Linda Zetchiri

BWF Player Profile: Linda Zechiri

Linda is a talented 20-year old national badminton player from Bulgaria. After five very successful years in Denmark she got a bad knee injury and came back to her homeland. A broken piece of knee cartilage was removed through surgery in October 2006. During the next seven months she had had hard moments trying to recover her knee and continue playing. Looking for a performance coach, she finally met me on June 2nd, 2007.

June 2007

Her athletic condition was unsatisfactory. Her body fat was 20%.

   Date      Weight    Lean Mass    Fat Mass    Fat %
2007-06-04    63kg      50.5kg       12.5kg     19.8%

We started with high intense weight training and a low-carb high-fat diet. She had never seriously trained with free weights before and learning the proper lifting form was important. But the most important was to find the right way to start loading her injured knee. The functionally strong muscles take up the load and unload the joint Ignoring this basic law of athletism, many players get injured sooner or later.

July

Online remote training Bulgaria-Malaysia.

August

Dynamic markers after three months of free weights strength training:

Standing jump   Vertical jump    Jump across   Med-ball throw
   +21cm            +5cm            +14cm          +25cm

September

After four months of proper training and nutrition her results was much better. She lost 4% of body fat and even gained a half kilo lean body mass

   Date      Weight    Lean Mass    Fat Mass    Fat %
2007-07-12   62.0kg     50.2kg       11.8kg     19.0%
2007-08-28   61.5kg     51.0kg       10.5kg     17.0%
2007-09-26   60.5kg     50.8kg        9.7kg     16.0%

October

Dynamic and ballistic drills introduction. Volume increase for better strength endurance.

Gained fat mass during 5 weeks of traveling across Europe and bad nutrition. Not good for relative strength and more weight on the injured knee. She needs to be more responsible.

   Date      Weight    Lean Mass    Fat Mass    Fat %
2007-10-06   63.5kg     51.2kg       12.3kg     19.3%

November

Resisted dynamic training introduction. Footwork modifications and improvements.

December

Reached very good level of leg strength in both legs Sets of weighted lunges at 60 kg.
Six months ago, doctors (as usual) recommended no weight training. They just don't want to take responsibility. They don't know how to work for health. Muscle atrophy will not help or heal anyone. My job is to take responsibility. Today, Linda's injured knee is stronger and more protected than ever

January 2008

Plyometric drills introduction. Reached very good level of upper body and core strength

Future plans

Running drills introduction.