Welcome to the series that gives you access to expert opinions and views on all things badminton
We asked a group of experts (coaches and players) …….
"What skills are you trying to improve with your players?",
"What skills are you trying to improve as a coach yourself?"
Ensure you have all strokes : especially a backhand
I am always working on ensuring that my players have a complete set of strokes.
When I played, I didn’t have a backhand until very late in my career, but that’s not a bad thing as I had to have ok footwork to go around the head.
Oh, and fitness, you can never be fit enough.
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My current coaching ...
- The first aspect would be the ability to focus on learning being a long-term thing over a short-term thing. When I'm coaching, worrying less about the player 'getting it' in the session, as it is about them 'getting it' over a number of sessions.
- I'm always thinking about when to change the constraints. If the practice/game isn't working and the player isn't getting the exposure to the area/not representative enough then being able to change the constraints (with the player's help) sooner, but then not just changing it because they are struggling initially with it, in that instance waiting to see if they can solve the problem
- How to communicate of my thoughts on coaching and practice (design), in 1-1 I am fine but put me in a group and I am like a rabbit in headlights.
- I have a tendency to want players to like me which can cause me to be too nice, I need to get a better balance between that and when to be stricter on needing them to do things.
- For me and players, focusing on development rather than ego growth - this is so hard but trying to focus more on learning and not on making yourself look better, and this is the hardest thing.
I am not very good at accepting that I can’t do something
So the biggest challenge is actually learning new shots or skills for me because you have to fail before you get it right.
One of the hardest skills I think to grasp is moving fast but hitting soft because your mind is telling you, ‘Move faster, hit harder,’ so as an attacking player, this is something I am constantly trying to balance.
Becoming comfortable & understand how to learn
I honestly think that learning new movements, patterns, shots or whatever, in itself is a skill.
A skill that can be honed for efficiency and speed of change. I think it’s a coach’s job to know how each player learns best (visually, verbally, physically etc) and adapt their practice to that. And from the athlete’s side, being open to change, being comfortable with being uncomfortable for a little while, and trial and error are all super important.
So in short, learning is the biggest skill I am constantly trying to improve on
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5 things I'm currently working on
- The ability to focus on learning being a long-term thing over a short-term thing. Worrying less about the player 'getting it' in the session, as it is about them 'getting it' over a number of sessions.
- When to change the constraints. If the practice/game isn't working and the player isn't getting the exposure to the area/not representative enough then being able to change the constraints (with the player's help) sooner, but then not just changing it because they are struggling initially with it, in that instance waiting to see if they can solve the problem.
- Communication of my thoughts on coaching in groups, in 1-1 I am fine but put me in a group and I am like a rabbit in headlights.
- I have a tendency to want players to like me which can cause me to be too nice, I need to get a better balance between that and when to be stricter on needing them to do things.
- For me and players, focus on development rather than ego growth - this is so hard but trying to focus more on learning and not on making yourself look better, is the hardest thing.
Encouraging players to improve their strengths
Strengthening your killer shot is essential, ensure you have one, two or even three.
It comes with lots of practice, timing, fine adjustment, and understanding of the skill, position and execution of the shot.
I’m passionate about helping players understand how to practice and work with their coach. It’s a skill I’m always working to develop.
Stop Drops!
We’re both spending some time working on our stop drops!
The best ’stop droppers’ in the world – Watanabe, Siwei, Jordan – all make it look effortless. But it definitely isn’t!
Getting the racket head speed and threatening position perfectly timed to that ’stop’ to deceive your opponents at the very last millisecond of your action is extremely difficult. It’s a shot we’re both still working on 🙂
Defence is another area where we’re always trying to slightly adapt our technique for the better!
Everything has to get better
When I was playing it was essential to develop more winning shots – spin nets, cross net, slicing etc.
Even though I’ve stopped playing, I still have the same mentality and it drives me to look at every aspect of whatever the next challenge is.
I analyse what skills I need, create a plan to achieve that, and then apply myself as if it was a competition. The motivation to improve and look at all aspects was developed from my playing days and still stays with me.
Ensuring that I become a better coach
I’ve realised that being patient and looking more long-term at players’ development is a skill that is important to understand and master.
How to balance this with making sure short-term improvements take place is the challenge.
Coaches need the ability to look long-term and short-term. Not to concentrate or fixate solely on one or the other.
This is one element of long-term success when working with a player.
Thanks to everyone for their time and considered thoughts
If you’d like to join this expert team and start sharing your knowledge, send me a message and I’ll send you some questions
It would be great to hear from you
Email : contact@badmintonandy.com
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