-strengthen-the-wrist
Forgot to mention... You could also practice doing figure 8's with your wrist by using a 500ml bottle of pop.
Dory You should also consider building upper body strength. Start off by doing press-ups slowly, 3 count down, 3 count up. Get to 3 sets of 10. Once you can do this, try press ups with a clap in the middle. When you can power up from each press up and clap your hands you've significantly improved your arm strength. Paul www.badminton-coach.co.uk
Hi, For the past three years I have made push-ups, row, curl, bench-press,.... It helps me to gain some strength but not that much of explosiveness. Since two months I have used heavy rackets to warm up. Squash racket can make the fit I suppose but some badminton racquets loaded down on purpose exist as well. Weight should be better-balanced than a squash one (several models exist 140g/150g/170g/190g/....) Beware that, at least the beginning, you shouldn't play with it but only do some "shadow" motions e.g. clear & rush motions (like shadow for footwork) otherwise you might injure yourself. After only one month my arm speed has increased and when I take my usual racquet I feel like I have a feather in the hand. It helps me a lot for flat game and defence as well as my smash power. Benoit
I will just add to what Benoit said: be careful with your use of heavy rackets. I personally think they are fantastic, but I am also aware that you should be very careful to begin with. Good suggestion though.
I noticed from another thread that DoryTheFish is a girl/woman, who plays mixed doubles. I apologize if any of this sounds sexist, but... I'm not sure how realistic that exercise regime is going to be, and I'm not convinced she really needs to build more strength anyway - aside from the fact that technique is much more important than strength when it comes to generating power, there's also the fact that power is not going to be important for her, the way it is for a guy who has to be hitting powerful smashes from the rear-court.
well that's true but I also play in the back during doubles and when I'm playing mixed I might just need to practice on techniques of dropping. And getting rid of my fear of smashes... T.T
