Hi, I play badminton once a week. Recently, I have started doing some strength training to build some muscles and loose fat. My smashes have gotten worse though. Sometimes, it is weaker or sometimes I miss hit it. It seems that my timing is off. Perhaps, with the gained strength, I am swinging faster?? Anyone experience as such before?
The thing is, muscle didnt grow instantly. Its a process of stressing the muscle & recovery. 1. Coz it step by step process, its unlikely messup you games as you grow & play your body adapt to it. Unless you grow like Capt America then its a yes, as your sudden body change would turn your muscle memory messup. 2. There is also thing called shaft stiffness. Flex shaft is easier to play but to much flex when exerting to much power absorbing the power itself. Otherhand stiff shaft harder to play as it require some base strength to bend the shaft & as the result if one able to tame it, it will grant morr power from the bending. But i doubt this is your case. I believe its more about your hitting consistency, your technique itself. Even among pros there some who prefer less stiff racket & perform magnificantly. Last but not least. 70% power smash + 30% control is 3x more deadlier than straight forward 100% full burst smash.
Thank you for your reply. I only play once a week for less than 2 hrs. It's true muscle doesn't grow instantly but I believe strength can grow quicker. Within 1 week of training. I should have gain some strength. A simple example would be doing bicep curls with heavy dumbbells and then holding the racket. It would feel lighter temporarily. So perhaps my racket feels lighter in my games now so my timing runs slightly
what do you mean by strength training? this is quite vague. are you doing compound movements? rep ranges? strength training really is about building strength rather than muscles, yes you increase muscle volume but it's a different goal from body building. also if you're following certain programs you'll gain fat because they tell you to eat a lot. heavy bicep curls... not sure how that translates into badminton and yes I can see how doing a hypertrophy rep range for the upper body would alter your physiology in an aesthetic but non-functional way leading to timing changing on your smash. badminton programs tend to focus on lower body mostly and cycle through periods of strength, endurance, and explosiveness/power with a lot of balance and stability exercises. but anyway you only play for a couple of hours a week so not sure why this would be a problem?
Strength training as in lifting weights. And I am not particularly training for badminton. It is just for overall fitness and fat loss. Since I am playing just a couple hours a week but training almost everyday, does it mean I am gaining strength faster than my body can adapt to my badminton play?
Badminton racket is a lightweight by itself. Less than 100gr even less as today 4u is quite common & not to mention the extra lightweight like 5-7u. Badminton itself play more on muscle memory than muscle strength. Well, none of the pros had the body build of Dwayne Johnson, they all slim & not overly muscular. Even some teenager with proper training could hit back to back clear easy & consistent. Pretty sure Dwayne Johnson with all those big muscle couldnt smash harder/faster than a female pro player. I would say, badminton use acceleration than top speed in term of car performance. Able to lift & hold 200Kg weight for 10sec is meaningless on badminton. But swinging 200Gr weight repeatly for 1 minute is much more usefull. But let take a step backward. What is the main point here? An affirmation that your training really messup your games? So what next? Stop physical training? I guest not. Not knowing your games, idk on what level you are now. But considering your claim playing less than 2 hour a week is just so less. Im also not sure why you did physical training? If its specificly for improving your badminton games & if you really want to get better at badminton, do some coaching & it would improve your games dramatically than just physical strength training.
Also general strength is not functional strength. Just because you're gaining strength doesn't mean it has any application to badminton And also if you don't stretch but keep lifting weights you are tightening up your muscles for badminton
Thank you everyone for your inputs. It is probably due to lack of proper stretching since my muscles has tightened due to the strength training. Will stretch more prior to my games and hopefully my gameplay will improve.
Actually it's just as important to stretch after your workouts, and not just for badminton, it helps with recovery. Static stretches after exercise, dynamic before..
