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Many people want to play badminton to lose weight. Unfortunately, being overweight escalates the risk of getting injured since the extra weight increases the load on unfit muscles, joints, tendons, and ligaments.

Here is an overview of general strategies to avoid getting sidelined with a badminton injury.

According to sports medicine research, most badminton injuries are due to overuse, incorrect playing form, poor strength and flexibility, inadequate or absent warm-ups, and the wrong equipment.

Avoid overuse injuries

A study on elite Swedish badminton players by Martin Fahlstrom and Ronny Lorentzon that was published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine said there are three common errors that lead to overuse injuries. For novice players, it's a case of "too much, too soon." For more experienced players, the scenario is one of "too much all the time." Finally, for all players, it's continuing to train and play in spite of feeling symptoms already.

Learn proper form

Here are some words of wisdom from Edgar Eufemio, sports medicine doctor and head of the Philippine General Hospital Sports Clinic, on why a good badminton trainer can save you a lot of grief.

"The objective of the game is not to actually send the shuttlecock back lightly so your playmate has an easy time retrieving it. When you play, you have two things in mind--to get in shape and to win! It's no fun congratulating your opponents time and again and always having to pay for lunch, dinner or the court because it's "losers' pay." So you hit harder than you're used to. You run and jump harder. You play harder. And if you never learned the proper basics, your body breaks down. Your form is wrong, your footwork is wrong and your willingness to practice more often using the improper form and footwork compounds the problem. Worst of all, you still lose."

Eufemio is not convinced that friends make good teachers (and he observes that relatives are probably the worst) because "a good player does not always translate into a good trainer." So he recommends that you ask around and do background checks to find the professional trainer you need to teach you correct form.

Get fit and stay fit

In an ideal world, an out-of-shape person wanting to make badminton his or her main form of exercise should undergo at least six weeks of a basic conditioning program composed of aerobic exercise (walking and jogging are good examples), strength training (with free weights, machines or rubber bands) and stretching exercises.

At the end of the six weeks, he or she can start taking badminton lessons to learn proper playing form. The fitness program should not be stopped but should continue to be the foundation or backdrop against which the game is played.

Eventually, the playing sessions can replace the aerobic exercise component of the fitness program, but the strength and flexibility exercises should continue. As the player becomes fitter, anaerobic SAQ or speed, agility and quickness drills can be added to enhance performance.

As good as strength training is for your game, Dr. James Bragman, sports medicine doctor for the CNN Radio Network, has a word of caution about lifting weights and racquet sports.

"Don't lift weights and then go out and play," he says. "You temporarily lose some fine motor control when you lift weights, and you also tire out muscles. Lift on the days you don't play, or lift after you have played"

In terms of injury prevention, it's true that "you don't play a sport to get fit; you get fit to play a sport." Now, this doesn't mean that a sport will not improve your fitness level. It will, but you can only do it safely if you are already somewhat fit.

Here's what badminton can do for you, according to Don Paup, director of the exercise program at George Washington University and committee chair for sports medicine and science for the USA Badminton team. Paup evaluated badminton based on the components of fitness using a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best.

Muscle strength: 6. You gain strength in the legs, but not as much in the arms.

Muscle endurance: 8. Muscles are constantly moving for 30-60 minutes, more in competitive tournaments.

Cardiovascular conditioning: 9. Badminton involves a lot of running and sprinting, constantly engaging the heart and lungs.

Speed, agility, quickness: 10. The shuttlecock is hit every .8 to .9 seconds, so you have to be fast.

Hand-eye coordination: 10. Anticipating and hitting the shuttlecock with the racket involves quick coordination.

Flexibility: 7. You're not as flexible as a gymnast because you need some tightening of the muscles to move quickly, but you do a lot of bending and reaching.

Body composition: 8. You lose fat and gain some lean muscle mass.

Taking the time to warm up is a simple way to prevent injuries and to improve performance. The word "warm-up" means exactly that, because body temperature needs to be raised by approximately two degrees Fahrenheit from the start of the warm-up to the beginning of the game proper, according to Paula Anderson in her article, "The Active Range Warm-Up" for Idea Fitness Magazine.

"The increased body temperature makes the muscles more pliable, releases joint fluid, allows for a gradual rise in blood pressure and heart rate, and quickens nerve transmissions."

Warm-ups can be general or specific. A general warm-up will use movements that are not related to the sport but will make the body warmer. Riding a stationary bike, doing knee lifts and arm circles and such are examples.

A specific warm-up will use low-intensity movements that mimic the sport. Lower extremity examples for badminton would include jogging forwards and backwards, shuffling from side-to-side, squatting and lunging.

Eufemio gives an example for the upper extremities: "Players will start a few feet behind the net, between the net and the service line, and hit lightly to each other for around one to two minutes. Then they move to the service line and hit for another one to two minutes. This goes on until they reach baseline." There are many other examples that you can get by going to badminton websites.

A general warm-up is better than none, but a specific warm-up is the best because it is more functional and is a more accurate rehearsal for the game to come.

Static stretching, or holding a stretch motionless for 10 to 20 seconds, has fallen out of favor as a warm-up component since current research has found that it does not prevent injuries, does not help raise body temperature, and is not functional physiologically or psychologically as a rehearsal activity.

In 2000, Ian Shrier of McGill University in Canada reviewed all the clinical and basic science evidence on stretching. His conclusion: "Pre-exercise stretching to prevent injury is now part of the sport culture and will likely continue to be for a long time, despite scientific evidence to the contrary. This is unfortunate because many people have limited time for exercise, and the time used for pre-exercise stretching could be better used for warm-up or regular exercise."

In a study done on marathon runners, researchers found that the runners who stretched statically during the warm-up actually had higher injury rates than the runners who didn't stretch. A logical reason for this is that the stretching group wasted their time doing static stretches rather than concentrating on movements that would gradually raise body temperature. Thus, their bodies were not warm enough when the race began.

Based on current research, the "right" way to warm up is to do low-intensity full body movement similar to your desired exercise or sport format for about 10-15 minutes. This satisfies the two requirements for an appropriate warm-up-increasing body temperature gradually and specifically "rehearsing" the body for the more vigorous movement coming.

Please note that it is only the benefit of static stretching during the warm-up that is being questioned. Based on available scientific evidence, static stretching after exercise is still considered a valid means of improving or maintaining flexibility to prevent injury. It is simply a question of timing.

Get a checkup before playing. It's a good idea to get a checkup before seriously getting into a sport like badminton.

A leisurely backyard game played on a Sunday afternoon by four relatively unfit players is not usually a problem. But playing three to six times a week with competitive opponents increases the risk of injury.

And if you think that only professional players are competitive, think again. Some of the most competitive players in any sport are those in office inter-department or subdivision tournaments when egos get the better of good judgment. Just like association or country club elections can be as dirty and intense as national elections, these small-time tournaments can be just as passionate as professional big-name events.

If you are over 40, go see a cardiologist and sports medicine doctor. Younger players can still benefit greatly from a visit to a sports medicine or orthopedic doctor. The doctor can tell you if you have a muscle imbalance between your quadriceps (front of the thigh) and hamstring (back of the thigh) that could predispose you to a knee injury. He can tell you if one leg is shorter than the other, which could lead to a back injury.

The time and money spent consulting with a sports medicine doctor will be far less than the time and money you will have to spend for physical therapy or surgery if you get injured.

Article was written by Tina Juan