Sport specific fitness testing of elite badminton players.

There is a scarcity of descriptive data on the performance capacity of elite badminton players, whose fitness requirements are quite specific. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the physiological response of elite badminton players in a sport-specific fitness test. Twelve Hong Kong national badminton team players performed a field test on a badminton court. Six light bulbs were connected to a programming device causing individual bulbs to light up in a given sequence. The players were instructed to react to the flashes by running towards them, and striking shuttles mounted in the vicinity of the bulbs. Exercise intensity was controlled by altering the interval between successive lightings. A low correlation (r = 0.65) was found between the results of the field test and the rank-order list of subjects, based on an objective on-field physiological assessment and subjective ranking. This may be explained by the requirements of other factors besides physical fitness which contribute to success in elite level badminton competition. These factors may include, for example, technical skill, mental power, and aesthetic judgements on the court. Maximum mean (s.d.) heart rate data (187(8) beats.min-1) and blood lactate values (10.4(2.9) mmol.l-1) in this study showed that players were under maximal load during the field test. From the testing data, it seems reasonable to speculate that the intensity of level 3 (20 light pulses.min-1; 3.0 s.pulse-1) and level 4 (22 light pulses.min-1; 2.7 s.pulse-1) simulates the requirement of actual games energy expenditure of the Hong Kong badminton players exercising at close to their anaerobic threshold. The results also show that an estimate of fitness can be derived from measurements involving exercise closely resembling that which is specific for the sports activity in question. Improved training advice and guidance may result from such studies.

Bilateral isokinetic variables of the shoulder: a prediction model for young men.

Clinicians frequently want to know the pre-injury strength of an uninjured limb. The purpose of this study was to delineate the differences in bilateral isokinetic peak torque (PT) at 60 degrees and 240 degrees, and torque acceleration energy (TAE), average power (AP) and total work (TW) at 240 degrees during shoulder extension and flexion movements, and to develop a method to determine the expected maximal isokinetic variables of the dominant shoulder based upon isokinetic measurements from the non-dominant shoulder. Shoulder isokinetic measurements were obtained from 30 normal young male adults. While bilateral correlation was significant (P < 0.01), results also suggest significant bilateral differences P < 0.01). Thus, it is inappropriate to use the uninjured extremity to predict the pre-injured strength of the injured side without adjustment. In this investigation models were developed relating the expected maximal isokinetic measurement of the dominant shoulder to the non-dominant shoulder measurements.