Official matches and training sessions: physiological demands of elite junior badminton players

Abstract

Aim:

To evaluate the intensity of training and official badminton matches (international championship) in junior elite players.

Methods:

Twelve elite players from the Brazilian junior national team (6 male and 6 female) were monitored during 19 training sessions and 50 official men's and women's single and double matches in the XXVII Pan-American Junior Games. Subjects underwent an incremental running step test to determine maximal oxygen uptake (VO₂max), and an individual relationship between heart rate (HR) and VO₂max was established to estimate exercise intensity and oxygen uptake at official matches (OMs) and training sessions. HR was monitored during multi-shuttlecock (MS), technical-tactical (TT), and physical (PS) training methods, as well as during simulated matches (SMs) and OMs. Variables such as %HRmax, HR zones, %VO₂max, and energy expenditure were also calculated.

Results:

OM was the most intense activity monitored for male and female athletes, followed by SM according to %HRmax (86.8 ± 4.1% and 84.4 ± 5.0% for female and male, respectively, in OM vs. 74.6 ± 2.3% and 75.0 ± 5.0% for female and male, respectively, in SM). OM mean energy expenditure was 10.7 ± 0.5 kcal.min-1 for females and 14.9 ± 4.6 kcal.min⁻¹ for males.

Conclusion:

MS training has less physiological demand and OM presented higher intensity. SM, on the other hand, had the closest physiological demand to an OM.

Keywords
Racquet sports; heart rate; energy consumption; physical education and training; oxygen consumption