By Excel Dyquiangco
Basketball is said to be the country’s premier sport. Each area, each village, each port has its own basketball court. But do you know that there is another kind of game which is suddenly taking the whole community into its own arena? It’s badminton as some of you would have guessed.
Badminton is a moderate to high impact sport with lateral movements and high jumps. By definition, a lateral move entails a quick jolt or shift from left to right in order to pass the shuttlecock quickly to one’s opponent. Unlike basketball, there is more jumping involved, the games are much quicker and the movements suddenly change to and fro.
So, it’s safe to assume that badminton seems to be a safe sport to play for beginners. Or is it?
Not necessarily so. According to Dr. Rodrigo Ong, doctor of Sports Medicine and Pain Management and who has a clinic called Summit Teams Specialist Sports Medicine Center, badminton is just like any other sport – one can feel and suffer pain on the wrist, the elbows and the knees, especially for beginners and amateurs.
When playing badminton, there are several things that the players should look out for.
The most common kind of pain is the elbow pain, or what Dr. Ong calls lateral epicondilytis, in medical terms. This is ordinary for players who change games from tennis to badminton. Tennis has a bigger court, therefore, the usage of the arms and elbows are much wider unlike in badminton, where there is a need for quick movements and that the space for playing is smaller. Another reason for this pain is that when a player hits the shuttlecock forcefully, this creates a numb sensation on the arm.
A second pain which a player experiences on the hard court is the shoulder pain. Players tend to smash the shuttlecock hard, therefore, producing a painful pang on one’s shoulders.
The least common pain is called the ankle sprain and the knee strain, or what is better known in medical terms as the PFPS (patellofemoral pain syndrome). Because of the jumping and the quick movements, players are prone to this kind of pain. Approximately eighty-five percent of badminton courts are concretized, which means that these courts used to be warehouses and that they have concrete floors. When jumping, the impact is absorbed by the knees and ankles instead of the floor. The knees then serve as the shock absorbers of the jumps.
To avoid these kinds of incident from happening, badminton courts should have particular bedding called paraflex, or a special kind of flooring which has springs and which makes the players bounce off.
And what if a player then experiences these kinds of pain? How should they be treated? An answer to that is an acronym, according to Dr. Ong. RICE means rest, ice, compression and elevation. Another key to this is that the joints of hurt players should be immobilized using bandages.
But the more important question should be is how to prevent all of these from happening.
According to Dr. Ong, there are several reasons why players get injured easily. Either these players are frank amateurs who need training and conditioning specific for badminton or they just play for recreational activities. In this case, sometimes, they hurt themselves in the process.
And yet, there is one reason why players are into badminton – some players need to lose weight. Fat or obese players suffer more on the knees because of the impact it experiences when they jump. These players, along with those who have no experience whatsoever in playing the sport or who has no training at all, are definitely more prone to pain and soreness.
But what is to be done then?
Dr. Ong suggests a couple of things.
First is that players should wear the right shoes. Not running shoes because they are slippery. It’s good to wear shoes that have spikes so that the floor won’t be as slick, and that there won’t be a need for a sudden jolt.
Second is that players should choose the right court for them. The courts should be badminton specific, with a paraflex as flooring.
The third one is that before or after the game, players should do aerobic exercises. They should run, swim or bike for about 30 to 45 minutes. This is for their endurance and strength.
Players should also wear supportive gears like knee braces and ankle supports. They should acquire the right gear to avoid injuries.
Lastly is that players should be properly dehydrated. Just like any other sports, badminton is a sport of fitness and action, which makes the players sweat a lot, especially in this heat of the sun. It’s better if they load their bodies with water to refill the amount of liquid that they have lost during the game.
So, whenever badminton, or any sport for that matter is played, always be prepared, just in case one gets hurt.
Tags: Badminton, Common Badminton Injuries, Badminton Game Tips, Philippine Sports
