Training at the Banthongyord Badminton School in Bangkok, Thailand, was the most eye-opening badminton experience I’ve had. In the two weeks I trained there, I learned much and increased my physical capabilities immensely. Though I learned a lot of badminton techniques and physical training strategies, you may be surprised to hear that the Banthongyord warm-up routine was my greatest takeaway.
Let’s jump into this article on the Thailand badminton warm-up routine that prevents muscle soreness and injury.
The Most Important Thing I Learned From Training In Thailand
With all the interesting drills the Banthongyord Badminton School implements to develop elite players, why did its badminton warm-up routine stick out to me?
The story starts with what I’m used to here in Canada.
Injuries are widespread in Canadian badminton clubs (at least in Calgary). Depending on the club, I often see 1 in 5 players wearing a brace or strapping.
When I went to Thailand, I was shocked that very few players were injured. Only two players I knew were injured, and they were foreigners that came to Thailand to train.
At first, I thought strapping was a sign that the players were working super hard. I realized that wasn’t the case after experiencing the Banthongyord training. I trained six times a week, five hours a day, at the Banthongyord Badminton School.
No badminton club I’ve experienced in Canada comes close to the same level and amount of training they do at the Banthongyord Badminton School. Yet, I see more than double the number of injuries in Canadian players than in Thai players.
After training in Thailand for a few weeks, I understood that the Banthongyord warm-up routine allowed their players to train at high intensities without injury. Despite training significantly above my usual training level, I did not get injured. I also did not get sore as much as I thought I would.
I continued seeing results when I returned to Canada and implemented the Banthongyord badminton warm-up routine. Muscle soreness rarely happens to me, significantly reducing my recovery times. This allows me to train longer and harder and ultimately improve faster.
Without further ado, let’s talk about what the Thailand badminton warm-up routine consists of.
Foam Rolling Is Elite
Foam rolling is the first part of the Banthongyord badminton warm-up and has been making the most significant difference personally. It helps loosen tight muscles, and looser muscles are vital to preventing injury.
I love foam rolling at the start of every training session because it’s fantastic at easing your body into activity. I use a smooth, soft foam roller (I’ve linked one below) and like to start by rolling my calves out. I generally move my calves approximately ten times back and forth.
After rolling my calves, I roll my hamstrings. Again, I go back and forth about ten times for each leg. After my hamstrings, I roll my lower back, upper back, shins, and front of my quads, and then finish with the side of my quads all about ten times each.
If I’m pressed for time or feeling very lazy, I can get away with just rolling my calves, hamstrings, and lower back. However, doing the entire foam rolling routine is always the most beneficial.
Dynamic Stretching and Various Warm-Up Exercises
After foam rolling, I do light exercises and dynamic stretching to warm up my muscles before training at full intensity. In Thailand, our routine looked like this:
- Jogging
- Forward leg kicks
- Sideways leg kicks
- Sideways shuffle
- Crossovers
- Lunges
All of these exercises are done forwards and backward across three courts. After these initial stretches, our training group gets into a circle and continues with the below activities:
- Wrist and ankle rotations
- Knee rotations
- Arm circles forward, backward, and alternating
- Fast feet
- Squat jumps
- Lunge jumps
We generally do each exercise for about 10 seconds, but feel free to adjust based on your physical capabilities. Once all the above activities are done, we move into the typical badminton hitting warm-up, where you get on a half-court and rally for a little bit.
Additionally, something I have started doing more recently is warming up my arms using resistance bands. We only used resistance bands during the warm-up before upper body weight training sessions in Thailand, but I’ve found that pulling on some resistance bands before badminton sessions also gets the blood flowing. I’ve linked the resistance bands I use below:
A Proper Warm-Up Routine Is The Key To Success
I hope you enjoyed this article on the Thailand badminton warm-up routine that prevents muscle soreness and injury. This routine allows me to train six times a week, six hours a day, without feeling extremely sore or injured.
Of course, warming up properly isn’t the only thing that will guarantee your training success. Things like nutrition and sleep also have to be considered. With this article on warming up, you may also be wondering about a cooldown routine for training.
I’ll talk about that in my next article. Until then, enjoy the benefits of the Thailand badminton warm-up routine!
As always, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below, and I will be happy to help you the best I can.
