Because, badminton involves sharp eyesight, quick analysis of opponent's shot, preparing your stance, adjusting your hand, changing the face of your racket to the incoming shuttle and generating force as well when you plan to smash it. All of these movements involve understanding basic biomechanical principles without which there is every chance of sustaining a badminton injury by slipping, falling or overuse.
You have to have some idea of "center of gravity" to understand badminton biomechanical principles. Centre of gravity is a point in the body, which is pivotal in balancing the entire body. At that point, your body will be in perfect balance without any need to change posture or rotate to keep it in balance.
The center of gravity is approximately located in the terminal portion of the spinal cord called the sacrum; especially in it's upper one-third portion. The center of gravity in a female is at a comparatively lower level than a male because they tend to have wider pelvis with more fat deposit around their buttocks and thighs.
Similarly, height and age also affects the location of the center of gravity. The center of gravity is important because, by lowering it, you can increase your balance when playing badminton.
Similarly, line of gravity, base of support, mass of the individual and friction between contact surfaces are the other factors helping you to maintain balance. That is, the line of gravity should be approximately in or near the base of support, the base of support should be as wide as possible, the mass of the individual has to be optimum so as to achieve stability and increased friction should be there between the contact surfaces to maintain good balance while playing badminton.
So, any badminton player is supposed to keep his center of gravity as low as possible to allow comfortable shot making, has to keep the base of support as wide as possible to allow maximum balance while playing, maintain his line of gravity approximately around the base of support to optimally combine the benefits, have ideal body mass and wear good friction soled sports shoes for fine balancing without flinching and to prevent sports injuries from occurring.
Lastly, while playing badminton, concentrating on a fixed object rather than moving objects helps in maintaining your balance better. It is because moving flashy objects affect the sense of your balance psychologically while playing.
To achieve the benefits of biomechanical principles discussed above, a badminton player has to take a crouching stance to lower his center of gravity, with his legs apart to widen the base of his support, avoiding lifting his arms unnecessarily above head level which raises the center of gravity, thrive to maintain ideal body mass and wear good friction rubber soled sports shoes to further stabilize himself during playing.
Playing badminton by properly following basic biomechanical principles helps in the following ways.
1. Minimize reaction time, thereby giving extra time in responding to opponent's shots.
2. Aids in playing attacking badminton because by aligning the line of gravity to the center of gravity, pivoting and mobilizing the body to play various shots becomes easy.
3. Helps in avoiding injuries arising from overuse or misuse.
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