Noel Prendergast

Time your exit

2010-01-16T03:49:00.000-08:00

Like many things in life, timing is everything. What is the optimal timing of foot placement with respect to time of shuttle impact in singles? Consider the case of striking the shuttle when the shuttle is far from the centre of the court, without a scissor jump, and it is not a winning shot. The player must coordinate the actions of placing the racket foot on the floor, striking the shuttle and stepping back towards the centre of play.
The basic choice is whether to place the racket foot on the floor before or after hitting the shuttle; both are observable.
Consider that the player steps first and then hits the shuttle. That means that the player is, in effect, waiting for the shuttle to arrive at the point of contact. What could we say about this scenario? Let's assume that the player is in the right place and in good time. Now imagine the player has played the shot, and would like to move to get ready to hit the next shot. How could the player best prepare to move into position? Would it be better to do a little jump to pre-load beforehand to increase the explosiveness?
Typically it would require a lot of energy to arrive before the shuttle. It would also introduce an extra movement before the player would be ready to move to hit the next shuttle.
Now imagine that the player lands sometime after hitting the shuttle. If the landing is significantly after the point of impact, the player will be under pressure to recover for the next shot. Consider the recovery step. What is the best way to maximise this step? It's best to be quick and explosive and if it had a pre-load it would be great. It should be quick and explosive, just like a normal split step. But we can say that it is performed with the certainty that the movement following will be in a particular direction; the movement will be back towards the centre of play. So, we could say that the lunging step should ideally be the pre-loading movement for the recovery step. Recall Hill's equation, which was posted previously. This gives us a shape for the step and some information about how the leg should be bent. On a more basic level, we can say that the lunge should be performed with a certain degree of momentum that allows the player to reach the shuttle, but does not overburden the player in making the recovery step.
So, to recap all that stuff, the movement to the shuttle should ideally be in preparation for the movement away from the shuttle. As Kenneth might say, wow.
What might the implications of that be? Well, we can say that if we haven't placed the racket foot on the floor, we can use the backward leg for control of the positioning. We can say that we avoid the situation where we have to alter the bend of the front leg in order to adjust the position. This gives us a chance to make the push back as effective as possible.
...consider your exit strategy carefully. Here's a little video to stimulate some thought..

Mulled whine and minced pies...

2009-12-13T06:27:00.000-08:00

Our little class conducted a study on badminton recently to find out what the nature of the sport is.
In singles, we found that players play for about one second out of every three and a half. Put another way, they play about a third of the time. At the highest level in 2009 the average rally lasted just over 10 seconds. Badminton is a sport based on intervals. We also "discovered" that most of the training for badminton can be carried out in interval fashion, of course this has to be related to the normal training principles of specificity, adaption, and individualisation. All else being equal, it is possible to train aerobically through the use of correctly adapted interval training. Although, it's not possible to do the opposite. Some aerobic training may be desirous, of course, especially after the Christmas pies.
So, what better way to work off the Christmas stuffing than some hardcore intervals? Maybe take some comfort that the weight we put on between Christmas and New Year's at the mother-in-law's is insignificant compared to the weight we may put on between New Year and Christmas...

some of the 10%

2009-11-21T07:08:00.000-08:00

Power is force times velocity.

A man Hill, in 1938, developed an equation which illustrates how humans exert maximal amounts of power during concentric contraction of muscles ( i.e. when they get shorter ).

Without going into much detail, maximum power is generated at about 1/3 of maximum velocity and 1/2 of maximum force. It might help to think of it as an impulse, in terms of generating power. For reference, maximum velocity is achieved with no load, and maximum force is exerted when one can't resist a weight ( hold it up ).

Maximum strength is exerted at an angle of about 130 degrees in the leg, modelled quite well here by Sisyphus. The rock is for illustration purposes only.

The good news is we can exert up to twice that force when we land ( eccentric muscle action ). As one might intuitively expect, it's easy to take off, but it's not so when we land...

90% mental

2009-11-15T04:25:00.000-08:00

According to some big fat handbook on sport psychology, there are two main orientations that people can have in relation to physical activity:
Task orientation and ego orientation.
See if they are familiar..
In ego orientation, the aim is to outperform others.
In task orientation, the aim is to develop mastery.
Here are some rough notes on the two:
There is a positive correlation between flow and task orientation. You've probably heard about flow already. There is also a link between continued enjoyment, length of participation in sport and task orientation. This contrasts with ego-orientation.
During activities, people can move from task to ego orientation, which is a little confusing maybe.
Players experience higher affectation levels if they are task oriented, generally.
There is a positive correlation between anxiety and ego-orientation.

