I have a question which I am not really sure how to put into writing, I will try however... n.b. I am concerned that what follows is completly unintelligible, if so just tell me and I will try and explain it a bit better!

The badminton season is fast approaching and it looks as though I will be playing in a much higher division this year which is great but I am a bit worried that my fitness isn't quite upto it. The issue is that I need to be able to run around a badminton court for a couple of hours and at the end still have the energy to smash and play properly. I would guess that at the moment I would be pretty much spent by the end of a two hour match, I think that I need to just step it up a little bit, normally I would start running a bit more but I really can't at the moment [I get shooting pains through my ankle whenever I plant my foot if I try] so I need something else to do which will help just get me a bit fitter. I have been using cross trainers a bit but after about 40 mins of reasonably high intensity work I am really really bored! I can go swimming but I never fell as though I am really getting a good work out ... probably because my technique is awful! I could (and probably should start cycling a bit more and may give that a shot this weekend but again it is starting to get cold and I am a big wuss!) So I am looking for suggestions for something else I could try which would help lift my fitness a little.

i think you have all the ideas that will work best. swimming and cycling will be low impact. you can get a little mechanism to train indoors with your regular bike, or you can hit the fitness center for the exercycles. another option, use the eliptical machines for "running." personally, i hate them, but that's me. they work and they're no impact.

Yeah I agree about the eliptical machines, I might try to do a couple of spin classes each week at the gym, that sould help and I would probably have enough energy left over to go and swim or do something else.