The Badminton Herald

Bringing in badminton news and views to the grass roots..

I AM A BADMINTON GEEK...

"I had this intention of sweating out excess fat in exchange for the fun of whacking shuttlecocks in midair. The first time I stepped into a badminton court, I got that... and more! -The Bad Geek 2007

Subscribe

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Playing Badminton again after three weeks of hibernation

I have been off the court and off the sweats for almost a month before yesterday. I feel kinda heavy and sluggish not to mention easily tired and fatigued. In badminton, the effect of a long time absence sans training or fitness training, always take toll on your game consistency and skills.

The simple reason to this would be that our body adapts to the kind of "stress" we constantly subject it. If you don't use your muscles, joints, nerves etc, chances are your body tries to redirects the energy intended for such "memory" job and then redirects it to current energy requiring efforts. Reflexes will be dulled, movements will be sluggish, flexibility will be less and so on. Thus, the importance of consistently maintaining a skill and fitness level in badminton. What constitute a "regular" interval of playing is really a matter of discussing it with your coach trainer.

During my last game I learned a few more tactics that I knew readily in paper but couldn't execute well on court. I have been struggling before to counter the return of of service to my backhand side especially when I'm positioned at the center of the court when my partner serves the shuttle. If in my sufficient anticipation this will be the return tactic of my opponent, I position my right foot forward on defense and tries to get the shot with a backhand clear or drive. Sometimes I do the round the head forehand clear but this is too tiring for me and I'm pretty slow in returning to my defense rotation. 
A little left-my preferred position now when my partner serves on the right half of the court.(picture from badzone uk)

What I do with my men's double partner now is ask him to get ROS in front of him as well as those in his forehand side up to the mid court. I take the rest of the return shot. I position my self defensively more on the left side half of our court when he serves on the ride side. If he serves on the left side of the court, I stay In the middle of the court taking care of all return shots on the forehand from mid court to back court and the back hand side on the back court.

I find these tactic rather more plausible and relative easy and less tiring. During the last game, we made better percentages on our return of service shots.
Read more >>

Sudirman Cup:Fighting for the Second Best Team

 With the latest sweep of the Sudirman Cup (World Badminton Team Championships) by China, I wonder where else could this team be ever defeated. They played so dominantly, it has been awhile before they'd be beaten in this cup. They held on to this cup for eight years and was only beaten in the finals once by Korea in 1994.

I wasn't able to watch all of the matches (which you can download in videos in badminton central) but I did see Men's Singles Finals and Mens Doubles finals on Solar Sports TV. The Chinese players (Lin Dan especially) were all in their best form and skills. No wonder they beat almost everyone in the tournament.


Rumor has it that with the Sudirman Cup, all the other teams are vying for is the second best. Now, we know why.

So where to next now? World Championships?
Read more >>

The Sports Herald, here and soon!

I am a badminton geek that's for sure. But I've been mulling for a while now of adding more to this blog than just badminton. You see, I may have been overindulgent with badminton as my sport, but I follow a lot of other sports than I can muster.

Like I've been avidly following Manchester United and Ronaldo for so long I begun to like soccer football as a game. I also felt Le Bron James somehow deserve more NBA attention than Kobe Bryant should get. Or that Nadal seem to be without finesse (compared to the silent Federer) on top of ATP rankings. Well, I don't know golf (not yet) but, can Tiger Woods make a comeback??

And then there's Manny Pacquiao. Its inexcusable if you miss this southpaw powerpuncher.

So, what do you think? Should I venture into sports as a whole? I mean sports blogging?
The Remaining part here
Read more >>

I'm playing on a badminton tournament!

It's final, I'm playing in an upcoming tournament in a nearby city. A friend asked me to be his doubles partner. All I promised was the best of what I can play. I played with this friend before on several occasions and save for a few unpolished moves, we both complemented our badminton skills. Preparation wise, that's all we got- previous game pairing during tune up games. Nothing close to any tournament preparation that I knew. Actual "inventory" of my armamentarium revealed no sizable munitions to speak of. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed even with the loud taunts (by snickering mirons) of a championship trophy and honors.

I'm not laying out our game strategy for now as this may find its way to our opponents. Some of them happen to read this blog.

