I am also experiencing a terrible ache in my deltoid. I wonder if it could be my rackets; I suspect so. I have theory that that I would like to share: I'm currently using an Ashaway Viper XT900, which happens to be the stiffest racket I have ever played with. I have being using them (I have 3) for the last 4 months. However, it's only in the last month or so that I have developed this pain in my right shoulder. I couldn't understand why at first it was only now that I was experiencing this pain. Then I realised that the pain only started to develop when I changed / altered my grips. At first I was only wrapping a single overgrip over the factory grips with a 50% overlap. Since then however, I have removed the factory grips completely and replaced them all with a single Karakal PU grip. Not only has this altered the balance point of my rackets by around 2cm - making them more head-heavy - but it has also altered the size of the grips, making them less 'spongy'. Could this change be the reason for my sore shoulder. I play around 6 hours a week. My rackets are all strung at 25lbs. The Viper XT-900s have a 88 hole string pattern giving them a much denser stringbed. I don't know if this is relevant. I'm sorry if this should be in the 'Grip Section', under equipment.
Hi. I experience pain in my anterior deltoid muscle specially when I smash really hard. There's no swelling, pain when pressing nor bruise, but it is stiff. It happened when i smashed/drove the shuttlecock that had gone past me on my right side (about a foot past me) having my upper arm on shoulder level as the upper arm reached for the shuttle. I felt pain then and rested a while, pain is gone, then continued to play. I never felt the pain while I played that night even with full smashes. After 5 days, I played again, no pain during warm up exercise and shots, but when I tried a full smash, there's the pain, I felt weakness on my upper arm. I applied hot compress and put medicated patch on the affected area, these relieved the pain. Lately, I played again, there's still pain, but not that painful as the first one. Now, can I do the deltoid muscle strengthening exercises after rest and the pain is gone? Or avoid putting stress to the affected muscle even after rest? Is it tendinitis/tendonitis or muscle sprain? I have no problem raising my arm in any direction, feeling no pain whether i raise my arm side-ward nor forward, 45 degrees or 90 degrees. I always do warm up exercises and stretching before playing, specially my racket arm and racket foot. I feel the pain when i do this now: Although I often do this as stretching/warmup exercise and no pain. Thanks a lot.
nutbad5981, I have a similar problem. I never thought about posting on here about it as it didn’t occur to me that there may be others with the same problem. This is my story, circa 2005-2006, I returned to badminton after taking a long break. My fitness was generally acceptable and I was still hitting the shuttle pretty cleanly. But having been out of the sport for some time, my body was not used to the physical strain that is was once accustomed to. Being excited to return to court and finding that my technique still served me well, I was a little complacent and subconsciously assumed that my body could handle a few hard smashes. I played one hard smash, and immediately my arm felt as though it had come out of the socket. I could feel a sharp pain deep inside my shoulder about 1.5 inches below the end of my collar bone. It was as though I had pulled a ligament so hard it had tore. Badminton was never the same since that day. I have not been able to play a full hard smash since. I have tried all sorts of treatments including physiotherapy, osteopathy, Chinese massage, anti-inflammatory pills and gels, steroid injections, acupuncture and now currently Chinese “Teet Da” (Iron Hit). Nothing seems to be working. When I rotate my shoulder as to play a smash, there is a point inside my shoulder that feels as if it is “catching” or rubbing against something. But for some reason clears and backhand shots are generally fine. I’ve had an MRI scan which showed that the joint itself is fine, but there is a suspected bone growth on the underside of my collar bone which could be the culprit but they are not sure. The strange thing is that it doesn’t cause me any discomfort if I don’t play a smash. Everyday use is fine too but not being able to smash is a huge disadvantage and quite frustrating. I’ve just completed 7 months of physio, no improvement at all. I’ve been called to see the surgeon in 2wks time who will no doubt recommend surgery. My Chinese “Teet Da” master is adamant he can help, but I’m very sceptical as it’s been 3 sessions now and I’ve not seen any difference. He also gave me an ultimatum that if I have surgery then don’t bother going back as he won’t be able to help. I’m not keen on surgery because even if it gets rid of the problem, my shoulder will not function as well as did before which will defeat the object of doing it. So my options are, surgery, continue to find alternative treatments or just let it be.
I had a similar problem and was told to take 3 weeks off and did 40-50 pressups 4-5 times a day with stretching (i also had protein shakes during this time but not sure if relevant) and some light weights (2-3kg) because the smash uses a very small muscle not often used that needed strengthening. Since this the only problems i have when smashing is hitting the strings. I am no professional though so I would suggest seeing a physio. best of luck on your recovery.
Interesting. Where is this muscle and where on your shoulder was the pain? Also did a sports physio give you this advice?
The pain was mainly on my rotator cuff and downwards into the main shoulder muscles and the muscles on the shoulder blade just below the collar bone. this advice was from a orthopedic nurse at a hospital.
Thanks for the response R20190. I have no problem with my shoulder joint. No pain when rotating. I just feel pain specifically on my front deltoid muscle when I do full smash. I have to rest for a month to see if there's a change... and hopefully my deltoid muscle recover. I'll be back to share if I recover or not.
@ R20190, so the MRI didn't show any ligament or tendon abnormalities? Perhaps also look into getting a shoulder ultrasound... those can also be useful in assessing the rotator cuff's muscles, ligaments and tendons.
I have similar shoulder pain cum rotator problem for 2.5 years. I attribute it to a change in racket and insufficient warm up. Initialy i stopped playing for 4 months but that did not help and it got worse. I decided to play again and the first few time it was bad but got better. It has not gone away completely but i noticed that my shoulder feels better after the games and the day after but gets stiff again when i rest too long. Have resigned to this being a chronic ailment and it does not bother me too much anymore. I play 3 times a week ;-)
Apologies for the late response Visor, only just saw this. I never got the chance to speak with the doctor, the physiotherapist was not competent enough to explain it to me but said that when she spoke with the doctor he said the joint looked fine. The only thing that they suspected could have been a factor was a slight bone spur on the underside of my collar bone. This could have been the culprit but they were not sure. I am meeting the doctor (surgeon) next week who will no doubt tell me to have surgery to find out and treat the problem - even though they are not sure what is causing it. Although I have a bit of a phobia for operations, I'd be prepared to do it if they are 100% sure that it will help and they know what the problem is. For me, it's more than being able to play badminton but also to be able to teach my son to play when he grows up. They did do an ultrasound scan, one of my tendons were inflammed, so they gave me a steroid injection. That reduced the inflammation but it didn't help at all. The inflammation was one of the results of the problem, not the problem itself. One thing I am a little confused about (and I will question it next week) is why they do not think it is a rotator cuff injury. Is a rotator cuff injury associated with pain at the front side or the back side of the shoulder? I have pain on my front side of the shoulder, just beneath the end of my collar bone. From what I've read, some say rotator cuff injury is associated with pain at the front and some say it's at the back - around the shoulder blade area. The strange thing about my injury is that it doesn't bother me whatsoever if I don't smash. And when it does hurt, I find that once I put some Ammeltz Yoko Yoko on, the pain is bearable such that I can continue playing a little although I can only play a 60% smash at the most.
Thanks, I think my problem is different. I feel it beneath the front part of the deltoid muscle. It seems as though it is about 1/2" beneath the skin. If you think it is a muscle related problem, I think you should stand a good chance of a full recovery. Good luck!
HI again. It's been more than a month (nearly two months) since I posted about my problem. I did what the photo (Blindaim's second photo @ #17 post) and my deltoid muscle recovered. Now I can fully smash again and no problem. One thing, one should take a rest not to worsen the injury, and more important, consult a physician.
