The aim of the study was to identify benchmarks for anthropometric, physical performance, motor coordination, and psychological characteristics by comparing youth badminton players of different levels through the use of a multifactorial test battery. Sixty-one male participants aged 12–18 years were divided into three groups: elite (N = 10), sub-elite (N = 24), and novice (N = 27). Standard test batteries for anthropometry (including measures to estimate biological maturity), physical performance, and motor coordination were applied, as well as the modified PCDEQ2 questionnaire for psychological characteristics of youth athletes (Hill, 2016). Multivariate analyses of covariance (MANCOVAs) with age and biological maturity as covariates were used to investigate differences between skill levels. A discriminant analysis was used to reveal to what extent participants could be correctly assigned to their skill group. Significant differences were found in physical performance (explosive power, flexibility, speed, and endurance), BMI and motor coordination. In the psychological domain, perfectionism was found to be significantly different and elites scored highest. The discriminant analysis showed that 100% of the participants were correctly classified and 80.0% were correctly cross validated. These results significantly add to the previously limited youth players’ reference values, and confirm the value of a generic, i.e. without sport-specific testing, multifactorial approach to talent identification in youth badminton.

No abstract

Over the past decades, researchers in racquet sports have been testing the role of visual anticipation and expert attunement to essential kinematic information for responding to ‘in game’ strokes as well as serves. However, anticipatory behaviour to both strokes has not been compared directly, in spite of the different characteristics of these strokes in the context of badminton. Therefore, this study explored the differences in anticipatory behaviour among elite ( n = 26), competitive ( n = 15) and novices ( n = 17) between in game strokes and serves in badminton by use of lab based video temporal occlusion tests. In two separate blocks, last strokes (LS) and serves (S) were presented with different occlusion points (− 200 and − 100 ms before shuttle–racquet contact, at shuttle–racquet contact, and  + 100 after shuttle–racquet contact) in a randomised order. The main results from the analysis of variance were that (a) elites generally showed faster and more accurate responses, and (b) responses were generally faster in LS conditions than in serves. These results add to the current body of knowledge on anticipatory behaviour in racquet sports, and the practical implications for coaching and training are discussed.