Body pain, often considered as an early sign of injury in young players, warrants thorough study. This study aimed to examine the distribution of badminton-related pain and prevalence in pre-adolescent and adolescent badminton players. Profiles of badminton-related pain were surveyed using a questionnaire among 366 pre-adolescent and adolescent badminton players aged 7–12 years. The distribution of badminton-related pain was described, and the pain incidence was calculated. Proportions of pain per 1000-training-hour exposures were the main outcome measures. The analysis considered various age groups (7–8, 9–10, and 11–12 years) and years of badminton experience (≤2, 2–3, and > 3 years). In total, 554 cases of badminton-related pain were reported. The ankle was the most common site, followed by knee, plantar, shoulder, and lower back. The overall pain rate per 1000-training-hour exposure was 3.06. The 11–12-year-old group showed the highest pain rate, significantly greater than the 7–8-year-old group and the 9–10-year-old group. Additionally, the prevalence of pain exhibited an increasing trend with age. Finally, regardless of the age groups, participants with 2–3 years of badminton experience had the highest pain rate. These findings might help inform targeted interventions to reduce the high prevalence of pain in various body regions across pre-adolescent and adolescent badminton players.

Improving the understanding of shoulder function for badminton players would develop injury preventive programs. However, no studies on shoulder function reference parameters of badminton players when controlling for age and sex have been found. To examine the differences in shoulder function between elementary school-age badminton players and university badminton players using shoulder range of motion. Cross-sectional study. Testing at elementary school and university. 67 players (7-12 year-old players and 18-22 year-old players) without shoulder injury experience. Shoulder range of motion (ROM) included internal rotation (IR), external rotation (ER), and total ROM (TROM). Significant differences in shoulder IR of both sides (dominant: 97.67° vs 77.78°, p < 0.001; nondominant:104.70° vs 88.89°, p < 0.001), dominant ER (126.30° vs 115.98°, p = 0.013), TROM of both sides (dominant: 222.97° vs 193.76°, p < 0.001; nondominant: 222.90° vs 200.10°, p = 0.001), and TROM loss (-0.06° vs 6.34°, p = 0.047) existed between elementary school-age and university players. Significant differences in IR of both sides existed between male elementary school-age and university players (dominant: 98.38° vs 72.50°, p < 0.001; nondominant: 106.72° vs 83.99°, p < 0.001) as well as in female players (dominant: 95.25° vs 82.84°, p = 0.007; nondominant: 103.01° vs 93.57°, p = 0.035). Additionally, significant differences in IR of both sides (dominant: 72.50° vs 82.84°, p = 0.016; nondominant: 83.99° vs 93.57°, p = 0.012) and TROM of both sides (dominant: 188.24° vs 199.05°, p = 0.025; nondominant: 192.43° vs 207.44°, p = 0.002) existed between male and female university players. Compared with university badminton players, elementary school-age badminton players showed significantly greater shoulder IR and TROM of both sides and dominant ER while significantly smaller TROM loss. However, regardless of sex, no significant differences of bilateral deficit for glenohumeral rotation existed between elementary school-age and university badminton players.