One of the most common injuries badminton players get are wrist injuries, which comes as no surprise since the wrist is being used to some extent during every shot in badminton!
But the good news – these wrist injuries can be prevented.
To reduce your risk of wrist pain or injury, focus on these 5 key areas:
We’ll now go through each of these in more detail!
Your wrist is being used so frequently, so it’s important to ensure it’s warmed up properly to meet the unique demands that badminton has on your wrist!
This will help reduce the risk of injury or small niggles.
Simple ways to warm up your wrist:
If your wrist is regularly getting injured, it’s often a sign it’s not strong enough for the demands of badminton.
You need to do wrist strengthening exercises to help your wrist become more robust and resistant to overload.
2 examples of key exercises:
Having a badminton racket that is too heavy for you or even a grip that is too large can put extra stress on your wrist, potentially causing wrist pain.
So if your wrist is hurting when you play, double check your equipment is appropriate for your skill level, playing style and physical abilities.
Just because one particular racket is the most popular racket on the circuit, doesn’t mean it’s the right one for you!
We would always recommend trying rackets out before you buy if you can, and you can also check out our badminton racket buying guide here!
If you’re experiencing pain in your wrist, it’s probably a good idea to let it rest so it doesn’t get worse! We know it can be tempting to push through the pain or discomfort, but it’s really important to listen to your body and know when it needs some rest.
If you’re incorporating additional wrist strengthening exercises, this puts even more demand on your wrist so it’s especially important to let it recover to prevent overuse injuries.
Of course it’s important to mention that if you have pain, you should go and see a qualified doctor or physiotherapist too.
If you’re doing all of the above and are still experiencing wrist injuries, you may not be using the right technique, and more specifically, not utilising your fingers and thumb correctly!
We go through this in a lot more detail including how you can use the right technique and also how to practice it in this YouTube video here:
If you’ve been experiencing wrist pain when playing badminton, we hope you’ve now learned some methods you can implement to combat it! And even if you’re not experiencing any wrist pain, it’s always good to take preventative steps as being injured and unable to play is really not fun!
Don’t forget to check out our badminton-specific weights programmes too here!