I'll post some more about this later. And by the way we whipped a higher level/class doubles team last night. That was some feat!
Read more >>

Badminton Hiatus

I'm off badminton game for one week now. I'm nursing a flu. Shucks, I hate it when I'm down with this epidemic. You'll really loose skills and concentration. And its so darn hard to get back to your "rhythm" when you step back in the game!

But as I've previously wrote here, playing while nursing a flu is not a good idea at all. In fact, it will predispose you to more serious injuries that may possibly incapacitate you from playing any badminton at all! Read here.
Read more >>

What's coming from the badminton geek

It must have been eons since my last post here. Not that I ran of badminton related topics to post. Certainly, excitement saturation is nowhere near my fave sport. To give you a glimpse of what's ahead in this blog, here are my updates.
  1. We went back to back Men's Doubles champion in the recently concluded SKMS badminton sport fest. How to win "weekend tournaments" the hard way.
  2. Badminton and sports injuries. The sad reality about playing and winning for the week end warriors.
  3. Betting among opposing in local tournaments. Is it really helpful for your game?
  4. Blogging about the grassroots and not the star players. Who's who in badminton.
  5. Philippine Badminton: Where are we heading to?
These and more will be featured here in this blog. Watch out for it!

Read more >>

Lateral Epicondylitis: Tennis elbow in Badminton?

In badminton, when sport injuries occur, it occurs successively if you're unwise enough. "When it rains, it pours".Just as I am talking of getting fit for badminton and ankle injuries a while ago, here I am again ranting about another blunder I made.
I sustained a lateral epicondylitis or "tennis elbow" on my racket hand. It is an injury on the extensor muscles and tendons of the wrist that results from repetitive or overuse of this muscle. It is commonly seen among tennis players (who uses a wrong backhand grip or small racket grip size), but can also occur in any racket playing sports who uses wrist extensors repetitively. (For a detailed definition or description, management and prevention of this injury, read the Mayo Clinic article on Tennis Elbow) Badminton players for one, are definitely prone to this injury.

A wrong backhand clear grip plus an "under prepared" and overused wrist extensor muscles is the culprit in my case. I was so happy perfecting my past body, overhead backhand clear with a slightly altered (thumb resting on the angle of the grip rather than flat surface) backhand grip . I was also practicing a perfect cross court backhand smash with this grip. I know from the very start that this "unorthodox" grip was not the usual backhand grip taught by coaches on backhand clears. To be able to do this overhead backhand clear, you should have a sufficiently strong and warmed extensor muscles that could forcibly throw, hit the shuttlecock in front of your body and a good footwork so you can have a better stance executing the stroke. That because because Lin Dan (CHN) or Taufik Hidayat (INA)can do it perfectly, like in this picture, I can do it also.

Well TaufiK Hidayat can do this perfectly alright. But not me. I do know that superstars can get away with any unorthodox grip they invent so long as they can deliver a winning shot. This is not so in my case. At least not for now.
On grip and stroke analysis, I've been using this grip size for long now that I only had minimal wrist extensor pain before. But I'm definitely trying an unorthodox grip for a weak, wrist extensor muscle and a relatively new, unfamiliar stroke. Somehow, my slow footwork "pushed" me to use this grip to reach a shuttlecock past and up in my backhand corner, angling my racket a bit downwards (downward return) overextending my wrist extensors (contracting) and still absorb the energy from the shuttlecock! This is what sports medicine physicians call an "elbow leading" backhand stroke that demands so much power from your extensor muscles. The results, a hurting extensor mechanisms in my forearm!

So for at least two weeks, Id be off strenuous activity that will aggravate my "badminton elbow", on daily 5x 15min cold compress, until pain subsides, then will start on with wrist muscles strengthening exercise before going back to badminton. Also, I'd be using an elbow counter force band from now on, rest my wrist while typing or blogging, and moderate  my other wrist extension activities!
Knowing these, it is quite clear now, what needs to be done and corrected upon. Right grip, adequately stretched and strengthened wrist  extensor muscles, faster footwork and the right sized racket grip!
Read more >>

Watch out! Changing shoes could be detrimental to your ankle!

Of course if you do this haphazardly and with much stupidity, you sure will end in the injured list. That's what I learned from last week's pre-tournament change of badminton shoes.



