Abstract
Background: Shoulder joint mobility and rotational strength of the shoulder muscles are important factors in badminton performance.Aims: To determine the correlations of shoulder range of motion (ROM) and isokinetic rotational peak torque with shuttlecock velocity during the forehand jump smash in trained male badminton players.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 30 trained male badminton players (age= 28.4 ± 3.3 years; body mass= 83.2 ± 7.8 kg; height= 192.5 ± 4.2 cm). Isokinetic dynamometry was used to assess internal-rotation (IR) and external-rotation (ER) shoulder peak torque during concentric (IRcon and ERcon) and eccentric (IRecc and ERecc) contractions. Peak shuttlecock velocity during the forehand jump smash was recorded using a radar gun.
Results: Internal and external shoulder ROM were 55.58 ± 7.10° and 104.00 ± 8.11°, respectively. ERecc, ERcon, IRecc, and IRcon peak torque values were 38.43 ± 7.63 Nm, 30.91 ± 8.22 Nm, 79.61 ± 7.05 Nm, and 49.01 ± 6.10 Nm, respectively. Mean shuttlecock velocity was 273.0 ± 3.5 km/h. In the unadjusted analysis, IRcon peak torque was positively correlated with shuttlecock velocity (r = 0.380, 95% CI [0.023, 0.651], p = 0.038). However, this association did not remain significant after Bonferroni correction for eight correlation tests (adjusted α = 0.00625; adjusted p = 0.304), and none of the examined correlations was significant after correction for multiple comparisons.
Conclusion: After correction for multiple comparisons, no statistically significant associations were detected between shuttlecock velocity and shoulder ROM or isokinetic rotational peak torque in the present sample. Although IRcon peak torque showed a nominal positive association with shuttlecock velocity in the unadjusted analysis, this finding did not remain significant after Bonferroni correction. Further research is needed to clarify these relationships.