Tips on preparation for a badminton tournament!

The toughness, grit, and focus that is required to play a full badminton match is unlike most sports, but what the ordinary spectator is not aware of is the warmup and preparation that occurs before the match. To win a tournament,, you have to win somewhere between four and seven matches, each match being played for about 45 high-intensity minutes. As the tournament progresses, fatigue plays a major factor, so it is important to be able to stay fit and free from injury for the entire tournament so you can play to your highest ability. Here are some tips on ways to prepare for your badminton matches:

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate

This way of preparation should start at least a week before your tournament. Badminton is a sport that is played indoors, so there is no sun or heat that would play an effect on your performance, but staying hydrated is still very important. Staying hydrated is helpful because it will prevent any sorts of cramps or other injuries that could influence your play. Without a proper intake of water, muscle cramps are much more susceptible due to dehydration. These cramps could occur in the calves, quadriceps, stomach, forearms, etc., but the easiest and most obvious way of preventing this is a healthy intake of water, which is 15.5 cups for men and 11.5 cups for women. 

Ensure you have all the right equipment

It is very important to make sure you have everything ready before your badminton match because the worst thing you could do is walk onto the court unprepared for your match. This preparation should occur one or two days before your match. One of the items that should be ready before your matches are your rackets. You should make sure your racket is good to go, and this involves making sure your strings are not at risk of popping and your rackets are newly gripped and ready for use. You should also make sure your shoes are ready for use because worn-out shoes could lead to an ankle injury. Also,  the level of intensity during a badminton match might lead to a lot of sweating, so having a towel to wipe off after points could be beneficial. Despite all the effort that already needs to go in before the day of your match, there is still much more that needs to be done before you are fully warmed up for your match.

Warm-up

Warming up for the actual match has two steps, which are the dynamic warm-up and the hitting warm-up. There is an ample amount of stretches that you can do to warm yourself up, including jogging, side shuffles, lunges, arm circles, and many others. The main point of doing a dynamic workout is to loosen your limbs before you hit the birdie. It is also important to do these stretches correctly because if you are not loose when you play, it is easy to pull a muscle. After the dynamic workout is the hitting warm-up. This is rather self-explanatory, as the whole idea is just to warm up your shots before you step on the court. Although you are given five to ten minutes before your match to warm up with your opponent before the match, you should still hit before, so you can also practice shots of your choice.

Cool down after your match

Making sure to do some static stretches as a cooldown after your match is very important because it also prevents the risk of injuring any muscles. These cool-down stretches should be done in one place, as they are not dynamic, but static. Some cooldown stretches are straddle stretches, the butterfly stretch, knee-to-chest pose, along with numerous other stretches. It could also be beneficial to have a roller, which can be used for extra stretch and massage, such as rolling out the knots in your back, quadriceps, hamstrings, etc.

Summary

With these four steps, along with a strong work ethic and hard work during practice, you will find it much easier to play badminton, and you will also feel much looser within your muscles, which will give you optimal reach and flexibility. Being prepared for your matches and tournaments will guide you in the path for great success.