Author(s): LIN, Y.C.1, CHEN, W.H.2, LIU, T.H.3, CHANG, S.S.4, SHIANG, T.Y.5, Institution: TUNGHAI UNIVERSITY, Country: TAIWAN, Abstract-ID: 638

INTRODUCTION:
To assess athletes’ external training load, accelerometers are often attached to their trunks (upper back) to calculate player load (1). According to previous studies, it is necessary to separately evaluate the load of the racket hand and the body to accurately reflect the real load status of the player (2). The purpose of this study was to identify the optimal location (racket hand and lower back) for wearable sensors to enhance the correlation between external loads (player load [PL]) and internal loads (training impulse [TRIMP] and session rating of perceived exertion [sRPE]) during singles and doubles badminton games.
METHODS:
Fifteen collegiate male badminton team players (age: 21.2 ± 1.6 years, training experience: 7.5 ± 3.7 years) participated in the study. Each player was equipped with inertial sensors (Capture.U) on the wrist of the racket hand and the lower back, a Polar H10 heart rate sensor on the chest, and a Goalgo T1 local positioning system sensor on the shoulder (3). Each player participated in simulated badminton singles and doubles games, which followed a 21-point rally scoring rule, to collect data on the players’ training load during the games. The Pearson product-moment correlation was used to analyze the correlation (r) between external load (PL) and internal load (TRIMP, sRPE) during simulated badminton games. All statistical analyses were conducted with a significance level set at α = 0.05.
RESULTS:
The results indicate that during singles simulated games, TRIMP showed a significant large correlation with PLRH (racket hand) (r = 0.53, p < 0.05) and a significant large correlation with PLLB (lower back) (r = 0.52, p < 0.05). sRPE showed a significant large correlation with PLRH (r = 0.67, p < 0.01) and a significant very large correlation with PLLB (r = 0.72, p < 0.01). In doubles simulated games, TRIMP showed significant large correlations with PLRH (r = 0.58, p < 0.05) and PLLB (r = 0.63, p < 0.05). sRPE had a significant large correlation with PLRH (r = 0.58, p < 0.05).
CONCLUSION:
The lower back proved to be the optimal location for placing an inertial sensor to monitor the external training load in badminton. This study demonstrates that the lower back is an appropriate location for a single accelerometer.
REFERENCE:
1) James et al., Journal of Sport Science and Medicine, 2021
2) Liu et al., Sports Biomechanics, 2021
3) Fuchs et al., Sports Biomechanics, 2023