From Warm-Up to Injury Prevention: Rethinking Preparation for Badminton Players

Abstract

Badminton is getting faster and more physically demanding—but are our warm-ups keeping up? Unlike football and rugby, badminton currently has no standardised injury prevention programme. Injury surveillance among 500 elite Malaysian badminton players showed that injuries were common, particularly in the lower limb, while analysis of match demands indicated greater exposure to overhead shots, lunges and jumps at the international level. These findings highlight the need for a badminton-specific approach that goes beyond simply preparing players to start a match.

This workshop introduces a novel six-week injury prevention programme developed around modifiable risk factors relevant to badminton, including shoulder and knee strength, balance, reaction time and agility. In a group of 30 young adult badminton players, the programme produced improvements across these areas compared with routine warm-up, suggesting a potential reduction in injury risk. More importantly, the programme translates injury prevention principles into practical exercises that can be incorporated into routine badminton preparation without specialised equipment.

Through this hands-on workshop, physiotherapists will explore how to assess key injury risk factors, select appropriate exercises, and integrate strength, balance, agility and reaction training into a practical badminton-specific warm-up. The goal is simple: to move from warming players up to actively preparing them against injury.I think the final line works particularly well for a hands-on workshop, because it clearly signals that participants will leave with something they can apply in practice.