THE BOOK Most people, at whatever level they play, want to become better badminton players. Fitness training is one method of improving performance, and this book provides information on training for all players, regardless of their level of skill. Most important, Get Fit for Badminton will help the player to select the type of training programme best suited to his needs. The player who `trains' regularly by running and doing flexibility exercises, judging his fitness by how he feels and looks, will find that this approach is only satisfactory up to a point; it does not guarantee that the most efficient training methods and means of evaluating them are being used. This book, written by two specialists in physical education, one a top coach in the sport and the other a leading sports scientist, encourages both player and coach to design training programmes based upon sound scientific principles which will provide a framework for any form of training they wish to adopt and will enable them to make an accurate assessment of its value. Note: Since 1980 when the book was first published there have been many developments in fitness training some of which are included in Excelling at Badminton. However this book provides a basic introduction to the fitness demands of badminton and how to get fit for badminton. THE AUTHORS (in 1980 when book first published) JAKE DOWNEY is a Senior Lecturer in the departments of Physical Education and Dance at the Hertfordshire College of Higher Education, and is at present completing an M.Phil. degree in the philosophy of education at London University. He has a wide playing experience of most games but in recent years has concentrated on badminton in which he is an international coach. He has coached many of England's top players, including Paul Whetnall, Ray Stevens, Margaret Lockwood and Gillian Gilks, as well as the Uber Cup team of 1972-5- Jake has just written and presented a series of programmes on badminton for the BBC and is well known as a writer on the game. He has published two other books in this field with Pelham Books, Better Badminton for All and Badminton for Schools, and is a regular contributor to journals. DAVID BRODIE has taught at Abingdon School, Berkshire, and St Peter's College, Saltley, Birmingham, and is currently a Senior Lecturer at the Carnegie School of Physical Education and Human Movement Studies, Leeds Polytechnic. His previous post was that of Senior Research Fellow at the Carnegie School, where he worked on a variety of research projects involving schoolchildren and international sportsmen and sports-women. This work included the physiological screening of England badminton international Ray Stevens, a project which revealed the need for this book. David's current research interests are sports science technology, paediatric work physiology and resource materials for the teaching of fitness in schools. He is married and has two children aged six and three. .