Have you played after a long lay off? My footwork and timing now gone to pot, am playing rubbish. I will never get back in the league as I am. I think it is no good trying to get back my standard just playing games. Maybe a few weeks coaching now needed. Wonder how long it will take after way more than a year not playing.
Yes. I took nearly 8 months out due to plantar fasciitis- I couldn’t walk for more than ten minutes without getting severe pain in the foot. you have to take it step by step. your muscles might be totally deconditioned and you need to design a type of conditioning program that helps you get back into fitness, strength (for joint protection), better balance in ankles etc. in addition to playing badminton. It took me two months to get past ten minutes of HIIT and start feeling fitter. I initially couldn’t face going into a gym because I knew I wouldn’t last an hour. I went to taekwondo classes which had those short HIIT sessions and kicking- the kicking helps develop overall leg movement and balance. After I started feeling better, I then went to a gym for group sessions working more on core and with weights. getting a coach is a good idea. Just repeating a shot without running and doing it a few hundred times will get your feel for hitting the shuttle back. Boring and tedious stuff but it’s the groundwork that helps so much when you want to run and hit shuttles. The coach might be tempted to mix it up a bit but just be insistent about practicing the basic strokes for a few lessons. The good thing about working with the coach is for you, you just need to hit as many shuttles as possible in the one hour. If you play games, much of the time on court is wasted not hitting a shuttle - games are highly inefficient. As your confidence and fitness improves, start trying to add a couple of steps and then hitting the shuttle.
About to play after 4 years out. Going to take it very slowly! Last time after a long lay off it took about 6 months to get back to a decent standard. Much older now so no idea what will happen.
Last year during lockdown i stop playing for few month. That time im still doing some exercise at home to kill my boring day. Even so, my 1st playing i feel like slow robotic response. My daily exercise only save me from muscle soreness. 1 thing for sure my games after long break change. From bloody aggresive smasher type player into more rally base player doing placement, setup the shuttle, & smash when in good position. Not sure how am i if i ever able to play again. Been 2 month already & with all my busy work at home, i havent done any excercise to. My 1st game might be like a noob
I think this is pretty normal for adults who love badminton and play for their whole lives. We get busy and can't always play as much as we want, with kids, and jobs, and moving, many people take breaks for years. If you come back to badminton a few years later you won't be the same level as you were and maybe never will be able to get back to that level without a lot of work. But it shouldn't matter! Our bodies and therefore our game changes as we age, even if you never took a break. So don't try to go back to exactly what you did before. Take it slow, and maybe you'll feel bad you can't play at the same level you were before, but playing is the important part and it's good you are coming back to the sport.
I've specifically chosen low level players to play with before I go to a competitive club. Once I get into a competitive game it will be dangerous if I am untrained. The badminton memory doesn't go for me, the fitness does. This makes it dangerous as I will want to hit shots and move like I used to. Off court I am doing HIIT. I won't go back to a club for a few months at least.
So today i had my 1st games after 2 month. Now i feel sore all over my body & for the 1st time i feel my TK770 feel so much heavy. Doing repeat clear hit for warming up & my muscle already screaming. & switching to P8 cost me more energy just for my clear reach the back court. Sigh.... Need to start from bottom again
First game in 4 years today. Actually amazing how much I could do! Everything is still there, just need the fitness and practice. Looking forward to getting back to a club.
whatever you do, don't hop into court and pretend you never stopped. I took a few months off due to injury and instantly hurt my knee on the first day back when playing some intense games. I had to take another month off for the knee to get better. take it easy and pace yourself. the fitness and muscles will come back eventually, if your injure something, it will take even more time to get back to normal.
