Inter-and intra-individual differences in landing impacts during badminton match-play versus a feeding drill

It is not understood the extent to which individuals experience impacts in badminton, and how this might relate to performance and injury risk. Little data are available on landing during match-play due to the limitations on collecting such data. This study aimed to capture acceleration data for badminton athletes in order to quantify individual differences. 19 athletes performed MF (multi-feed) drills and were paired to play matches. Each wore an accelerometer on their right lower tibia. Players were seen to have different patterns in the distribution of their impacts and hence “lighter” and “heavier” landers were identified. Typically, these were similar players across shot types, but not always (r2 = 0.7326 and P < 0.001). Those who won their matches encountered higher accelerations in all trial and shot types (though not all P. values were significant). Whilst both winners and losers encountered higher accelerations in match play (P < 0.001), the percentage increase was lower for winners (30%) than losers (42%). Results show that badminton players experience landings on an individual level. Better players experience higher g impacts more often, particularly in the training drill observed, which might indicate better efficiency of movement around the court or greater effort in training.