I got bored using my old Nike Court Shuttle during one badminton game I switched to an Umbro GT5-AIN Futsal rubber shoes. I tried to lunge with my right foot (with the Umbro shoe) and felt a faint, sharp, jabbing pain in my posterior ankle region. I continued playing and wasn't actually bothered by it during the whole game. My ankle is swollen and the pain is magnified the next day. Definitely, an posterior lip ankle injury. Worst it could have been a cartilage injury. So I stopped playing for one week and went on to nurse the sprain. I slowly stretched my ankle joint after 3 days and went on ankle strengthening exercises, prior to returning back to any game. And switched back to my old Nike Shoes.



Aside from the relatively poor posterior ankle support of the Umbro Futsal shoes, the insole and the gum sole felt horribly like a rocker. So when you lunge and land with your shoe flat and your distal leg behind your foot, there's no shoe posterior lip support that would thwart your ankle from over bending, hence the injury.



I've learned my lesson well. Glad It wasn't tournament proper when I sustained those injury. Or I'll be damned!

Read more >>

You don't play badminton to get fit, you get fit to play badminton!

The "ease" of playing badminton is attractive to "I-wanna-be- fit- fast" type of fitness junkies. The slimmer physique may look enticing on seasoned players but this may not be the case among newbie players. Worse, such misplaced attitude predisposes unfits to badminton related injuries if physical conditioning and fitness for badminton is taken lightly.



In a year of playing badminton and acting as a sports physician for mostly less fit players, I saw not a few patients who joined this badminton fitness craze and sustained injuries that are otherwise totally preventable! One extreme case is of an obese newbie who actually fractured his ankle (bimalleolar fracture) during a lunge! He twisted his ankle and the stress loads on his seemingly unconditioned physique forced the ankle to give in!



A recurring pattern of overuse injury and excessive demands on a less conditioned physique is a common finding among these newbie players. Surprisingly, this doesn't seem to stop them from acquiring more self inflicted injuries! I said 'self inflicted' because most injuries are results of over doing and mishandling one's physique while playing! The do-it-yourself type of badminton training also contributes to these 'self-inflicted' injuries.



This famous one liner among sports physicians and seasoned athletes is obviously taken out of context in badminton.



You don't play any sports to get fit, you get fit to play any sports!


From a sports physician's perspective, here is my advice on wannabe fit type of badminton players. Do these before even trying to step into the court!

  1. Have a medical check up to assess your physical fitness capabilities. This is not limited to persons who have illnesses and diseases but to all would be badminton players! The sports physician can actually examine you and give you some specialized conditioning to improve muscle coordination, balance and fitness aside from what you can get from your trainer.

  2. Get a good trainer or coach. Not a player, not your neighbor and definitely not your friend. These guys are poor trainers because of their tendency to be "biased" on their "judgment". Get certified trainers and stick to them. Good trainers starts with the basics, discusses fitness training first and start monitored badminton training and drills before even allowing you to hold a badminton racket.

  3. Get serious about your fitness. Concentrate on physical fitness conditioning and training first rather than whacking off shuttlecocks at first sight. You do not expect to do jump smashes when your leg muscles couldn't even lift your body weight off neutral ground. Or you can't expect to reach that drop shot via a lunge when you can't even run.

  4. Start with off court training and drills . Perform interval training on a graduated, flexible schedule that you can maintain. Monitor your health and training improvement via your trainer. Set goals for every training session.

  5. Get badminton gears and equipment that is right for you. No fancy rackets, shoes or clothes. Grip sizes for example vary and the wrong grip size for you may just start a "tennis elbow" (common term for lateral epicondylitis). Your trainer can help you on this.

  6. Monitor your health condition and fitness. If you feel pain in any part of your body, that is because the body is signaling you that "stress" has already strained that part of your body. There's a fine line between pushing your physique to the limits (so it can be developed) and that of sports related injuries. A well planned, guided and monitored training will definitely increase your chance of avoiding these injuries.


  7. If you sustain any injury, have it checked by your sports physician. Playing with an injury is definitely not a smart way to get fit!


