At top speeds: why is sport badminton worth trying?

Almost everyone has played badminton at least once: at school, with friends in the countryside or at a picnic. But not everyone knows that it is an official sport, and since 1992 it has been recognized as an Olympic sport. Sports badminton is different from what many people are used to playing – it is complex, technical and requires certain coordination.

We talked to Maria Alexandrova, Master of Sports of Russia in badminton, Vice-President of St. Petersburg Badminton Federation and Head of Badminton Club Nord, to find out what badminton is good for, where and how you can practice it, where to start, and our correspondent took part in her first training session.

What is badminton useful?

Badminton is a rather complicated sport, it requires coordinated work of the whole organism. You need to clearly coordinate your body, quickly react to changes on the court and reorganize. But this sport helps a person to develop both physically and mentally. It is even included in the official program for training astronauts. So what exactly are its benefits?

It increases lung capacity
This happens with daily exercise. Increasing lung volume reduces the risks of various respiratory diseases, including asthma.

Reduces bad cholesterol levels
Badminton increases the level of “good” cholesterol (high-density lipoproteins) and reduces the level of “bad” cholesterol. The latter reduces the size of blood vessels, which can cause heart disease. This is why lowering it helps maintain a healthy heart.

The British Foundation for Cardiovascular Disease Control notes that regular badminton play strengthens the heart muscle and reduces the risk of blood vessel blockage, preventing the development of coronary heart disease.

Helps you maintain your figure
Like any physical activity, badminton helps you stay fit. It not only promotes weight loss, but also strengthens the muscular frame. The varied movements, bending, jogging and jumping during the game help pump almost all muscle groups.

In addition, the Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine at Umeå University in Sweden conducted a study and found that the sport increases bone mass in adolescent athletes. Therefore, it potentially reduces subsequent bone loss and prevents disease. Moderate play will also help develop joint mobility and strengthen joints.

Reduces the risk of dementia and depression
As an active sport, badminton has a beneficial effect on a person’s mental health. A 2011 British government report states that daily exercise can reduce the risk of depression or dementia by 20-30%.

Badminton can also be played alone, taking it as a workout for the brain. Besides, this way you can release your emotions and give an outlet to the accumulated energy. But in the classical sense it is still a pair game with healthy competition. This social engagement leads to lower stress levels and loneliness.

Reduces the risk of diabetes
According to a 2005 Swedish study, active people are 30-50% less likely to develop type 2 diabetes.

Improves eyesight
Badminton is also good for eyesight, as you have to follow the shuttlecock during the game, which is a very good exercise for the eyes.

This sport trains the muscles of the eyes, which are responsible for focusing and vision. Children who play badminton regularly do not have impaired vision, even if their parents have a hereditary predisposition to nearsightedness or farsightedness. While playing badminton, the shuttlecock moves closer to the eye and away from it, which is good for training the oculomotor apparatus.

Increases longevity
Several organizations confirm that playing badminton in moderation can extend life. And a recent international study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found: those who play racquet sports tend to live longer than runners.

Where can I start practicing badminton?

Badminton has become increasingly popular in recent years, with new clubs and even whole communities springing up in cities across the country. And it’s not hard to find a place to practice.

Badminton Club Nord in St. Petersburg is a place where not only amateurs but also professionals gather. In 2021, BC Nord won in a special nomination from “Championship.com” in the “You’re in the game” contest. It appeared in 2017, when Maria Alexandrova, the founder and head of the club, decided to leave her job in an international corporation, take a risk and return to her favorite game.

Maria Alexandrova

Vice-President of St. Petersburg Badminton Federation, Head of BC Nord

The beginning was not easy. At first we had literally 1-2 people coming to our club, and it seemed to be a hopeless activity. Now the hall where we started is almost fully loaded, not four courts, but eight. Last year we opened three more in different districts of the city, and it became clear that this is serious and for a long time.

In Nord all coaches are professional athletes in the past, candidates for masters of sports and masters of sports, winners and medalists of the Russian Championship and international tournaments. And everyone can choose the format of training to their liking. Classes can be:

• game, when people do not need to find a company for the game – the coach puts everyone in pairs taking into account their strength and gives professional comments during the game;
• individual, maximally effective for practicing techniques and strokes;
• group;
• for beginners in mini-groups, if you are not ready to invest in individual training, but are afraid not to fit in with the company at group training.

For the beginning it will be enough to have three trainings a week, two of which are individual trainings for practicing techniques and punches and one game training to master combinations in the game and feel the excitement of the fight.

How does the training go?

If you don’t know where to start and whether it’s worth it at all, the answer is one – it’s definitely worth a try. You don’t have to jump right into the training process, just go for a trial session. This will help you understand what sports badminton is and find out if it is suitable for you. The first lesson can surprise you a lot – it certainly surprised me. It was conducted by Alexander Nikolaenko, Master of Sport International Class in badminton, multiple Champion of Russia, winner and medalist of international competitions, participant of the Olympic Games in London.

Like any training, badminton training started with warm-up. It is important to warm up the muscles well to reduce the risk of injury. Then the coach explained what a badminton court is in general. It is somewhat similar to a tennis court, but much smaller in size and divided into three zones: the front serving line (at the net), the back serving line for doubles and behind it the back serving line for singles. The center line also divides the court into right and left serving zones.

We started with the correct grip of the racket. It turned out that everything is not so simple, and, as in any sport, you should hold the projectile in a special way: the racket should be mobile and as if free to “walk” in the hand during the reception, but at the same time it must be firmly fixed at the time of serving and attacking.

Then it was the turn of the forehand serve. It was not so easy for me, who was used to receiving from below, as in volleyball, to switch. The thing is that in badminton you should always try to take the shuttlecock with the racket from above: this way you have more opportunities to correct its movement and direct it to the right zone on the opponent’s side. Of course, the first time the goal was at least to hit the shuttlecock. Although not immediately, but it worked.

I had to doubt my abilities when it came to working at the net. It was necessary to make lunges, while coordinating the movement of legs and arms, remember the correct positioning of the elbow, do not forget to relax the hand and do not throw forward the shoulder. Thinking about everything at once was difficult. By the time the coach moved to work in the center of the court, I already doubted that I would reach the end of the training.

Arina Zabgaeva

correspondent of “Championship”

Getting ready in the morning, I could not think how intensive the badminton session would be. It was radically different from my usual “dacha-entertainment” variant.
Badminton requires not only coordination and high technique, but also good physical preparation. In addition to training on the court, professional players regularly work out in the gym and swimming pool. And definitely do not neglect stretching afterwards.

Sports badminton may be different from the simplified version that many people are used to, but it is definitely worth giving it a chance. It will be a great option for regular workouts, family weekends, and even an unusual date. You can start playing at any age, don’t be afraid to give it a try!