JEDBURGH BADMINTON CLUB - ESTABLISHED 12TH DECEMBER 1974

COACHING YOUNG CHILDREN

Coaching young children can be a rich and satisfying experience. It is also a tremendous responsibility. The children being coached are the next generation of sports men and women. The attitudes they learn from coaching can affect every aspect of their lives. Coaching can help to give them confidence. If not done correctly, it can also undermine what little confidence they do have. Above all, it is important to remember the following:

• Children come first, winning comes second
• Sport should be fun
• Reward effort as well as achievement

Some people expect too much physically from youngsters. It is important to realise the following when dealing with children in sport:

• children do not tolerate exercise as well as adults and are much less aware of their own limits
• because children breathe more quickly than adults, they dehydrate more quickly, so children doing sport need to make sure they drink plenty of water

COACHING BEGINNERS

When Coaching new players, one approach to work on is getting them to make clears. The clear is the most fundamental shot in badminton. This shot consists of the basic over head movement and most importantly it consists of footwork and of course the correct grip. The clear is the building block for all the major movements in badminton i.e. wrist movement, arm rotation, shifting body weight and footwork. From the clear moving to playing drops and smashes is then an easy progression and beginners then have the ability to move opponents around the court and have fun playing a game!

Polishing the strokes can come later, what is very important to beginners is that they can have a rally. If at the end of the first coaching session you have 2 people who can play a clear to each other and have a very basic rally, their is a sense of achievement on their part which will only encourage them to continue in badminton.

Many say that you can't play badminton if you don't have good footwork and in an ideal world footwork and fitness training should be introduced at an early stage. Pushing fitness and footwork too early may deter some from continuing to play Badminton. Footwork training is necessary but try and vary it and make it fun and interesting if possible, make it into a game with points or something to achieve within the routine.

COACHING - OBSERVATION / WHAT TO DEVELOP:

• checking that correct grips are used
• working through existing strokes to achieve consistency and better performance
• add in new strokes
• correct footwork
• improve tactics
• advise on positioning
• condition games
• add deception to strokes

COACHING BOYS 'v' GIRLS

Could it be that girls have more trouble than boys when playing over head shots?

Most young boys have lots of experience throwing objects be it balls or stones and there is a possibility this makes it easier for them to play clears correctly as they have the basics on arm movement above their heads. We can all picture girls trying to throw a stone, its more of a lob than a powerful targeted whip of the arm (no offence girls).

For girls, teaching them the clear/smash/drop is problematic. I work around this by getting them practising throwing the shuttle. I have one person stand at the net and another at the back line. I have the person at the back line throw the shuttle as high as possible to the person at the net. I then have them to run to retrieve the shuttle and move back to the back line and repeat. This helps them get the footwork needed to move correctly. From this lesson they learn how to use their arm and feet correctly when making an overhead shot also they learn how to reach with a lunge (they have to lunge to retrieve shuttle from person at the net) and they learn how to move correctly back to make the next throw at the back of the court.

From this they now have a basis where I can get them to understand the footwork and the arm movement to making a clear effective. Sometimes coaching can get you down when you don't see any improvement in the players but stick with it. My favourite part of badminton now is seeing people I helped coach playing and enjoying the game I love. In any event... using encouraging words is important as well.

SPLITTING UP LARGE NUMBERS / ABILITIES

 
What happened is that everyone warms up together as a group. Once the warm up is over, the coach utilises the most experienced players into teaching the new kids how to hold their rackets, how to hit the shuttle properly, introduction to different strokes, backhands, forehands, all the basic shots in the game.

This way the most experienced players get a chance to actually coach themselves. Helps them build confidence, share their skills and gain some responsibility. But this is always done under the watchful eye of the assistant coach.

In the meantime the coach has some time to concentrate on a few of the intermediate players, possibly teaching them footwork, court positioning for doubles, tactics and strategy etc. All intermediates would take part in the same training.

With the intermediates set with their own training program the coach sets up the program for the most experienced, mainly focussing on individuals, usually they would play games and the coach would watch, take note and give advice on what they needed work on and so forth.

The assistant by this time would be watching over the young newbies play little games. All experienced players would be playing their own games at this point and no longer assisting the newbies.

So you have three groups be taught at the same time but on different levels. The only time you would have any group mix with the other is when the coach decides to use the more experienced player to assist in teaching the newcomers.

This worked well for us, usually we had in the region of 10-15 newcomers, 7 intermediates and 2-3 experienced players. Maximum of 25 players made up of kids and young adults. We also had 4 courts to play on so plenty of space.

FOR THE PLAYER - KEY POINTS TO REMEMBER

• Warm up - Always warm up and stretch before starting to play. Badminton is a very hard sport on the joints and muscles and long term injuries can be easily gained if the body is not prepared.
• Knock up with a purpose - When knocking up before playing a match you should use this time to practice your shots rather than tiring yourself out with some frantic singles. Get into a routine of clears, smash/blocks, slow drops, fast drops, drives, net kills and serves with your partner before playing.
• The serve - The serve is the most important shot in badminton. You can only score points on your serve so it's no good if it goes into the net or if high enough for an easy kill. This is often the most under practiced shot in badminton! Work on your tight short serve and you will win more games than you ever imagined.
• Maintain attack - The most effective way to play badminton is to be on the attack. This means hitting the shuttle downwards so it's below the height of the net when the opponent hits their return. This gives them less time to get to the shuttle and less opportunity to win the point from their return. Maintain the attack and you will win far more points than you lose.
• Racket carriage - As you move around the court have your racket held up and away from your body. This means you are ready to hit the shuttle early as you do not have to lift it from around your feet. You will also be able to react to fast shots coming towards you as your racket will already be up in preparation.
• Prepare for your shots - It is only possible to consistently hit good shots if you are in a good position to do so. Move to your shot quickly and maintain good balance as you strike the shuttle.
• Hit the shuttle early - If you strike the shuttle early you will give your opponents less time to recover from their previous shot. By striking early you will also give yourself a better chance to attack the shuttle downwards and win the point earlier.
• Recovery - After every shot return to your base position in preparation for all the possible shots by the opposition. Think to yourself 'do I know where they might return the shuttle?' and 'Can I get there easily and with balance to play my next shot?'

• when playing sides, the forehand player takes the middle court shots.
• never look behind to your partner when they are about to hit the bird in your direction
• call their shot so the racquets do not contact
• use protective eye wear if needed
• always stretch and warm up properly prior to practice, cool down later
• never walk onto another badminton court while a match is in progress
• while lunging for the bird, they need to land with their toe pointing in the direction of the lunge
• keep their racquet up in front of their face while they play the net in doubles