Injuries in badminton

Though badminton is one of the most widely played sports in the world, it has received little sports medical interest. Based on the few existing studies on injuries in badminton, compared to other sports it is of relatively low risk and dominated by overuse injuries. The injury duration is relatively long, but only a few working days are lost. Anatomically, most injuries are localised to the foot and ankle. The single most frequent injuries are Achilles tendinitis and tennis elbow. Rupture of the Achilles tendon is a rare injury, which is typically seen in older recreational players. When the time of exposure is taken into account men are found to have a higher injury risk than women, and recreational players a higher injury risk than elite players. In contrast to most other sports the relative injury risk is higher during training than in competition. Based on suggested causes of injury and injury mechanisms, together with the known injury pattern in badminton the following preventive matters are suggested: (a) changes in the badminton shoe, towards a higher heel, with shock absorption and a stiffer anatomically fitting heel counter; (b) adjustment of the friction between the individual shoe-soles and playing surfaces; and (c) specific badminton training including stretching and strengthening of the triceps surae and the muscles involved in the internal and external rotation of the shoulder and elbow during the badminton strokes.