BIOMECHANICS AND BADMINTON

FONTS

BIOMECHANICS AND BADMINTON

Execution Phase

Center of Gravity

My Performance

"The critical instant" is the point of contact (or the release) of the movement.

Over Head Clear

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

An over head clear is an effective shot as it is the most common in the game of badminton. The overhead clear can be used in various situations throughout the match, for example; it can be used as a defensive stroke, when the shuttle is struck high and down towards the back of the court, giving you time to recover your position, re-stable your base or to slow the game down.

Weaknesses:

Strengths:

To achieve benefits from the bio mechanical principle; Center of Gravity, during play would have to take a crouching stance to lower my center of gravity. I would have to stand with my legs shoulder width apart to widen my base of support. I need to avoid lifting my arms unnecessarily above my head as it raises my my center of gravity.

In my own badminton performance, I applied multiple principles effectively, although some are still needing improvement. I was partially effective with force of summation as i was able to push my oponent to the back of the court although my shot did not have enough power and was therefore moving to slow. This needs to be improved along with my centre of gravity. With background knowledge of these techniques, I am able to analyse and compare my first performance to my current performance.

• Weight is loaded on the rear foot and parallel to base line

• Racquet strings facing down

• Racquet arm drops and wrist is cocked

• Elbow of non racquet arm is bent and pulls down into the body

• Racquet angled slightly upward

•I don't pivot and turn in the direction of the shuttle

• I only sometimes had my non racquet arm high and extended

• Very rarley contact was made at the highest point possible and above the racquet arm

• I didn't transfer my weight through to my front foot

Having a solid standing structure and having the body kept straight is very critical as your body is your center of gravity. Having your body as your base gives much more control to the shot as you are positioned and ready to receive the shuttlecock. The mishits are a result of finding it difficult to control the trajectory of the shuttlecock because of my poor Center of Gravity.

I will be analysing still pictures of myself performing the overhead clear, enabling me to identify my strengths and weaknesses'. This will then allow me to evaluate and help make a judgement of the bio mechanical principles I could be including in my technique to improve my performance of this particular shot.

What is Bio Mechanics?

Follow Through Phase

Conclusion

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

•I don't position my legs like scissors to land in a wide stance with my racquet leg forward

My bio mechanical analysis consisted of; analysing my first time playing badminton to doing 4 weeks of training and then re filming. By doing this is was able to identify several strengths and weaknesses within my performance.

• I swing the racquet down and across the body

• I recover to mid court

All sports involve the use of specific movement sequences throughout play to promote optimum performance. To help us understand how to reach optimum performance the field of biomechanics was developed. Biomechanics is the study of mechanical laws in relation to movement with particular concern for internal and external factors (Sports Biomechanics, 2011). There are a number of biomechanical principals that are used to do this and include, but are not limited to; kinetic chain, torque, centre of mass, centre of gravity, Newton’s Three Laws of Motion, momentum and velocity (Blazevick, 2013). By analysing a specific movement pattern or sequence we are able to apply these principals and find optimum movement. When discussing biomechanics, badminton is a sport that withholds many examples of biomechanical principles. Badminton is no exception to biomechanics: being comprised of many movement sequences. The overhead clear shot within badminton is crucial as it uses both power and speed, making it very hard for the opponent to return the shuttle (Yap, 2012).

The Importance of Balance & Centre of Gravity

Summation of Force

Preparation Phase

BADMINTON BALANCE TRAINING:

The Summation of Force for the overhead clear generates power from the knees, which then travels through the hips, torso,shoulder, arms and wrists, where the force is then released via the racquet. Using a critical analysis of my shot it was evident that there was a lack of force produced. (Force is defined as an action on an object that effects its motion or lack of motion).

The preparatory phase involves movements tat gets the player ready for the execution phase.

"As athletes become more and more unbalanced , they lose control and find it more difficult to complete a desired task." (Academy, 2002-2010)

This therefore means, if I control and maintain the correct positioning of my center of gravity, it will enable me to balance. This then allows me to shuffle backwards to be able to get into the correct position for the shot. This allows me to gain a great amount of power to push the opponent backwards, giving me optimal time to prepare for the returning serve.

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

My body positioning before I began the trunk rotation is at an angle, not on the side as my body should have been, and although my wrist and arm is flexed, I don't have optimum flexion. If i did produce the optimum flexion in my levers, I would produce more force.

In the preparation phase I didn't have any weaknesses

• I Adopted a handshake grip

• I was waiting in a recovery position with my weight evenly distributed

• My knees were slightly bent

• My racquet arm/racquet head was up

• My wrist is cocked