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Kids these days!
June 29, 2013
11:56 pm
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Paul Stewart
Cheshire, UK
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So many good points raised in these posts.

 

Sadly we cannot compare the kids of today to how we were in our day. Without going into detail about what we had versus what is available today, I beleive we have become accustomed to be attentin deficit because there are too many immediate distractions in our world.

 

We now live in a world of immediacy and therefore the approach to training has to be different. The road to excellence is considerably harder in some respects because of the constant distraction from all around us. That said kids can be motivated but you need to choose the motivators very carefully. In some respects badminton players on the world circuit today mean nothing to these kids. They haven't seen them, don't understand how to get on the path to achieve what they have and perhaps aren't that bothered.

 

It seems that many are comfortable being accepted by their crowd rather than aspring to be a great and have the awe and appreciation of a much larger audience.

 

If we are develop the players of tomorrow, perhaps even going onto international level and representing England or team GB, then our approach has to be almost radical to attract and retain their attention.

 

Paul

June 30, 2013
9:03 am
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John
Southampton
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Paul,

I agree. I wish I had the answer to your last point. I am sure Badminton England are working hard but I can't help feeling something is missing – most schools don't have any badminton facilities so there isn't much opportunity for them to get introduced to the game. And, of course, it has to compete with the other higher profile sports such as football which can be played more or less anywhere without specialist equipment.

John

June 30, 2013
10:41 am
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Dobbie98
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Think Badminton England should push harder for tv coverage. I mean darts gets more air time. If the tv was to do an exposé on the England players training with a England coach explaining the reason for what & why they do it. Show games at normal pace then slow it down discussing the tactics of a game, where the game was lost & won. I would ask Gillian Clark to present the program.

June 30, 2013
10:59 am
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Roger
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A really interesting posts guys.

On the subject of heroes in our sport. When God was a lad and I started playing Badminton I couldn't get enough of the grainy videos of  Liem Swie King and Morten Frost. Although my standard fell woefully short, watching them play was inspirational.

Just recently I was in conversation with a young County Premier player, with aspirations of an England place, and I ask him what he thought of the Super Series coverage. To my surprise he said that he never watches badminton and is only interested in playing. I was too dumbfounded to continue.I still can't get my head round how he hopes to be a top player without seeing top players in action and learning from them.Be interested in your thoughts.     

June 30, 2013
11:21 am
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Paul Stewart
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In answer to the last three posts…

 

badminton is still played in schools, albeit there is very little teacher education to help the kids learn more and progress faster. There is no connectivity from schools to clubs to Performance Centres, so basically this is the weak link.

 

Sports in general are being given more money from the Government for schools activities and I know Badminton England have emailed coaches asking for help to deliver the program.

 

I haven't the time to work in schools and I would think this applies to many coaches.

 

There is so much badminton available online and the cost of TV screening isn't cheap.

 

Roger – I am similar to you. I had videos of Liem Swie King and Morten Frost, plus many other badminton greats who the kids of today will never have heard of. When I was coaching kids they enjoyed borrowing my videos to watch badminton, but there again we didn't have the distraction of PS3, X-Box and the internet then.

 

It seems that kids have lost the ability or the desire to learn from excellence. Many want us coaches to wave a magic wand and all will be good. That said, it's just the same in badminton clubs with senior players. Whenever I am invited to a club, there is always a number of players who only want to play games, or a core of players who would consider they are too good to practice serving.

 

So, whilst we blame the kids for poor attitude, I think we need to look at other generations because kids have learnt this attitude. From an early age I have taught my children about doing a job properly. They use the internet to learn how to play their WII games better so they are at least doing what I did in badminton to excel, without knowing it.

 

We know there is a basic lethargy in many adults and a lack of caring attitude. Where this has developed from is difficult to pinpoint. However, I do feel the kids are getting the blame for something which is a lot more widespread.

 

Paul

June 30, 2013
2:09 pm
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RobHarrison
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Getting badminton into schools is difficult for a couple of reasons I think. I was talking to a couple of teacher friends of mine, both of which happen to be level 1 qualified coaches. (although they don't play) Neither of them would try to teach badminton in a PE lesson for reasons of basic logistics. Average PE class = 30 pupils, 1 teacher, 4 courts. If you happen to have 30 servicable rackets you can only play half court doubles, and the teacher would spend the whole lesson trying to make sure no one hits anyone else round the head with a racket rather than teaching. With a lesson like this everyone has to be kept involved all the time. It's far easier to play quick games of football.

Now an experienced coach may know ways round this, but your average teacher won't. This leaves after school clubs. I was lucky in that I had two keen teachers in my school who ran after school classes straight after school, they were popular and it was convenient for parents to pick their kids up sometime after 5. My Liverpool club runs a session in the school we play at, but due to work comitments the session is 6-7, therefore kids go home and have to come back, this reduces numbers as unless they live right by the school parents aren't willing / haven't the time to run their kids back for this session.

 

ps, John, I like that quote Cool

June 30, 2013
2:40 pm
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Roger
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Paul

Good to go down memory lane and remember the greats. With reference to school badminton as you know, but others may not, BE are starting an initiative called Smash Up. This is aimed at secondary kids and, as far as I know, involves them turning up for a social knock about with a background of chart music.There would be very little coaching as the sessions are run by “Activators” not L2 coaches. BE is under pressure to get more “bums on seats” or miss out on funding.

Now I'm all for keeping up with the times but personally I think that this is quantity over quality and undermining the value of good coaching. As a champion of best coaching practice I would be interested in your views and, of cause, the rest of the forum.

 

Roger

June 30, 2013
4:08 pm
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Dobbie98
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Yes tv is expensive, but I feel to get the sport a bigger audience & give newcomers a better understanding of the game, the skill of the game that might be missed watching online where tv can slow down a game & give a break down of what’s occurring the tactics involved. They could explain the rules, discuss the difference between rackets, plastic shuttles & feather.

July 3, 2013
11:01 am
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Paul Stewart
Cheshire, UK
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Sadly, TV will not lead as the educator in this sport as there isn't the audience to warrant the spend. It's almost a chicken and egg siutation but the reality is a business decision is made.

 

It's hard to know exactly what needs to be done because the truth is, there are too few coaches for the programs BE would like to run and it always boils down to the same people volunteering. There's a key word too as so few programs build in sufficient payment to coaches.

 

I don't have the stats to hand, but if we took the number of people who had passed level 1 coach award and had them working on court, we wouldn't have the problem. However many seem to take the award and then disappear into a black hole, never to be seen again. Amazing.

 

If only 20% of these carried on their education to level 2 then BE would be in a far superior position. Sadly the issues we have discussed about kids is mirrored by adults too.

 

Paul 

July 3, 2013
12:09 pm
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Roger
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The majority of participants on my L1 course were teachers or student teachers. They just wanted to add L1 Badminton to their CV along with swimming,football tennis etc. They had no intention in taking L2, maybe because they where funded for L1 and had to pay for L2. I have to say that on my recent L2 their were 14 people and we all said that our main aim was to bring more children and adults into the sport

At the moment you only need a very basic knowledge of the game to pass L1 and passing only allows you to assist a more senior coach. The L2 course is a lot tougher and a huge jump from L1 and that may put people off,that and the cost The course cost is  £380, plus travelling or even overnight stays. Where I live, in the Midlands, there are no L1 or L2 courses listed up to April 2014.

My idea would be to enable suitable L1 holders to be able to coach children and or beginners on their own. This would be by either making the L1 harder or adding an extra day's training for interested L1 coaches.

Be interested in anybody's thoughts, particularly from abroad and if your country has different coach training methods.  

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