GENDER DIFFERENCES IN GAME RESPONSES DURING BADMINTON MATCH PLAY JAIME FERNANDEZ-FERNANDEZ, 1 JOSE G. DE LA ALEJA TELLEZ, 2 MANUEL MOYA-RAMON, 3 DAVID CABELLO-MANRIQUE, 4,5 AND ALBERTO MENDEZ-VILLANUEVA 6 1 Department of Training and Exercise Science, Faculty of Sports Science, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany; 2 Policlinica Mapfre, Madrid, Spain; 3 Faculty of Physical Activity and Sports Sciences, Sports Research Centre, University Miguel Hernandez, Elche, Spain; 4 Department of Physical Education and Sport, University of Granada, Granada, Spain; 5 Spanish Badminton Federation (FESBA); and 6 Physiology Unit, Football Performance and Science Department, ASPIRE Academy of Sports Excellence, Doha, Qatar ABSTRACT Fernandez-Fernandez, J, de la Aleja Tellez, JG, Moya-Ramon, M, Cabello-Manrique, D, and Mendez-Villanueva, A. Gender differences in game responses during badminton match play. J Strength Cond Res 27(9): 2396–2404, 2013—The aim of this study was to evaluate possible gender differen- ces in match play activity pattern [rally duration, rest time between rallies, effective playing time, and strokes per- formed during a rally] and exercise intensity (heart rate [HR], blood lactate [La], and subjective ratings of perceived exertion [RPE]) during 9 simulated badminton matches in male (n = 8) and female (n = 8) elite junior (16.0 6 1.4 years) players. Results showed significant differences (all p , 0.05; effect size (ES) = 0.80–1.56) between male and female players in the activity pattern of match play, with male players engaged in longer rallies (6.8 6 4.8 vs. 5.7 6 3.1 seconds), executing more strokes per rally (6.4 6 4.8 vs. 4.7 6 2.8) and resting more between rallies (10.5 6 8.8 vs. 8.8 6 7.2 sec- onds) than female players. No clear differences (all p . 0.05; ES = 20.33 to 0.08) were observed between female or male players in average HR (174 6 7 vs. 170 6 9b$min 21 ), %HRmax (89.2 6 4.0% vs. 85.9 6 4.3%), La (2.5 6 1.3 vs. 3.2 6 1.8 mmol$L 21 ), and RPE values (14.2 6 1.9 vs. 14.6 6 1.8) during match play, although male players spent more time (moderate effect sizes) at intensities between 81 and 90% HRmax (35.3 6 17.9 vs. 25.3 6 13.6; p , 0.05; ES = 0.64) in the second game. There seemed to be a trend toward an increased playing intensity (i.e., higher HR, La, and RPE) from the first to the second game, highlighting the higher exercise intensity experienced during the last part of the match. The clear between-gender differences in activity patterns induced only slightly different physiological re- sponses. KEY WORDS males, females, activity profile, heart rate, blood lactate, ratings of perceived exertion INTRODUCTION S ince its inclusion as an official sport in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, badminton has increased in popularity worldwide. For badminton singles matches, the rules state that a match con- sists of the best of 3 games, with the first player scoring 21 points winning the game. When one side reaches 11 points, both players get a 60-second break and 2-minute break between games (1). As in other racket sports such as tennis, knowledge about the activity profile and physiologi- cal responses to match play is important for the design of effective training programs (18,31). Several studies have ana- lyzed the physical and physiological characteristics of the game mainly in male participants (6,14,15,20,24). Globally, these studies have described the game of badminton as an intermittent sport characterized by repetitive short periods of exercise (i.e., 1–9 seconds) and recovery (i.e., low-intensity activities as standing or walking for 6–15 seconds) inter- spersed with longer breaks in play (i.e., “time outs” of 120 seconds between games) (6). The physiological responses (i.e., exercise intensity) associated with these activity patterns have shown relatively high heart rate (HR) responses (i.e., average intensities around 80–90% of maximum HR [HRmax]), oxygen uptake (O 2 ) values around 70% of maxi- mum oxygen uptake (V _ O 2 max), and low to moderate blood lactate (La) values (up to 5 mmol$L 21 ) (6,15). Ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) is a valid measure of exercise mon- itoring and prescription due to the observed association between RPE and more objective physiological markers of intensity, such as HR, V _ O 2 , or La (2). For example, Mendez- Villanueva et al. (17) found that there were increases in RPE in response to increases in the duration of rallies (DR) or strokes per rally (SR) during an official tennis match play. Considering Address correspondence to Dr. Jaime Fernandez-Fernandez, jaime.fer- nandez-fernandez@rub.de. 27(9)/2396–2404 Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research Ó 2013 National Strength and Conditioning Association 2396 Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research the TM Copyright © National Strength and Conditioning Association Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.