For a young athlete, the drive to compete can lead to more time on the court. However, this extra time comes with a physical cost. New research looks at how training volume affects youth and adolescent badminton players between the ages of 7 and 22.
The review found that injury rates often climb as players enter mid-to-late adolescence. In some groups, like elite junior players in Sri Lanka, over one-third of the athletes reported injuries. Even among younger Japanese cohorts, more than 60% reported musculoskeletal complaints. These findings suggest that the physical demands of the sport can take a heavy toll on developing bodies.
It is important to note that these results come from different studies with varying ways of measuring injury and training time. Because each study used different rules for what counts as an injury, we cannot make perfect direct comparisons between them. However, the trend is clear: more training exposure often leads to higher injury rates in elite-level players.