Ok, that's 30 of 900 pages done..
What I'd like to know is, is there a positive correlation between academic level and size of hand?

Sinners and Saints

2009-10-15T02:51:00.000-07:00

Charles Péguy said "The sinner is at the very heart of Christianity. Nobody is so competent as the sinner in matters of Christianity. Nobody, except the saint."

The game of badminton can be considered as being played in four dimensions:
Physical
Technical
Tactical
Mental

In the physical dimension, normal flexibility is sufficient to play badminton. No need for the box splits and the yoga mat so... It's interesting that there is very little information on the role of stretching in badminton. There is very little specific research in badminton generally. Our anatomy teacher suggests that stretching is not for the muscles, but for the nervous system. Neurological stretching if you will, can be done by touching your toes in the shower in the morning.. The basic premise appears to be that stretching after badminton is to restore normal flexibility, and I've heard that DOMS may be caused by free radicals. Whatever next?

In the technical area, the grip ideally changes for almost each shot played in a game. There are an almost infinite number of ways of holding the racket in the hand, although only a small combination possible for any single shot. The length and rotation of grip alone give a massive amount of variation. The axis of rotation of the forearm in pronation and supination ordinarily occurs through the wedding ring finger, whereby the radius rotates over the ulna. Think about that the next time you're knocking up and let me know how it goes.

Of the tactical area, we've just been informed that Kenneth wrote a book on tactics in badminton. Unfortunately for us, it's in Danish :( So, how can we get the book translated? Tactics... In the past, players were able to adopt a particular style for singles; Morten Frost was a defensive player. In modern badminton, the tactics have developed considerably. Players now seek to gain advantage in rallies through tactics and deception in order to win matches. They do this by playing in the way they see best to win the game, be it defensively, offensively, etc.Tactics must take the opposition into account, the conditions of the court and how the player is.

I've only begun my reading into the mental area of badminton. A lot of this relates heavily to sport psychology, which we've yet to formally study. In the small amount of reading that I've done, let me say this. The stages of learning can be divided roughly into ignorance, accepted wisdom and incredible claims. Sport psychology is a young field where the accepted wisdom seems to be a small area. If it was a tree, it would be a young sapling bending in the wind, struggling to take root. Many sportspeople don't believe in the whole subject, although it is growing like a buddleia. There are many frameworks and little accepted understanding of what motivation really is. From a practical perspective at the most basic level, we can apply the old managerial adage of "See, Do, Get". It is the foundation of motivation imho. After that comes the Pandora's box of how to train the mind. The model of the 4 C's is appealing. They are Concentration, Confidence, Control and Commitment.

I've thought about this blog for a while lately. I thought about writing a disclaimer. Especially given the fact that Ireland is the second most litigious country in the world. Of this I would like to say; the intention of this blog is to make a positive contribution to badminton players. Think win win or no deal. Let me suggest that people are free to do whatever they like in their own lives and don't hold me responsible if it's not working out... On a related note, I'm always interested to learn and a long, long time ago realised that I don't know it all, not even close. Thanks Paddy.

Been there, done that; got the folding chair..

2009-10-06T07:46:00.000-07:00

The entire school set off for the remnants of the IOC congress in Copenhagen at 5am on Monday the 5th of October. On arrival we were given our own IOC folding chair and dawdled into a hall with some talks going on. We were treated to talks by coaches and Olympians. Surprise of the day was to see Poul-Erik Høyer giving a talk on his experience in Atlanta. Just in case anyone reads this, Poul-Erik won a gold medal in badminton singles in Atlanta, representing Denmark. This slide is entitled "Hjemmebanen"; Poul-Erik envisaged that when he was playing, he was playing at home on his home court. Everytime he saw red or white, he thought of all of his supporters. It was a most amazing match which Poul-Erik eventually won to secure Denmark's only Olympic gold medal in badminton to date, at almost 30 years of age.

The Aqueduct.

2009-09-10T02:51:00.000-07:00

It seems that most of the injuries that occur in badminton can be attributed to 2 main causes. The first is a lack of general physical preparation (GPP). This preparation is primarily for the bones, ligaments, tendons, and joints of the body. GPP makes way for specific physical preparation (SPP); muscles can be prepared in a relatively short period of time. Statistically, knees are the most frequently injured part of the body in badminton. The second cause is poor technique; as a friend of mine once informed me, tremendous relief can be had when one stops banging one's head off a wall. Poor technique can result from bio-mechanics as well as just doing it wrong.

