Examining internal and external load relationships in singles and doubles badminton games among male university players

This study examined the relationship between internal and external load parameters in singles and doubles badminton games to identify key external load indicators for training monitoring. Seventeen male collegiate badminton players wore a chest-mounted heart rate monitor (Polar H10) and a local positioning system (LPS) with an inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor (Goalgo T1) on the non-racket shoulder during simulated singles and doubles badminton games. In singles games, significant correlations were observed between Banister's TRIMP and total distance covered (TDC) (r = 0.49, p < .05), and between TRIMP and low-intensity distance covered (LI-DC) (r = 0.61, p < .05). The session-RPE (sRPE) also demonstrated significant correlations with TDC (r = 0.64, p < .01) and LI-DC (r = 0.66, p < .05). In doubles games, TRIMP and sRPE showed significant correlations with triaxial Player Load (PLTotal) (r = 0.58, p < .05; r = 0.65, p < .01). These findings suggest that TDC is a key external load indicator for singles, while PLTotal better reflects movement demands in doubles. Coaches and athletes can utilise external load indicators (TDC and PLTotal) measured by LPS and IMU for personalised load monitoring and training adjustments to optimise performance and reduce injury risk.