Research on badminton games: Past and present

Abstract

Badminton games, either techniques or tactics, have intrigued many researchers since the field of biomechanics first emerged. Starting from a photograph to a 2-D study to advanced research in 3-D researchers has never satisfied. One theory to another has been posed for almost forty years now. However, many researchers have been done in a closed laboratory with specific movement. Thus in this paper, the game of badminton and the movement of players are studied in a real competition with spontaneous movements. The game was recorded during a Thomas Cup 2000 competition, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is found that wrist was found to contribute the most (26.5 %) to the racket-head velocity when compared to the elbow (9.4 %) and the shoulder joint (7.4 %). From the statistical analysis, it can be shown that wrist acted to increase the speed of the racket at impact. From the biomechanics of jumping, the study found that the professional players performed the jumping and landing sequence using a one-foot technique. © 2008 Springer-Verlag.