Yeah re-iterate this because it's very important. Do not go back after a layoff and play a competitive game. Pick something way below your level and start from there. It will give you a feel of what you can and can't do
Just started training after 2 weeks of lockdown here in Thailand. no physical training but at least 3 hours of on court practice… almost died and will 100% feel it tomorrow lol
Go easy, as have been mentioned,do the boring basic stuff first, if you can hook up with a hitting partner who can consistently feed you to develop your timing and feel of the hit, then take it from there constructively and move on to other aspects. With your “much older” quote, I don’t know how old you are, I am in my 50’s and totally ruptured my Achilles Tendon in late 2019, rushed on court as others were waiting, ended up broken the first back hand I turned for, finally got back on my feet after 3 months then only had 3 sessions of physio lockdown started, still not 100% and don’t think I’ll ever pick up my racket again. So if like me you are quite advance in years, I’d advocate proper warm up before you pick up your racket, good luck and enjoy your return.
I'm no expert, but this is the way I understand physiology. When you have been fit in the past, your body has a relatively easy time returning to this past fitness. This, combined with muscle memory 'reactivating', make player feel like they got their mojo back, like they are playing well and feeling good. But tendons and ligaments don't strengthen that fast. After inactivity, it can take months to get them to a level where they can safely keep up with the muscles.
Think you’ve pretty much nailed it, i ruptured my left Achilles after a long hiatus from the game, tentatively came back last year then proceed to rupturing the right Achilles.
The different between me having lockdown last year & this year are, last year im still having physical training routine at home while this year im doing no training just spend most of my time working at home behind my notebook. Last year at court, while im physically fit & feel no sore after my 1st games, i just losing my touch & feel. I remember the sensation when im still green seeing the high lv player smash are like a flicker & i feel those again when my friend smashing me. My response are slow, alot of lagging, & sleeping reflex. This year, not just i feel sore all over my body but for the 1st time im compaining my Mjolnir TK770 feel so damn heavy & my arm muscle like screaming after repeat clear hit during warmup. So getting our sense & feel are easy, few month playing will get you back in shape but when your physical body getting a long sleep, its a long journey to awaken the beast inside you. Few day ago doing shadow smash at home with my TK770 & my arm already screaming tho it havent pass 3 minute.
Yes, the left was when I Chasse/Lunge for net shot, felt someone hit me with red hot poker and look round whilst collapsed in a heap, the recent right leg was just an innocuous push/crossover to play backhand,same result, both total ruptures, the left slightly higher, the right down at heel area which I feel it’s more severe, though I am walking now but still feel discomfort and slight drag in the heel, guess I am done with my first love sport Badminton and concentrate on my other love Cycling now.
Thanks for your good wishes, I was apprehensive about playing again, but my love for Badminton won out and history repeated itself, much to my chagrin. Yes I will keep watching and concentrate on cycling which is good for my injured area being low impact, in my young days, I wanted to ride like Eddie Merckx, climb like Robert Millar and race with heart like Sean Kelly. ☺️
Sorry to hear I am 46 now. I do weight training off court and have been building up fitness before getting on court. I think this is important, most badminton players do not care, but if you want to avoid injury then the compound lifts will protect you. I would look into weight training once you have healed. I hear of this being very beneficial beyond 40s and 50s. I only started doing full compound lifts at 43 and spent over a year really focused on it, eating correctly, not missing sessions. People will say it is dangerous but I think it is the other way around, if you do it properly then it really helps your body. I was squatting over 2x bodyweight before lockdown. I started from the bar again, and expect it to take at least 6 months to get back there. Again I put my ego in check and start from scratch and go slowly. However, I think the longer term effects of lifting heavy weights have paid dividends as my body still feels stronger than from when I had never gone into it properly. I picked some lower level players to play against, they can only get max 10 points, so I do not have to push myself, the games effectively become a stroke and movement training session for me as I do not have to play competitively, whereas for them they get to play a higher level. There are lots of players that will be interested to do this, but to get someone to just stand and feed is much more difficult. I keep to 1 hour sessions no more than twice week. And do a little more each time. I have not felt any niggles so far. My racket is strung much lower than what I used to play with as well.
