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[Badminton Physio] Injury Prevention in racket sports: Part 2/4 - Knee and Ankle Injuries

By Senior Physio, Jackie Lu @badminton_physio


Welcome to Part 2 of our blog series on badminton injury prevention!


Ankle injuries


A very common injury we see in badminton is lateral ankle sprains.

  • the injury has a 40% recurrence rate

  • and 73% of people injured have residual symptoms

It's important once you sprained your ankle to begin early intervention to optimally recover and minimise future residual pain and restrictions.


What to do for lateral ankle sprains?


Stage 1: 0-4 weeks post-injury


Stage 2: 4-6 weeks post-injury

  • Neuromuscular exercise training: 30 minutes per day, 5 times per week for 6 weeks

  • Banded exercises

  • Foot intrinsic exercises such as toe curls and fanning.

  • Standing static balance

Stage 3: 6 weeks – 6 months post-injury

  • Strength and balance exercises- performing 4 to 5 times per week

  • Bosu ball balancing + shuttle juggling (2-5mins)

  • Single leg side jumping (15 per set x3 sets)

  • Single leg jump -> 2 leg landing (10 per set x3 sets)



Knee injuries


Common knee injuries that occur in badminton can be distributed into two categories.


Traumatic injuries: ACL, MCL, Meniscus tears. The causes for traumatic knee injuries can include sudden twisting or landing awkwardly.


Atraumatic: Patella-tendinopathy. The causes for these injuries include overloading of the knee, and malalignment of force distribution.


For specific treatment of these injuries, it is best if you consult a physiotherapist or doctor as the injuries will require specific intervention suited to your situation.


Knee injury prevention


If you don’t have any pain and want to strengthen your knee to prevent injuries, then we recommend the following exercises:

  • lateral jumps (12 pers set x 3 sets)

  • jumping alternate lunges (10 per set x 3 sets)

  • monster walks (2 laps)

  • box jumps + reactive landing (10 per set x 3 sets)



If you have any questions about badminton injuries and skills, give us a shout!

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