Badminton Fitness – Stamina In Badminton

Featured Image: Antony Stanley

Stamina

It is often thought that stamina in badminton and endurance are interchangeable. But there is a subtle difference between the two. Stamina is the ability of the muscles to perform at maximum capacity for a period of time. This is short term compared to endurance, which is associated with longer periods of activity at a moderate capacity. So with stamina, we’re trying to maximise the ability of our anaerobic system to maintain high levels of activity for a longer period of time.

The energy systems involved here are not aerobic but anaerobic. They do not require oxygen to produce energy. Therefore, stamina is the ability of the body to produce immediate energy. Endurance is the ability of the body to provide oxygen for the purposes of energy generation.

The Two Anaerobic Systems

In addition to the aerobic system, there are two anerobic systems:

1. Creatine Phosphate System, which provides very short term energy
2. Lactic Acid system, which provides energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen, resulting in lactic acid.

Further information on all three systems can be found by clicking on the links below:

1. Aerobic
2. Anaerobic

Advantages of Good Stamina In Badminton

Prolonged Attacking Play

Having good stamina means you will be able to attack more often and for longer periods (especially in doubles). Your body is more efficient at providing energy for when you need to play at a faster pace. This will improve your ability to be able to pressurise your opponent.

Faster Movement On Court

Having good stamina means that you will be able to cover the court much faster when required. This allows you to reach the shuttle earlier, giving you many more options for your shot.

It is also helpful in rallies where you can win points by a sudden injection of pace, or dictate the pace due to superior speed. This puts opponents under movement pressure to keep up with you. Lin Dan in his youth was particularly good at employing this tactic.

Impact on Endurance

There is a secondary impact on the cardiovascular system. Oxygen isn’t initially required to generate energy anaerobically. However, it’s still required to break down the lactic acid that accumulates as a result. This is why you breathe heavily after a sprint for example.

This will also improve the ability of the body to transport oxygen for endurance purposes. Therefore, improving aerobic capabilities.

Increased Strength/Muscle Mass

The exercises required for increasing stamina also impact muscular strength, power, and mass. This is very important to protect your joints. Joints are naturally weak points of the body so having strong muscles helps to protect them. This is interconnected with the strength aspect of fitness.

Exercises To Improve Stamina

Weight Training

We will mention weight training in more detail when we discuss strength and power. It is a great way of increasing your stamina. Lifting weight requires energy immediately and so predominantly relies on the anaerobic system.

High Intensity Interval Training

Interval training (HIIT) involved short bursts of maximum effort, followed by a longer period of recovery. This cycle is repeated for a predetermined amount of time or a number of repetitions. For example, jogging at a steady pace for 60 seconds, followed by a sprint for 10 seconds repeated for 15 minutes.

Because of the high-intensity element, most HIIT workouts are fairly short, usually less than half an hour. In fact, there’s a HIIT workout that lasts only four minutes! It’s called Tabata and you can check it out here!

Plyometrics

Plyometrics (jump training) is an explosive and athletic form of training. This will translate directly to speed and agility on the court. It is essentially anything involving getting off the ground. This includes jumping, skipping and box jumps.

This is a high-intensity activity. It is also high impact so if you have joint issues, you can either modify some of the exercises, or try another exercise which is a bit easier on them. Remember, these are just suggestions. There are many ways in which you can train to meet your fitness requirements.

Some examples of plyometric exercises which are great for badminton include:

1. Jump Squat – A bodyweight squat with a jump as you rise from the squat position.
2. Scissor Lunge – From the lunge position, jump and swap leg positions so now you are lunging with the opposite leg.
3. One legged hop – Hop on one leg for a set number of repititions. Repeat on each leg.

Combining plyometrics and HIIT is a great way to help increase stamina in badminton. Although it is not for the faint of heart!

Badminton Specific Exercises

Speed Shadow/HIIT

Shadow movements to different areas of the court as fast as possible. This should not be at the expense of good form of your footwork.

You should aim for as many rounds as possible, with maximum effort. A brief rest in between will help to bring your heart rate down a little so you can recover for the next round. Initially, your rest periods might be slightly longer but you should aim to decrease your rest period and/or increase the number of rounds over time.

Incorporating HIIT into this exercise helps to mimic the different speeds you might encounter in a rally. Start off at a moderate pace and shadow the court as normal. Every 5th time, you do it as fast as you can before returning to the slower pace to allow you time to recover for the next speed round.

Diagonal Sprints

The diagonal of the court is the longest distance of the court you will have to travel. To cover this distance in a game you will have to sprint. This exercise replicates that situation.

1. Starting from the rear corner (A).
2. Sprint the diagonal to the front corner (B).
3. Run backwards to the rear corner on the same side (C).
4. Sprint to the other diagonal front corner (D).
5. Do this for as long as possible. When you tire take a short rest and repeat.

Smash Drill

Have your partner lift the shuttle to you and you smash with full effort every time. This can be done through somebody multi-feeding, or have someone defend your smash. Multifeeding will be more difficult as the feeder should keep a faster pace than if one person was returning the smash

The smash is the most explosive shot in badminton. Therefore this drill is a great way to improve your stamina and prolonging of your attacking capabilities.

Multi-feed

Again the exercise is the same as previously described in the endurance article. However, the emphasis is now on pace.

1. Have somebody feed you with a number of shuttles to different areas of the court.
2. They should wait until you recover back to your base position until they feed the next shot.
3. You should make sure you do it as quick as possible to keep up the tempo.
4. Do not sacrifice your footwork for speed.
5. If the feeder is too quick, this can lead to injury.

Stamina In Badminton – The Final Word

Stamina training is hard. It requires 100% effort every time. The benefits of training stamina cannot be understated when transferred to the court. Having the advantage to attack for longer periods in doubles, or ability dictate a fast pace in singles will be key to winning those tougher matches.

Training stamina affects both endurance, strength but also power. It is important to not just assume that you can only train stamina due to the secondary effects being beneficial to other aspects of fitness. It is not the same as specifically targeting each one individually to provide the fitness necessary to be a strong athlete.

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