Validation of a field test for the non-invasive determination of badminton specific aerobic performance.
OBJECTIVE
To develop a badminton specific test to determine on court aerobic and anaerobic performance.


METHODS
The test was evaluated by using a lactate steady state test. Seventeen male competitive badminton players (mean (SD) age 26 (8) years, weight 74 (10) kg, height 179 (7) cm) performed an incremental field test on the badminton court to assess the heart rate turn point (HRTP) and the individual physical working capacity (PWC(i)) at 90% of measured maximal heart rate (HR(max)). All subjects performed a 20 minute steady state test at a workload just below the PWC(i).


RESULTS
Significant correlations (p<0.05) for Pearson's product moment coefficient were found between the two methods for HR (r = 0.78) and velocity (r = 0.93). The HR at the PWC(i) (176 (5.5) beats/min) was significantly lower than the HRTP (179 (5.5) beats/min), but no significant difference was found for velocity (1.44 (0.3) m/s, 1.38 (0.4) m/s). The constant exercise test showed steady state conditions for both HR (175 (9) beats/min) and blood lactate concentration (3.1 (1.2) mmol/l).


CONCLUSIONS
The data indicate that a valid determination of specific aerobic and anaerobic exercise performance for the sport of badminton is possible without HRTP determination.
Wonisch
M
M
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Graz, Graz, Austria. manfred.wonisch@uni-graz.at
Hofmann
P
P
Schwaberger
G
G
von Duvillard
S P
SP
Klein
W
W
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015308:Anaerobic Threshold / Q000502:physiology; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D017079:Exercise Tolerance / Q000502:physiology*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015865:Racquet Sports / Q000502:physiology*
D015415:Biomarkers; D019344:Lactic Acid