How To Increase Your Stamina For Badminton: A Complete Guide

Nothing feels worse than gassing out in the middle of a badminton match. 

• Your smashes have no power. 
• You can barely move and see as you’re drenched in sweat.

And even worse: 

• You’re losing to opponents that are worse on the skill level, but simply have more stamina. 

On the flip-side, if you’re stamina is on a high-level, you’ll be playing with your opponents.

Yes, they might have better skills, but if you can simply outlast them – you’ll win. 

But how can you improve your badminton stamina? Will it naturally increase over time, or should you work on improving it outside of regular training?

In this post, you’ll find a complete guide on how to build badminton stamina, including six of the best exercises and tips that can help you along the way.

Why Is Stamina Important for Badminton?

Imagine two badminton players:

• One has good stamina. 
• The other has bad stamina. 

Technique being equal, who will win? 

The player with the good stamina, right? Stamina is the difference between tiring out early and pushing through any physical challenge. In a game of badminton, good stamina means:

• Your offensive skills will start — and stay — powerful and precise throughout a rally.
• Your footwork won’t become sloppy from fatigue.
• Your reaction speed and defense will stay consistent for the entire match.

How to Increase Badminton Stamina: 6 Best Drills

To improve your stamina, you’ll need to train your body under intense conditions. Fortunately, almost any exercise or drill can be modified to help you do this.

Here’s a quick overview of the six best drills, exercises and tips: 

1. Running, Jogging, and Sprinting

If you’re someone who avoids jogging at all costs, you’re not alone. It can be hard to jog regularly. Not just because of the physical aspect, but because it can also be a bit, well, boring.

Nevertheless, running can be a priceless tool for building stamina in badminton. Here are a few different ways to use it in your routine:

• Head to your favorite park or scenic nature location and run the trails a few times per week. Challenge yourself to hold an intense pace for as long as you can.
• Find a hilly area to complete your run or run up and down a set of stairs. Running against gravity increases the difficulty without requiring a change in speed or duration.
• You can also use a treadmill if it’s available to you. To build endurance, try increasing the length of your run. Or, try making it into a HIIT workout by switching between jogging and sprinting.

2. Wall Rally Drills

Wall rally drills are perfect for building badminton stamina, and they’re easy to do almost anywhere. They can also improve your mental strength, thanks to the level of concentration they require.

For a stamina-focused wall rally drill, you can increase the total training time or take shorter breaks in between sets.

If you’ve never tried a wall rally drill before, check out the video below for a tutorial:

3. Switch Up Your Workout Routine with HIIT or Circuit Training

Many players’ workouts take place in their local badminton club. But if you want to build stamina, consider adding HIIT or circuit training to your routine outside the court.

These kinds of workouts can boost your muscular endurance, strength, and heart health — all of which are vital for your game.

Stamina is built by challenging yourself. So, if a circuit workout feels too easy, try to take it up a notch. For instance, you could add weights to specific exercises or increase your total workout time in a circuit.

If you want to try HIIT and circuit training, the routine below is a great place to start:

4. Multishuttle Drills

Multishuttle drills offer two main benefits: They help you hone your offensive and defensive skills, and they boost your stamina.

If you’ve never tried them before, it’s important to know that you’ll need a partner or shuttle launcher to get started.

There are some variations of these drills, but they mainly involve your partner (or launcher) tossing shuttles your way in a random fashion. Your only job is to hit them back accurately and quickly.

Multishuttle drills can help you build endurance on their own. But for an extra challenge, you could try:

• Asking your partner to speed up the pace.
• Shortening your breaks between sessions. For example, if you usually take a two-minute break between drills, cut it down to one minute instead.
• Increasing the total time of each drill. Even an additional one or two minutes of cardio can make a difference.

5. Rest and Recovery

Aside from stamina training, you should also set aside at least one day a week for rest and recovery. Here’s why:

In every intense workout and match, your muscles suffer damage in the form of micro-tears. When you take rest days, you give your body time to repair these tears and patch up any injured muscles.

Rest and recovery also:

• Improve your future performance by preventing burnout.
• Prevent injuries by helping you avoid muscle fatigue.

6. Focus on Your Nutrition

We often associate stamina with fitness and fitness alone. But the truth is that nutrition is also essential for sustained energy and vitality.

Here are three ways that food can influence your stamina:

• Iron-rich foods help your body deliver oxygenated blood to all of your muscles. Put another way, getting enough of this mineral means better energy in training and matches. (But be careful not to get too much!)
• Your diet affects your cells’ mitochondria. In other words, your food can impact energy production on a cellular level.
• High amounts of sugar or caffeine can mean unstable energy. These substances can seem helpful at first — and in moderation, they’re totally OK. But sometimes, their short-lasting benefits may not be worth the energy crash they bring on later.

For solid stamina, aim to eat plenty of fruits, veggies, complex carbs, and high-quality proteins when possible.

Before You Get Started

Increasing your stamina and endurance is no easy feat. But with practice, proper rest, and healthy nutrition, you could see improvements in as little as two weeks.

Before you dive into badminton stamina training, remember to plan your workouts mindfully. These drills and exercises can be intense — so take your time as you figure out where they can best fit into your busy training schedule. Good luck!