BIOMECHANICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL MEASURES OF TEEN-AGED BADMINTON PLAYERS

Abstract

Badminton books, coaching manuals, and instructional pamphlets all attest to the importance of cardio-respiratory endurance, strength, and flexibility and many provide training methods and schedules. For example, a training schedule for elite badminton players has been compiled by Canada's national team coach, but no norms are provided which would indicate acceptable levels of achievement (Gilliland, 1987). There appear to be no values available to indicate extraordinary, or even acceptable, levels ofperfonnance for badminton players. In one of the manuals (the Level III Training Manual of the Canadian Badminton Association by Reed, 1981:29), reference is made to some nonns including a badminton four-corner fitness test developed by the University of Ottawa Research Group, that provides heart rate recovery, and recovery speed statistics for adult and junior competitors. However, those norms are specific to the four-corner test and provide only a rough indication ofthe demand on the cardio-respiratory system.