Of course, the third and fourth are most probably old age and being overweight... oh man.

The physical load of badminton is primarily seen as an aerobic load by the body, even though many anaerobic demands are made. This is why aerobic training is so important for badminton. So, don't throw out the exercise bike just yet..

..small world

2009-09-08T06:21:00.000-07:00

Last night we made a trip to Frederikshavn about 40 minutes drive northeast of Alborg. Agnese, one of the instructors on the course, plays with Frederikshavn and invited us up to watch; their elite team was playing a league match. We arrived about 10 minutes after the start, so we quickly took our seats among the 200 spectators. After a couple of minutes I realised that Jim Laugeson was one of the players on court. A couple of minutes after that I realised Scott Evans, aka "Mr Tarzan" was sitting directly in front of me. He's the blurry lad in white.

The course itself is starting to pick up and take shape. Kenneth has a masters degree in communication, and uses inductive learning with us. This basically means he throws us in the deep end whenever possible. Kenneth is assisted by three teachers in the core badminton subjects. Another four teachers teach us subjects including strength training, anatomy, psychology, etc. Interestingly, Kenneth proposes that the main requirements of physical training for badminton involves the development of the aerobic system, as that's how our body perceives the workload of a badminton game.

I'm starting to take shape a bit too; my injuries are healing nicely, and training is back into full swing. The gym is cool; I can slam medballs around all day long, and there are plenty of free weights and a big studio. The early morning training is taking a bit of getting used to, but it's great to have the courts just across the road. During our stay here we also get free use of the testing centre. I've already set a new pb. The national strength training coach kindly explained what complex training is at breakfast yesterday. Thanks Derek ;)

small beginnings..

2009-08-29T08:28:00.000-07:00

Our trip from Ireland to Aalborg started at 2am on Friday the 21st of August 2009 and finished on Saturday the 22nd of August at 5pm; less than one tank of diesel later. Eve spent the first 3 days with me before flying home.

Without wanting to point: Denmark is the bit that looks a bit like an upside down Italy. If you can think of it as a face (looking to the right) with a small pointy hat; Aalborg is at the bottom of the hat. Aalborg is a sport city with a population of just over 120,000 people. It's a nice place, easy to get around by foot or bike and is quite lively.

The badminton coaching course is hosted by the Aalborg Folk High School. This makes running the course economically viable. The school is heavily subsidised by the state. There are 85 students this year. Some are sports students, some are using the year as a transition year and some are coaches in training. The disciplines are quite diverse; there's badminton, horse riding, swimming, handball, basketball, strength training, personal training and others. The numerous staff at the school are very friendly, open and experienced; our team leader has 3 Olympic gold medals in handball. The food at the school is excellent. The accommodation is shared room, shared showers, and the building is in good decorative order but a bit dated.

There are 6 people on the teaching course for badminton. The others are from Finland, Poland, England, a guy from Sri Lanka, and a Danish guy. Proper classes start from next monday. Kenneth Larsen, "Mr. Badminton" is running the course with the assistance of 3 people: Stewan, a former student and coach, Agnese, another former student and olympian, and Maria, also a former student. The course itself is the highest badminton qualification available in the world, offering a DBF( Danish Badminton Federation) level 3 diploma, Badminton Europe level 3 diploma and a Danish Sports Association level 3 diploma. In Kenneth's words "It doesn't get any better than this".

The first week of the course was a general introduction week, culminating in an "Intro Party". We did agility exercises, played football, explored the town, had our first few classes and started our danish singing experiences, amongst other activities. Most of these activities were carried out by the entire group. The Danes seem to love singing together.

The Polish guy is my roommate and he is looking for coaching, so we agreed to do some training at 630 three mornings a week. There is a local gym, which was 400DKK to join for the year (8DKK = 1 euro). Once I get shuttle feeding and games sorted I should be all set. There is an opportunity to train everyday at about 430. The course will have some physical demands also, so it'll take a while to build up a routine.

The only niggle I have is with injuries. I picked up a small right knee injury just before leaving Ireland. The beds here are softer than I'm used to and I've had quite a bit back pain since I've been here. Running around soccer pitches after fit young lads has also left me with a minor groin strain in my left leg. Hopefully I'll get these sorted in the next couple of weeks with some gym work and active recovery. Must check my anti-ageing cream, I don't think it's working..