How to survive the 1st year at a Badminton University
Great preparation will give more enjoyment and success
The term is a short period of time, often only 10 weeks long,
but there will be plenty happening on and off the court
Have you read Part 1
… The University expects
… Sport / Study / Social
… The difference to expereince
… The smiles, tiredness, and illness
The workload will be different
The 1st Term will stress you!
It’s very easy to double the amount of physical training you will be doing.
I would expect that there will be at least 2 or 3 days a week when you be will be expected to do 2 sessions, either on the court or a court/gym combination.
You will also have the opportunity for individual on-court sessions plus a running or gym programme to follow.
Look at your weekly log now (are you using a training diary) and work out how many hours you are currently training.
Martyn Lewis the Badminton Director has shared this programme
When I spoke to Martyn about the programme, he asked me to remind you of the following.
- Each group can has a different session plans that will vary in content and intensity
- Everyone is expected to turn up on time and work hard
- Gym S&C work is required, to stay healthy and injury-free
- There are also individual or small group sessions on top of this plan for some players
- Nottingham University uses as many as 4-5 different coaches who are spread throughout the groups
Listen to Martyn Lewis, Nottingham University’s Badminton Performance Director
Hear what he has to say about University life for a Badminton player
Prepare your mind and take care of it
During the 1st Term, many people can feel overwhelmed
I recommend that you use your love of Badminton as an anchor. Something that feels familiar, brings you instant enjoyment and allows you to have a moment without too many new experiences filling your head.
So much will be different you may feel you have landed on a different planet. It is true to say that “Planet University” can really challenge you in ways you weren’t ready for.
Eating and sleeping will help
Yes, of course, this sounds obvious, but it’s very true.
Without enough sleep, your body and mind will feel stressed, be weaker and eventually cause you issues. Try to get a good 7 – 8 hrs sleep in the week, then sleep even more at the weekends.
Eat 3 to 5 times every day.
If you have increased your training it’s very important to keep fuelled. Learn how to prepare your meals in advance. Jump to point 4 below for suggestions on cooking, shopping and meal preparation.
Candle burning
There is a saying that you should never burn a candle from both ends.
Imagine how you’d feel if you went out most nights until 2 am then had early morning training from 7.30 or even 8.00 am. You will be expected to turn up for training and perform.
It’s very difficult, almost impossible to max out on these 3 : Study, Sport and Social.
However, it’s not impossible to do all 3 if you focus on 2 of them and allow the other to be a part of your Badminton University life.
It’s up to you to decide which of the 3 you will want to spend time, energy and money on!
3 Be sociable but stay realistic
Have you thought about how different life will be ?
During the 1st Term get to know your Teammates and be sociable with them.
You will get many opportunities to meet lots of people: those in the Badminton environment, on your course, in your accommodation hall and around campus.
My recommendation is to work hard at getting on with those in your immediate training group, 2 or 3 from your course and 2 or 3 from your accommodation.
If you are self-catering it is even more important to be sociable in your kitchen area.
Talk to the people you see on a daily basis.
it’s easy to try to talk with everyone, yet at the end of term 1, not have any close friends
Learn to string, cook, meal prep, wash
Become an expert at all 4 essential skills
Learn to string
If you are playing at least 4 times a week you know that you will break strings.
Learning to string will not only save you money (around £10 / restring) it will also ensure that your rackets are ready to play.
I’m sure that the stringers at your University will be busy and they can’t always be relied upon to get your racket back to you on time.
Buy a string machine before you go
You can find a new one (not electronic) for between £300-£400.
That’s only approximately 30 restrings before you break even. I guarantee that you will do that within the 1st year at University. If you do restring for your friends then you will recover your costs even faster.
If you don’t want to buy your own machine, then hopefully the University will have one for you to use
Prepare by taking a few 200m reels of your favourite string and a bag on new grommets
If you are reading this and your cant string, then learn how to,
it will save you £££££
Cooking
Can you cook?
I don’t mean just buying ready meals and using the oven or microwave!
Practice at home before you go, or if you are already at university buddy with someone who will teach you.
Use apps like Sorted. Their YouTube channel is fun and informatiove for the new student cook.
Meal prep
Why not buy a slow cooker and learn how to prep your meals for after training. Then you can walk in and start eating even at 10 pm at night.
Click on these images for recommendations and recipe ideas
Cook things in large batches and then freeze individual portions in your old Chinese take-a-way containers
Washing your kit
Another obvious thing to learn is how to do but it’s essential. Wash your kit every day or 2, don’t leave it a week as the smell will drive away all your friends.
Buy a space-saving clothes dryers and get into the habit of washing your kit late at night and drying it overnight.
Click on the image and go straight to Amazon and place your order for one of these compact dryers
Advice from others
Players who have experienced University badminton want you to know ...
- The secret to enjoying the first year is to take every new experience you can, make new friends, sleep, eat and smile.
- Phone home more than you think you should, at least twice a week
- They found it hard to balance studies with sporting commitments and ended up being snowed under with work!
- Wake up early and attend the morning sessions, the benefit was huge..
- Get a part-time coaching job, the money and experience really helped me!
- It took them a a while to understand the value of eating healthy food. Get into he habit of buying and eating healthy instead of buying McDonald’s and takeaways
- You must buy an airer, especially for the amount of kit you use, as you will have to wash regularly
- Gym strength training helpes reduyce injuries
Only afterwards did they realise how much they I enjoyed playing, studying and training.
They wished that they could do it all again
The essentials – alarm clock
Get an alarm clock and use it!
Waking up late and missing training is not acceptable.
Waking up 15 minutes before training is also not a great idea. The result is often feeling ill during the session or throwing up!
You can also use it for those essential afternoon naps. Yes, I am recommending that you learn to sleep for 30-40 mins in the afternoons but remember to wake up.
Relying on your phone’s alarm is often not enough.
Take a look at this monster vibrating alarm. It’s not only loud but it can vibrate through your mattress! It comes with a recommendation from someone who likes his bed ?
Please share with someone you know who is at a Badminton University now
Maybe there will be some advice here to help them
Send me a question
I’m always grateful if you have read this far.
If there is anything that you have read that has helped or that you disagree with, then please send me an email.
I promise to read all your comments
It would be great to hear from you contact@badmintonandy.com
