Does Badminton Increase Height? (3 Steps To Grow Taller)

When I was in fourth and fifth grade, I was always one of the tallest kids in class. However, my growth slowed down when I went to high school, and I was on the average side of height. This wasn’t fun for me, and I always wished to grow just a few inches taller.

At this point, I was already playing racket sports, including badminton, and started to wonder whether badminton could increase my height as there was so much reaching and jumping.

Badminton can increase height given that you are in your developing phase until 18 to 20 years old. Exercise is a powerful physiological stimulus for growth hormones. Therefore badminton will significantly increase the production of growth hormone, which will make you slightly taller.

That being said, badminton can and probably will increase your height at a young age. However, after your growth phase is finished, there is nothing that can make you grow. If you want to take advantage of slight growth hacks such as sports like badminton, you need to do it during development.

In addition to exercise such as badminton, there are other things that you can do to further aid in growing taller. However, 80% of your height is determined by DNA, so even if you could maximize your growth hormone production with things such as exercise, it won’t make you grow 1.6ft (50cm) taller.

Also, to maximize the effect, you will likely need to implement these things as soon as possible. The best results will be if parents encourage the child to exercise, eat well, and sleep enough before figuring this out by themselves.

Anyways, please take a look at how you can grow taller by implementing things in your life.

How to Grow Taller? (During Development)

Many things affect your growth; however, there are three cornerstones to growing taller during development: Exercise, Nutrition, and Sleep. These three things greatly affect how tall you will be and your overall feel for life and well-being. Note that growth usually stops between the ages of 18 to 20 because growth plates harden or close, resulting in that your bones won’t grow either.

1. Exercise

Exercise is vital if you want to grow as tall as you can be, in addition, to feeling good, having a good posture (feel and look taller), sleep better, and have a better appetite.

Exercise is important in terms of growing taller because doing sports such as badminton and many others, the pituitary gland releases growth hormone for the bones that are growing, which will support and stimulate the bones increasing length and thickness.

In addition, your bones will become stronger, healthier, and denser.

According to NuBest, the amount of generated growth hormones is three times more with the children or teenagers that exercise when compared to children that don’t.

2. Nutrition

Nutrition is a very important part of your growth as it is your body’s fuel. This means that you need to have variety on your plate, especially protein, vitamins, and calcium that the body needs to grow.

Below I have listed some great foods to consume to get the most important nutrients and vitamins.

Protein	Calcium	Vitamins
Meat	Cheese	Vitamin D – Potatoes
Seafood	Yogurt	Vitamin D – Citrus Fruits
Poultry	Milk (Cow or Soy)	Vitamin B1 – Rice
Legumes	Salmon	Vitamin B1 – Peanuts
Eggs	Chia seeds	Vitamin B2 – Green Vegetables
Soy producs (tofu, tempeh)	Broccoli	Vitamin B2 – Milk
Seeds	Oranges	Vitamin C – Citrus Fruits

3. Sleep

The last of the three cornerstones of growth is sleep. Did you know that most of the growth hormone is normally released during sleep? This tells you that sleep is extremely important in terms of growth, and the lack of it means that you will not grow as tall as you can or could have. The lack of sleep will also affect many, many other things than growth.

A great study made by CDC.gov, there is a specific amount of optimal sleep time depending on one’s age. So, take a look at the recommended sleep time according to your age and make sure you get that if you want to grow as tall as possible and feel as good as possible.

Age	Recommended Hours of Sleep
4-12 months	12-16 (including nap time)
1-2 years	11-14 (including nap time)
3-5 years	10-13 (including nap time)
6-12 years	9-12
13-18 years	8-10
18+ years	7+

If you are experiencing sleeping trouble, I highly encourage that you follow some of the world’s accepted rules of thumb for falling to sleep quickly and getting a good night’s sleep. Here are some of the following:

• Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day
• Exercise regurarly
• Don’t watch screens before bedtime, and remove them from your bedroom.
• Make sure that your bedroom isn’t flooded with light or noise. (My favorite Blackout Courtains)
• Avoid large meals, caffeine, and alcohol before bedtime
• Don’t use tobacco at all (many other benefits as well)

What Affects Height?

DNA, Gener, and Hormones are the three things that affect height. Even tho you can positively influence your growth and development with exercise, nutrition, and sleep, most of your growth is already decided by the things below.

1. DNA

DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) is a molecule that carries the genetic instructions of all living things, organisms, and even viruses. This includes us, human beings.

DNA determines the development, growth, functioning, and reproduction, which can’t be altered, generally speaking. When talking about DNA, scientists estimate that around 80% of our height is determined by the DNA that we have inherited from our parents and so on.

That sounds simple, but it isn’t because there are over 700 identified genes that affect our height, and much more to be expected to be found.

So, if you are dissatisfied or satisfied with your height, it’s mostly bad or good luck. Still, there is 20% left that can be affected by exercise, nutrition, and sleep.

Two other things can’t be altered, which take us to gender.

2. Gender

As you probably have noticed, men are taller than women when talking about the average height. Oh, and men also tend to grow a slightly longer amount of time than women.

According to CDC data, the average men height is 5feet 9 inches (1.8m), and women’s height is 5feer 4inches (1.65m).

Men are often taller than women because their growth spurt comes at the end of puberty, approximately two years later. This gives men two years of extra normal growth time before the final growth spurt.

3. Hormones

The human body generates hormones that instruct the growth plates to produce more bone, which will get longer and thicker. These hormones are:

• Growth hormones: Growth hormones are released in the pituitary gland and are the most important hormone for growth. A genetic disorder called growth hormone deficiency can slow down the production of growth hormones, resulting in slower growth. For example, Lionel Messi was diagnosed with it.
• Sex hormones: Testosterone and estrogen are important during puberty for growth. Naturally, men have more testosterone, and women have more estrogen, even tho both hormones are fouind within both genders.
• Thyroid hormones: The thyroid gland relases these hormones that affect your growth, energy levels, weight regulation, and internal temperature.

Can You Grow Taller By Improving Posture?

Even when your bones stop growing at the age of 18 to 20, all hope is not lost in terms of growth.

Your spine is a very complex bone that consists of 33 vertebrae interlocking each other. Lucky for us, the space between the vertebrae can be expanded, which will make you (very slightly) taller. However, if your posture is bad, increasing the space between the vertebrae can look like a lot of added height which is very good news.

Well, how do you improve your posture? When badminton is considered, simply playing the sport will do its trick. Especially when you return a hit shuttle, which will make your reach to the shuttle, making your spine extend and stretch. This will ultimately lead to increased space between the vertebrae and make you slightly taller.

Stretching is also a great method to increase the space between your vertebrae and improve your posture. Check out this post from Healthline, and you will get access to 12 videos and stretches that will improve your posture.

Does Height Matter In Badminton?

Height matters in badminton because short players can move faster on the court, making it easier to react on fast strikes. On the other hand, tall players have the advantage of reaching the shuttle from where they stand, which will save them energy as they aren’t required to move so much.

How does this matter in terms of success in badminton? Well, it doesen’t because if you examine the world’s best badminton players, you can see that there are people below and over the average height.

However, if you were to be 4.5ft (140cm) or 7ft tall, you could find yourself struggling as these heights greatly vary from the average which your opponent would likely be.

I do not know badminton players that possess such heights, but I can imagine that it wouldn’t be easy regardless of very short or tall height.