Badminton is a physically, mentally, and technically intensive sport that requires skills, agility, speed, endurance, strength, and many other parameters. Your preparation for a particular tournament will directly affect the outcome of your match. It is very important to get your body and mind focused before a tournament.
To win a particular tournament, you will approximately need to play 7-10 matches, which can vary from 40-60 minutes per match. Therefore, you need to train properly before a tournament to sustain all matches and finally win the tournament.
The factors that affect your tournament performance will vary from individual to individual. Some may need to work on their fitness while a few may need to work on their skills.
In this article, I have enlisted various tips that will help you to prepare properly for a badminton tournament.
Proper Nutrition Is Critical For Badminton Players
A proper diet is very important for any individual as it directly affects your performance in your training and during a particular match. Record your weight and consult a nutritionist with the amount of protein intake that you will require. Accordingly, plan your meals with a sustained amount of all forms of nutrition. This will help your body perform better and you will feel fit, healthy, and energetic as well.
You need to maintain a proper nutrition intake before as well as during a match. This is what most players tend to ignore and play empty stomachs. A player needs to eat something at least 1 hour before their match. However, avoid oily and spicy food at this time.
During the tournament, a player should carry some light and healthy snacks like a banana, energy bar/ drink as this will improve the thinking ability.
Sometimes you have to wait the entire day in the match arena and you may forget about your food intake. Therefore, taking care of your nutrition is the first thing you need to keep in mind before preparing for a tournament.
Reduce The Intensity Of Training
This should happen at least one week prior to your tournament. Notably, all elite players reduce the amount of training significantly. Like the famous saying, “After a day without training, the opponent knows. After two days, you start to know. After three days, the crowd knows.”
You might be wondering why is this important. Well, the reason is that a proper recovery time is very critical for your body to go back to its best condition. Many beginner players think that training till the last day before the tournament will help them to perform better. So this assumption is wrong as you need proper body recovery to play your best.
Before your game, control the amount of training and do not overexert yourself.
Hydration For Playing Badminton
Many individuals and players underestimate the importance of hydration in our everyday lives. As a player, you need to take care of your hydration properly before a tournament.
A proper hydration regime is very important as it prevents cramps and any sort of injuries that can influence your play. Moreover, the lack of hydration can lead to dehydration and muscle cramps are more susceptible to dehydration. These cramps can occur in the calves, hamstrings, quadriceps, and anywhere else, and the only remedy to avoid it is by maintaining a proper hydration level in your body.
Notably, you need to drink water during a match as well as it will help you to get calmer which can fasten your thinking process during the match.
Badminton Players Needs To Be Punctual
It is always good to be early than to be late. Due to various emergencies, the timing of the tournament can be unpredictable. Sometimes your matches can start early and sometimes very late.
When you go early to the arena, you will get time to understand the court situations as each court is different from one other. You can test the court if possible and this will surely make a difference in your performance.
Sometimes being early makes you more confident than being late on the court. It gives you time to plan your match and visualize your game plan. Importantly, a warm-up is very essential before a match.
So you need to reach the court at least an hour before your match so that you can warm up properly. Do a proper warm-up so that you are well prepared for an intense badminton match.
Keep It Simple
A week before your match, try to keep your training and workout sessions as simple as possible to avoid injuries or stress to your body. On the day of the match, don’t try to be over-ambitious. Keep the game simple and don’t try to overdo yourself as this would cost you the match.
Your state of mind plays a key role. Don’t panic or stress yourself during a match and play extensive unneeded smashes. Keep yourself motivated and focused and concentrate on just one point at a time.
Before you start a particular match, you get 2 minutes to warm up your shots. At this time as well, keep it simple and try and practice all shots along with your footwork as this will help you to get into action.
Listen To Your Coach
In badminton, a coach plays a very important role to improve and define a player’s performance. As a player, see to it that you listen to all instructions of your coach very carefully during training as well as during the match as this will help you to assess your mistakes and accordingly change your game.
Moreover, most of the coaches train players for a long period of time due to which they know their strengths and weakness. Your coach will guide you according to your style of play which can prove to be an advantage for you as during halftime the coach can share with you certain tips that you can execute in the match.
Also, a coach sits behind you during the match so try listening to their advice as much as you can. Sometimes, when players start losing points, they become nervous and their listening power gets blocked and they stop listening to the coach. However, try to be patient and focused to not allow such a situation to happen to you.
Therefore, take a deep breath after every point and listen to your coach during training as well as during the match. You should maintain a very comfortable equation with your coach and should be able to tell them what you feel so that the coach can accordingly help you with your strengths and weaknesses.
Stay Away From Bad Habits
This is one important element you need to practice before you start preparing for a tournament. Majorly you need to avoid the following-
- Alcohol/Smoking
- Staying up too late at night
- Consuming too much of your time over phone/TV
Well, all this will affect your brain activity and reaction time as well.
Strengthen Your Analytical Mindset
You receive the draws well prior to the tournament. So you know who are you playing against. Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of that opponent and then structure a proper game plan with the help of your coach and try to implement it as much as you can on the match day. Notably, keep watching matches of elite players as this will improve your visualization power.
Mental Strength Is Key For Winning Badminton Tournaments
Every sport comprises of wins and losses. You should train to win and when you lose you should be mentally strong to learn from your loss and come back stronger in the next tournament. Moreover, you need to have the right mental approach during the match.
You need to apply the never-giving-up mindset while playing against a stronger opponent and equally give respect while playing with a weaker opponent.
Keep your mind relaxed and focused on winning and reaching each and every shot will prove to be your mantra to success. Also during your training, keep yourself focused and disciplined as the training is the main element for your on-match performance.
Final Thoughts
Follow all these steps being focused and disciplined. Ensure an optimal amount of training, nutrition, and hydration before the tournament. Keep watching and analyzing matches during your free time and relax your body as much as you can.
Be systematic in your approach and make a list of things done and things needed to be done. Proper preparation for your matches and tournament will definitely guide you to a path to success in your badminton career. Notably, it will positively help in the overall development of yourself and your body.
