Biomechanical Principles in Badminton

Badminton. It is very essential to understand the basic biomechanical principles in badminton.

Because, badminton involves sharp eyesight, quick analysis of opponent's shot, preparing your stance, adjusting your hand, changing the face of your racket to the incoming shuttle and generating force as well when you plan to smash it. All of these movements involve understanding basic biomechanical principles without which there is every chance of sustaining a badminton injury by slipping, falling or overuse.

You have to have some idea of "center of gravity" to understand badminton biomechanical principles. Centre of gravity is a point in the body, which is pivotal in balancing the entire body. At that point, your body will be in perfect balance without any need to change posture or rotate to keep it in balance.

The center of gravity is approximately located in the terminal portion of the spinal cord called the sacrum; especially in it's upper one-third portion. The center of gravity in a female is at a comparatively lower level than a male because they tend to have wider pelvis with more fat deposit around their buttocks and thighs.

Similarly, height and age also affects the location of the center of gravity. The center of gravity is important because, by lowering it, you can increase your balance when playing badminton.

Similarly, line of gravity, base of support, mass of the individual and friction between contact surfaces are the other factors helping you to maintain balance. That is, the line of gravity should be approximately in or near the base of support, the base of support should be as wide as possible, the mass of the individual has to be optimum so as to achieve stability and increased friction should be there between the contact surfaces to maintain good balance while playing badminton.

So, any badminton player is supposed to keep his center of gravity as low as possible to allow comfortable shot making, has to keep the base of support as wide as possible to allow maximum balance while playing, maintain his line of gravity approximately around the base of support to optimally combine the benefits, have ideal body mass and wear good friction soled sports shoes for fine balancing without flinching and to prevent sports injuries from occurring.

Lastly, while playing badminton, concentrating on a fixed object rather than moving objects helps in maintaining your balance better. It is because moving flashy objects affect the sense of your balance psychologically while playing.

To achieve the benefits of biomechanical principles discussed above, a badminton player has to take a crouching stance to lower his center of gravity, with his legs apart to widen the base of his support, avoiding lifting his arms unnecessarily above head level which raises the center of gravity, thrive to maintain ideal body mass and wear good friction rubber soled sports shoes to further stabilize himself during playing.

Playing badminton by properly following basic biomechanical principles helps in the following ways.

1. Minimize reaction time, thereby giving extra time in responding to opponent's shots.

2. Aids in playing attacking badminton because by aligning the line of gravity to the center of gravity, pivoting and mobilizing the body to play various shots becomes easy.

3. Helps in avoiding injuries arising from overuse or misuse.

Health Benefits of Playing Badminton

Playing Badminton. It is a well-known fact that indulging in aerobic sports activity like badminton gives multiple health benefits and promotes longevity.

In fact it has been found that playing badminton till you get an increase in heart rate or mild breathlessness regularly in middle age lowers the risk of death by about 23% in the subsequent 20 years and improves longevity by at least 2 years. The optimal health benefits are achieved by playing badminton for at least 30 minutes a day after adequate warm up.

The main health benefit is reduction of bad cholesterol and increase in good cholesterol with regular badminton play. In our body, total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) are bad cholesterols and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) is the only good cholesterol.

Playing badminton regularly increases the levels of HDL good cholesterol while decreasing the levels of bad cholesterols. As bad cholesterols decrease the size of blood vessels promoting heart attacks and strokes, reduction in their levels translates into multiple health benefits for the individual.

Playing regular badminton conditions the body so that the basal heart rate drops a few beats per minute and blood pressure is reduced. Both these effects are helpful in hypertensive individuals. It may help them to ward off their hypertension without medicines and even if they are needed, only fewer amounts are required.

Another particular health benefit of playing regular badminton is protection from heart disease, especially heart attacks. Playing badminton conditions and strengthens the heart muscle besides reducing hypertension and keeping blood vessels from clogging as we have seen earlier. Even people with pre-existing heart disease can benefit by playing badminton within their endurance levels under medical supervision and advise.

Regular indulgence in badminton helps overweight people to reduce their weight and attain optimal weight for their height and age. This effect is due to the excess calories burnt during playing badminton which prevents them from accumulating as fat and increasing the individual's weight.

Moreover, the existing fat deposits are also mobilized to produce energy while playing badminton. But for achieving optimal weight loss, it has to be combined with diet modification as well.

Osteoporosis is a troublesome problem especially in the elderly and women after menopause. It occurs because the bones loose their density due to complex interactions between the body hormones, bone forming and bone dissolving cells. Individuals with osteoporosis can easily sustain fractures because of reduced bone strength to withstand stress and injury.

Osteoporosis can be prevented or delayed by regularly playing badminton, as physical activity is one major factor that prevents osteoporosis, irrespective of the age and sex of the individual. Playing badminton promotes the activity of the bone forming cells and help in the assimilation of calcium in the bone matrix, thereby strengthening it.

Additional health benefit of playing regular badminton is reduced incidence of cancers like cancer of the large bowel and cancer of breast.

Finally, playing badminton keeps you feeling well, strong, motivated, enthusiastic and young. It helps to ward off depression, anxiety, stress and increase self-esteem. It also helps in enjoying a better sleep in the night, thereby minimizing the incidence of pre-existing illnesses getting aggravated due to lack of sleep.