The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has sanctioned a research grant to Dr. Anil Ramachandran, an assistant professor in the Kannur University’s Department of Physical Education, to undertake studies related to the promotion and development of badminton.
The BWF’s grant of $5000 to Ramachandran will be for studying the metabolic and hormonal responses of badminton players and fluid and electrolyte status following matches.
A league for study
“I plan to work with junior-level Indian players, I will be selecting four to five leading players and they will be asked to play a sort of league event, just for the purpose of study because we will not be able to do it in an actual tournament situation,” said Ramachandran, who has a doctorate in physical education, on Tuesday.
“An invitation league will be organised and the players’ urine, blood and hormonal responses will be evaluated before and after matches. That way, we will be able to understand the metabolic hormonal demand and the recovery which is more important.”
The BWF started offering research grants in 2014 and Ramachandran, who is also a badminton coach who has moulded Kerala’s young talent like Treesa Jolly and Treesa Wilson, is the first Indian to be offered this grant, according to the Kerala Badminton Association.
Ramachandran had also presented two papers on sports psychology at the Olympic Games conference in Rio a few months ago and was the chief of the sports psychology panel during the 2015 National Games in Kerala.
“It was a different kind of experience at Rio. There, I felt that culture played a huge role in sport, the dance forms in Brazil, the body flexibility and strength of athletes there offered them a strong foundation in sport which we basically lack,” said Ramachandran.
