I feel that all of these tests are suitable for badminton. The sit and reach test will test my flexibility which is an advantage in badminton. The vertical jump is very important since height is favoured for better smashing ability. Pull ups will test the strength and power of my arm muscles which is important in badminton since both attack and defence require powerful shots, for example the smash or clear to the back of the court. Sit ups are generally a good test for fitness and will test my general strength and power in the upper body but mainly in the arms. Badminton requires explosive lunges and sprints around the court so the 30m sprint is a good test for this. The bleep test I feel is the best cardio vascular test there is and endurance is good for badminton since tournaments can go on for lengthy times.
Analysis of fitness related to badminton Badminton requires a high level of fitness when a good level of play is reached. By this I mean if you wish to play with some friends socially then you really need to be a very fit person, you just need to be able to get yourself around the court and be able to hit the shuttle back over the net. But if you want to play at club, county or national level you need to be very fit. To be fit is to be in good health. There are many different aspects of fitness, some more important to badminton than others. The different types are (with examples of when and how they would be used in badminton): Agility: You must be able to move your body weight around the court quickly and as efficiently as possible (using the least amount of energy possible).
If you are at the back of the court and you run forwards to return what looks like a drop shot but then realise it was a fake and really the shuttle is going to the back of the court again, then you should be able to adjust and go back. Speed: This how fast you can move your body round the court and how fast you and adjust to different shots. If you are struggling against your opponent and they are playing the simple game of tiring you out by placing the shuttle left, right, back and front, you are going to require speed to get to the shots before they land.
Power: This is simply how much work done you put into a shot per second. The key part about power is being able to judge how much power you actually require for the shot you want to play. If you have an opportunity to smash but you are far back in the court, then you will require more power then if you attempted the same but towards the front. But you also have to put in enough power to ensure the shuttle gets to the ground and in the place you want it to go before your opponent can reach it. Flexibility: In badminton flexibility is very important. It is to do with the muscular tendons and ligaments, and your joints and how supple they all are.
When your opponent plays a smash shot to your backhand you have to twist your body around to the shot and then probably have to stretch to reach the shuttle. Muscular Endurance: The muscles need to produce the same type of shots over and over again. Endurance is how long they can do this. If your opponent repetitively plays smash shots at you, you need to be able to keep on blocking them and if possible use their power input as your output so you don’t waste energy. Or visa versa where you repetitively smash at your opponent, which requires a lot of power and would cause you to tire, how quickly depends on your fitness levels.
Cardio-vascular: this is the ability to use as less stored away energy as possible when respiring an-aerobically. Respiring an-aerobically causes fatigue. When playing in a tournament, you need to use little energy as possible so you can perform well at later stages with the energy still stored. Reaction Time: this is the time taken between the signal and your response. In badminton you need to have a good reaction time so that you can allow yourself as much time as possible for the response. The more time you have to respond, the more time you have to reach the shuttle and make a less rushed decision with your options.
If your opponent plays a drop shot, you can either react slowly and therefore play a basic lift or drop back. But if you react quickly you may be able to flick the shuttle straight down or play a cross-court drop shot, basically giving your opponent less time to react and switching from defence to attack. What training I am doing I feel that my overall fitness is not great right now and want to improve in all the following aspects of it; speed, power, and endurance levels.
Speed: This is the time taken to cover a desired displacement in the shortest amount of time possible. Speed is essential for badminton since the game is so fast and the shuttle moves so fast too. Reaction speed is also included in this. Power: The largest amount of work done per unit of time. This also is very important in badminton since the explosive power in required in the legs, and also power is needed in the arms for shots like the smash.
Endurance: this is the ability for muscle groups to be able to carry out the relatively same procedure or action over and over and tiring as slowly as possible. There are many types of training; continuous, fartlek, interval, weight, and circuit training. I have chosen circuit training, because circuit training allows me to improve not just one aspect of fitness. I can improve many aspects and this type of training allows me to be a very specific to my sport.