There are thousands of trainingstools for sportspeople and every year it gets more and more. In this video i will show you my seven favourite training tools that I use as a player but also as a coach, almost on a daily basis. In my eyes there are a few good reasons, where tools can really support your training and help you to:
- prevent injuries
- get more power
- get fitter
- work out at home
- make the training more fun
In the following video I will present you my seven favourite tools, that I almost use on a daily basis and show you different exercises how you can use them for your weekly badminton trainingroutines. Below the video you will find further information about all seven tools.
1) The forearmtrainer
This tool you can easily build on your own, so you don’t need to spend any money at all. Everything you need is a stick, a rope and a light weight that you can attach to the rope. (If you still prefer buying a professional version you can find it here: https://amzn.to/2SgRZZM).
It is a great tool for improving the power, especially in your forearm, so it will help you to get more power into your shots.
How to use it: 3-4 sets: roll up as fast as you can 3-4 times (or 40-50 seconds), 1-2min break in between the sets Can be part of circle training.
2) Heavy racket
Heavy rackets are perfect to improve the power in your arm in a very badminton specific way. Buy doing exercises like backhandshots, double defence, stick smashes or full smashes with a heavy racket you strenghten all the important muscles you need for the shot. Usually these racket weigh between 115 and 150 gramms. If you want to buy one, I would recommend to go with one around 130 gramms. But also here you can save money if you just take a old racket and cover the frame in towel grip. That will also give you a good extra weight so you can use it as a heavy racket. How to use it: Practice shots where you want to improve the power in your arm and always change between normal and heavy racket.
3) Minibands
The miniband is a great versitily tool for your stability and mobilty training. You can already get a sets of minibands for less than 10€ and they are definitly worth the money (Here an example: https://amzn.to/3btI6Qd)
4) Balance Pads
Nothing more important than staying injury free! The ankle and the knee are two of the most dangerous spots if you play badminton, and balance boards and pads will reduce your risk dramatically. Cheap balance pads already start at around 15€ and can save you a lot of money on rehabilitation and time at the doctors (Here an example: https://amzn.to/38jeaUY)
5) Black roll and Lacrosse Ball
As i mentioned in the video, a lacrosse ball fits in every back and is a perfect gadget to use after the training for self massage (Here a cheap one: https://amzn.to/2uBNGPU) You can also use other small and hard balls like baseballs (tennisballs are a bit too soft in my experience).
6) Skipping Rope
Very famous for years and a great tool for badminton players because it can improve your fitness and unlike running or cycling your legs will keep their explosiveness or even improve in that area! How to use it: I personally use the rope mainly during the warm up and do some double unders to get my legs ready for fast movement on the court but of course you can make a complete workout out of it.
7) Kettle Bell
A really advanced tool for athtletes that want to make training at home more challenging. If you are experienced in that area it defintly is a cool tool that makes a lot of fun and i would recommend you those 3 exercises:
Kettle Bells usually are available in 4kg steps, (I use 20kg) and cost between 15 and 60€, but as I said, if you are just getting started with athletic and functional training focus on technique before you use a lot of weight!
