Any sport requires specific movement to complete the movements, badminton being no exception. Biomechanical principles are important in badminton so that players makes effective and efficient movements, they can achieve this by understanding mechanical laws. Biomechanics is the study of these laws in relation to movements. It looks at the internal and external forces that act upon the athlete’s body and the forces produced due to the athletes movements. Biomechanical principles include force, motion, projectile motion, flight path, balance, stability and levers. It is these that need to be applied to perform to maximum ability.
Motion is a fundamental element being- the action or process of moving or being moved. This is required to as (relate). Each motion can be classified into: linear, curvilinear, rotational or general. As shown in (relate- explain the movement) the main motion used is general motion as it is a combination of linear, which is moving in a straight line, curvilinear, which is moving is a curved line and rotational which is moving on an axis.
Newton’s Laws are all relative to the principle of force, the first law of inertia, the second of acceleration and the third of reaction all needed to be understood so that the athlete can move with efficiency and manipulate their body to take advantage of the Laws. As stated by (Louviere, 2006) the first law is “An object at rest will remain at rest unless acted on by an unbalanced force. An object in motion continues in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.” (relate) Newton’s second law shows that the acceleration of an object is in proportion to the force used and the mass of the object. Therefore the acceleration of a smash at 50% intensity will accelerate half the amount of a smash at 100% intensity. His third law is, as stated by (NASA, 2010) , “For every action there is an opposite and equal reaction.” In badminton the third law is not used to affect the game. The other application of the Law is the slight bounce back the racket has after hitting the shuttle. The other component the athlete needs to apply in relation to force is force summation. This entails knowing whether the shot being taken is simultaneous or sequential. (relate) The athlete also needs to be aware of the external forces acting upon their body whilst playing, these being; joint reaction, ground reaction force, friction, elastic force and inertial force.
As stated by (The Physics Classroom, 2011), “Momentum can be defined as ‘mass in motion’. All objects have mass; so if an object is moving, then it has momentum - it has its mass in motion. Momentum = mass and velocity” The momentum gained from the sequential force summation before smash is then transferred to the shuttle as seen when (relate). For these players to increase the momentum of the hit they should work on improving hitting the sweet spot, fluid and correct force summation and timing of the hits. The sweet shot is the ideal place to hit the shuttle because it has minimum vibration and is located in the middle of the racket.
In Badminton the shuttle is projected into the air by an external force showing the principle of projectile motion. As shown throughout the play, the athlete is the external force being applied sending the shuttle over the net on a flight path depending on angle, height and speed it was release at. As shown in appendix 1.1 the optimal angle of release is at 45
Balance and stability are vital in most sports with badminton being no exception. The athlete needs to be able to maintain static and dynamic balance being both with moving and not. (relate then something about base of support) As stated by (Hede, Russell, & Weatherby, 2011) , ‘The larger the base of support is, the greater the stability.” Everyone has a centre of gravity, this being the area that the weight is concentrated. The athletes line of gravity falls from their centre of gravity to the ground and if this happens to fall between their base of support they will be fairly stable. In sports though these can changes quickly and need to do so for the athlete to move to the shuttle, though too fast and they will fall.
Levers are used in sport to generate force efficiently so therefore improving the overall performance. A lever contains a force, a resistance and an axis as shown in Appendix 1.2, Appendix 1.3 and Appendix 1.4, which are illustrations of the three classes of levers. The first two levers assist in moving heavy objects with less force. An example of this shown (relate) as the racket is being moved from behind the athlete to above them with the elbow as the axis, then smashing the shuttle (the resistance). The third class of lever is designed for speed. The athlete can maximise the shot by snapping the wrist as the last stage of hitting the shuttle to employ this lever and increase the speed. By snapping the wrist is acts as an axis. (relate to how they are holding rackets) this proves that these athletes understand the principle of leverage by holding the racket at the end to increase the length of the lever.
The need for understanding and applying the principles of biomechanics is evident (relate). The principles needed to achieve automotive level of performance are force, motion, projectile motion, flight path, balance, stability and levers. Once these have been applied to (relate) the performance will become efficient and effective therefore maximizing the athletes ability.
Bibliography
The Physics Classroom. (2011). The Impulse-Momentum Change Theorem. Retrieved 9 9, 2011, from Momentum: http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/momentum/u4l1a.cfm
Hede, C., Russell, K., & Weatherby, R. (2011). pe- Senior Physical Education for Queensland. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
Louviere, G. (2006, 10 24). Newton's 3 Laws of Motion . Retrieved 9 2011, 9, from Newton's 3 Laws of Motion : http://teachertech.rice.edu/Participants/louviere/Newton/law1.html
NASA. (2010, 10). Newton's Third Law of Motion . Retrieved 9 10, 2011, from Newton's Third Law of Motion : http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/k-12/airplane/newton3.html
