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Factors influencing performance of the badminton smash: racket and technique Harley Towler (5103479) Biomechanics Racket Sport Shuttlecock Engineering <p dir="ltr">Successful performance within badminton is partly due to the ability to generate high shuttlecock speeds during the smash stroke. Smash speed is determined by a player’s ability to develop racket head speed (technique and strength) and the racket properties. 3D position data of player, racket and shuttlecock were captured using a Vicon Motion Analysis System (400-500 Hz; OMG Plc, Oxford, UK) for players ranging from regional to elite standard. An increase in racket moment of inertia (swingweight) reduced racket head speed, however caused no effect on shuttlecock speed. This can be explained by an increase in effective mass and longitudinal impact location, where the differing impact location may be due to player’s subconsciously impacting at the node location of the fundamental frequency which moves up the racket as moment of inertia increased i.e., more mass nearer the tip. Shaft stiffness was found to have no significant effect on performance using a group-analysis. Individual analyses found some participants performed better with specific rackets. Elite participants, however, were able to make effective use of all shaft stiffnesses with no changes in performance across the range used. Performance (racket head speed and deformation velocity) was more variable with the most flexible racket compared to the stiffest. From a technique perspective, players who achieved more counter-rotated trunk axial rotation positions, delayed the forward pull of the shoulder and achieved more externally rotated shoulder positions produced greater shuttlecock speeds. Joint orientations at impact were similar across participants. It was found that the two largest contributors to racket head speed were shoulder internal rotation and wrist flexion (35.1 and 18.0 m s-1) occurring 10 and 5 ms prior to impact, respectively, where racket head speeds at impact achieved were 58.2 5.1 m s-1. From a kinetics perspective, it was found that the ability to produce larger shoulder internal rotation moments (71-84% of swing phase) was associated with greater racket head speed. These findings can be explained by the concentric phase of the movement being enhanced by the stretch-shortening cycle and allowing more work to be done by joints completing greater ranges of motion. A case-study analysis found no changes in joint angular velocities when using high vs. low moment of inertia rackets. In summary, the effects of two important racket properties and technique parameters associated with greater smash speeds were explored and provide insight as to how performance can be improved.</p> 2022-05-03T08:52:41Z Text Thesis 10.26174/thesis.lboro.19674387.v1 https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/Factors_influencing_performance_of_the_badminton_smash_racket_and_technique/19674387 CC BY-NC-ND 4.0