I guess that's all I can sum up for now. These are common advices I gave to my over eager and injured patients. Good articles on badminton injuries and prevention can be read here, here and here. Do these and hopefully, I wouldn't see you in my clinic!
Read more >>

Leveling the playing field on badminton courts and professional practice

(This is a 'repost' from my other blog, The Orthopedic Logbook)
I've been playing badminton for almost a year but never enjoyed any other sport as much as I enjoyed whacking shuttle cocks now. I have long accepted the limits of my innate athletic ability. But when my fitness level went off scale after med school and residency, I went berserk in panic search for a sport that would trim down excess calories.

"I am awfully fat. Period."

I jumped at any sport that came my way- swimming, mountain biking, marathon, volleyball and even basketball, to name a few. I dabbled at a sport for some time and then moved on to another if it bored me to death already. But when my nephews invited me to a badminton game in our backyard, my affair with rackets and shuttle cocks never stopped since then.

" I gotta have one of those "Yonex" MP racket, promise!"

I got hooked and seriously believed that being "geeky" on badminton would somehow improve my nominal athletic skills to competitive level and burn fat at the same time.

I almost thought this was "MI 4".

I started training- albeit non formally, with the help of my nephews and friends. I read books, searched the net, watched training videos, international matches, and then applied what I saw on and off court. I stalked coaches, watched former national players' matches, and asked endless questions to athletes often shunned as an obnoxious behavior.

"That was an awesome cross court shot don't you think?"

Whilst a beginner, I joined matches and insisted taking on better skilled opponents. Obviously my ass got whipped left and right. I lost count of the times I was floored on court chasing shuttle cocks and losing balance. Most veteran players laugh at my mistakes. Some ridicule me at my clumsiness and shun off my competitive attitude on court.

Like Rudy in Rudy.

But I was serious not just on winning but also on improving my game and losing some extra calories. I took notes of my mistakes, applied new skills whenever possible and consistently improved tactics through drills and training. Results were barely tangible at first.

Until, I first won my class E championships.

Almost a year passed and I have improved a lot from where I started. Everyone seem to notice the "fit body" and weight loss (~30lbs) I incurred from playing this sport almost daily. Modesty aside, I learned a number of skills, improved my stamina and then pushed the limits of my athletic ability to levels I only dreamed of before. Given an equally skilled partner in a doubles match, I can deliver my previous court "tormentors" a smash past their speed limits or give them hard time winning matches against me. Interestingly, you gain more friends with more skills you learned!

At the bottom of this improvement is the commitment to learn, accept, improve, train and apply new skills to beat your handicap and win friends. Have I started this type of attitude and training 30 years ago, I would have given Lin Dan a run for his spot in badminton world rankings!

But that is purely speculative I guess. Thirty years later.

Professional practice in the business of medicine is analogous to learning and improving in a new sport, like badminton. Like it or not, when you are a newbie entering a competitive medical or surgical practice, chances are, you'd eat dust and be shunned away by "colleagues" for dabbling at "their craft".

Or crap.

Medical practice is basically of skills and competition. Clinical and patients skills and the competition to earn one's practice. You gotta learn some skills and improve on it. And almost always, it's lonely being a newbie in the business of medicine.

The field is not without "he-who-went-there-first" type of people, who have been comfortable in their share of patients' pie, but forgot to acknowledge the need for "new blood" to be infused in the learning process. These 'colleagues" will feel threatened by your aggressiveness and learning skills. Either they whip your ass or shun you away from "the practice". Worst, you will be shot at first sight, and will offer you lots of excuses to do so.

In one interview I attended, an interviewer admonished a training program applicant for signifying his intention of practicing in the same place where this guru is comfortably practicing. On surface, the excuse was "it's too crowded". Yet, on deeper prodding you'd find no clear evidence that it is in fact the status quo. The patient to specialist ratio is still wanting and that new skills have to be learned for specific type of diseases. This is where the newbie trainee is hoping to fit in. He has new skills, an updated learning, a conscious effort to improve and a love for the community. In my opinion that's all he need to be in this "game" of competitive medical practice.

My take on this and my advice for newbies ? Learn your craft, improve your skills, create a market for your expertise, stay on the side of the patient, and just ignore the rants thrown at you. I'm pretty sure that later, when you have grasp firmly on new found skills and niche, you'll never be threatened by anybody on account of "overcrowding".

And maybe shame them all by extend help to newbies entering into the practice.
Read more >>