Personal Experience with Feminising HRT as a Transgender Badminton Player

First of all, I intend for this thread to be about my experience as a player. For discussions about regulations regarding transgender players, there already exists a thread.

Second, my experience coming out has been very pleasant. I have not had any negative experience with my team and the clubs I play at. When it comes to competition, I am continuing to play in the mens league, even though I present female. The league has been contacted and has said it shouldn’t be a problem.

I started hormone replacement therapy at the start of March 2024. At the time of this post I am 7+ months into HRT. I refrained from posting so far because I was not out socially (at least not on badminton circles), and this account is somewhat identifiable. However, literally earlier today I came out at the last place I hadn’t yet and so below are some video recordings from before I started HRT up to a few weeks ago at 7 months.

Sorry about the white walls. Also note that it is always the same opponent, because he records his games. I’m just lucky to play him for some of those. I’m wearing the red shirt.

Pre-HRT:

5 Months HRT:

7 Months HRT. Black shorts in this one.

The main difference compared to before is stamina. I feel like I have lost some speed of movement, but not a lot. I think my top speed is still pretty close to what it was, but the duration of how long I can play at that top speed is drastically diminished. If I could go full blast for 5-8 points before, now I can barely manage 1-2. This has had a drastic effect on how I play. Whereas before I was trying to outpace my opponent, now I’m trying to slow the game down so I can last till the end. I get tired much faster than before. While it is certain that I have lost muscle, I have also gained about 6 kilograms since March also due to HRT, so it is difficult to judge to what extent my stamina loss is due to muscle atrophy compared to just being heavier. Likely the 2 compound each other.

I don’t feel like I’ve lost much on full power shots. If I am on balance, and I have the time for the full movement, I’m hitting close to as hard as I did before. What is much diminished is short-hitting-action-power-shots. This is actually much more noticeable in doubles, but nearly all wrist-smashes (or however you want to call it), have been replaced with drops. I used to be very smash-happy, but now I’m smashing much less, only going for it if I’m in a good position.

Now that I cannot sustainably outpace my opponents (or even keep up in some instances), I have noticed that it is absolutely essential that I stay in control of the rally. Before, I could play with more abandon, playing very aggressive and not worrying about getting out of position or off balance, because I could mostly recover due to sheer physicality. Now, I cannot afford to lose my balance or get out of position because I will simply lose. Because I am forced to play slower, I am intently playing with smaller margins to prevent the opponent from gaining an advantage, and I feel like my shot quality has improved and has gotten more consistent. I’m also playing many more backhands compared to before, and my high backhand is definitely my most improved shot.

I’m playing my opponent’s back court more. I feel like if I stay in after a net shot to cover or attack my opponent’s return, I have more trouble covering the back court in the case of a lift (or at least don’t have enough time to have an advantage). And if I can’t stay in enough to gain an advantage, then I likely have better chances by putting pressure on my opponent’s back court. Similarly, I’ve switched almost exclusively to a high serve because it is easier to defend the return. I just have to worry about a possible smash, but in general my results with a high serve are better. I feel like against a player that plays aggressive off my short serve, I have trouble covering everything consistently.

My results haven’t changed too much. In general I am more reliant on my opponent to make mistakes. Before, I could force points off my opponents. If the score was tight, or I’m behind, I would just give more energy, play faster, play harder, and force the point. I cannot do that anymore, or at least not enough. Against certain players my results have suffered much more than against others. A certain older player has improve his scores against me significantly. He is very consistent and moves well. Before, I could simply outpace him for comfortable wins. Now, the scores are usually very close and I’m starting to lose to him sometimes. My results against the player in the videos actually haven’t suffered too much, if at all, since I’ve always relied on consistency to win against him. I actually won that last match (7monthsHRT). The game plan hasn’t changed; don’t let him smash and wait for mistakes, anything else I get by attacking is a bonus.

Anyway, that’s where I am right now. I feel that as my physical capability keeps declining, I will get to a point where I won’t be able to compensate for it. I’m pleasantly surprised by my continued consistent results, but I’m feeling more and more that I am less in control of the outcome of a match, and more at the mercy of my opponent’s form on the day.

If anyone has any advice regarding my specific situation, please share. If anyone has any questions about relevant things I failed to mention, please ask. I’d like to keep the focus mostly on the badminton aspect of my transition, but I will answer other questions so long as they are appropriate.

I will continue to post updates with videos as I acquire them, at least until I feel that my level has stabilized, which, according to the literature, should take between 1 and 2 years.