After reading the article  Introduction to protective gear often used in badminton in the badminton coaching before, everyone should know the causes of sports injuries and be familiar with some common injuries.

So now we will introduce some common sports injuries in detail to give everyone a better understanding.

Cramp:

This is basically involuntary muscle tetanic contraction, inability to relax the muscle and muscle hardness and pain, lasting from a few minutes to several dozen minutes.

In badminton, the back of the lower leg (calf muscles) and the front of the thigh (quadriceps) are the muscles most often affected by cramp.

When cramp strikes the most important thing is to deal with it immediately and the following steps are suggested to deal with cramp:

• Stop exercise immediately and rest in a cool well ventilated place, replenish water and electrolytes (sports drink).
• Slowly stretch the affected muscle (as in Pic. 1); light massage can also be used.
• Use heat or cold treatment; cold sprays and hot compresses are effective.The main aim is to relax the muscle.

Pic. 1 Stretching the calf muscle when the calf is affected by cramp

KEY POINT

Place the muscle that is to be stretched 1 on the floor, push on the sole of the foot for 15-30 seconds each time as in 2 so that the muscle is stretched and relaxed in the direction of 3.

Preventing cramp is much better than treating it. If you have suffered cramp before you need to pay attention to the following points: