The 5 Most Common Injury Areas in Badminton — Which One Is Catching Up With You?

The 5 Most Common Injury Areas in Badminton — Which One Is Catching Up With You?

Most badminton injuries don’t come from a single bad fall or one unlucky collision.

What I see far more often on court are small movement mistakes repeated every session:
hard stops at the net, stiff overhead swings, gripping the racket too tightly, twisting from the lower back instead of the hips, knees collapsing inward, ankles rolling outward.

Individually, they feel minor.
Over time, they turn into pain that never quite goes away, no matter how much you rest.

I usually talk about stringing, rackets, and tension, but injury prevention is something I intentionally mix in. Not because it’s trendy — but because training without fixing movement habits eventually leads to forced breaks.

1. The 5 High-Risk Areas (Top to Bottom)

1) Shoulder (Rotator Cuff)
Overhead shots done too often, poor scapular control, and lifting the shoulder instead of letting it rotate smoothly. This is especially common in players who rely on arm strength more than body rotation.

2) Elbow & Wrist
Hard wrist snapping, fingers not involved in the stroke, and gripping the handle too tightly. Many players think power comes from the wrist alone — that’s usually where the pain starts.

3) Lower Back (Center)
Twisting from the waist, leaning back to “create angle,” and letting the hips stay passive. The lower back ends up doing work it was never designed to handle repeatedly.

4) Knee (Patellar Tendon)
Sudden deceleration, knee not aligned with the toes, inward collapse or outward flare. Net play and recovery steps are the biggest triggers here.

5) Ankle (Lateral Ligaments)
Rolling outward on landing, weak single-leg stability, or rushing recovery steps. Ankles often get blamed on “bad luck,” but most issues are predictable.

2. Two Situations That Amplify Problems (Right-Handed Players)

Front Court: Net → Sudden Stop → Recover to Center
Watch closely:

• Is your knee aligned with your toes?

• Can your ankle hold steady when you stop?

Back Court: Overhead Smashes / Fast Clears
Pay attention to:

• Is your scapula stable?

• Are fingers and forearm working together?

• Are your hips initiating the rotation, or is your lower back taking over?

These moments don’t cause injuries instantly — they quietly stack stress over time.

3. My Go-To Self-Check Questions (Quick but Honest)

Ask yourself during play:

• When I stop, does my whole leg absorb the force — or does my knee “take the hit”?

• After landing, can I stand stable before pushing off again?

• During overhead shots, do I unconsciously shrug my shoulder?

• When generating power, do my fingers guide the racket, or does my wrist snap hard?

• When turning, does it feel like my hips rotate — or my lower back twists?

If any of these feel uncomfortable to answer, that’s usually where the issue lives.

4. One Principle I Repeat Constantly

Protect the high-risk areas first. Then increase intensity.

You can train hard.
You can be disciplined.
But if the direction is wrong, effort just turns into repeated injury.

Most players I meet aren’t lazy — they’re simply reinforcing bad patterns every session.

Fix the movement, and everything else lasts longer:
your body, your training, and your time on court.