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11:21 am
February 15, 2011
Offline
Term
It’s a shame you no longer enjoy this great game. I understand, as I went through a period where I had enough. I think it was due to years of giving to others and needed a break from the huge commitment a coach has to make to players. My time away from the game made me a better coach because of the other things I did to fill my time.
The difficulty with the human psyche is that we are all very good at the patterns of behaviour we have adopted. For instance, there are people who have a positive outlook on life and others with a negative outlook e.g. the glass is half full or half empty. But, we can all change the way we think and therefore feel. We learn to think negatively by association and it always seems easier to enhance the negative rather than reduce it down.
As a player, this means that a few bad shots can suddenly mean “I’m playing awful tonight and shouldn’t have bothered going on court.” A few shots like this shouldn’t cause such a huge negative response but we allow it to happen and have trained ourselves to perform this task with remarkable speed and ease.
What we should be thinking is that we have given a few opportunities to our opponents through loose play, moreso through lack of concentration or trying to play too tight and kill the rally when it wasn’t the right time. Hey, now we just made a few incorrect choices and we can do something about it – take your time, see the rally through and wait for the right opportunity.
As you can see, that’s a different mindset altogether.
What some players do not realise is that what they say to themselves. Whether playing sport or at any time, this has a profound effect on the way they feel and the actions they take. You really do need to listen to what you say to yourself and be ready to counter negative speak and say, “no I don’t accept that any more, it’s not true.”
Remember that if you are negative, then your body releases chemicals that act as “downers.” Good, positive comments release chemicals that work as uppers – we’ve all experienced both of these. I know which I prefer.
So your job is to remain buoyant, even when staring at defeat in a game. It keeps your brain working positively and means you have the best chance of thinking your way out of trouble. All you need to do is ask the right question.
Paul
2:15 pm
May 25, 2010
Offline Term, that does seem quite extreme for a reason to give up badminton to be fair. But then fair play for stopping if you are no longer enjoying it. I don't know if I have come across that I get really angry with myself as I don't, it's just a little thing on the back of my mind. As a person I don't seem to accept positive comments from people, often question why are they being so nice to me?! lol
But I do still enjoy my badminton and I certainly don't let it stop me from enjoying playing. I guess I just have a secret desire that maybe if I had taken up the game sooner or more competitively then I would be a better player than I am now. But if I am honest, like Paul said, no badminton player plays without thinking “could do this better or that”, I think this what drives us on to do better or try and do better. And to be brutelly honest, I am always going to be handicaped compared to normal players as hearing the shuttle and what not helps their game.
I have been trying to be more positive on court and whilst I haven't improved a lot in terms of play, it has help a bit. I have been mainly using the mental thinking of playing each point in the same frame of mind regardless of the score and forget any mistakes from the last point and start afresh with the next point. I think this has helped me a bit, especially in singles (which I haven't played for a while).
I think you should try playing again Term, if I had given up badminton, I wouldn't visit this website any more, so maybe you haven't given up as much as think you have. Why not play again and take some of Paul's advice? I think you should try playing for a different club or against different people. Maybe it was that group of people that made you feel like this? Or maybe you played too often? Just my 2p, just don't like to think that your not playing any more, I play once a week (matches aside) and can't wait to play the next week, whilst part of me would like to play more, another part doesn't as this makes me enjoy it even more.
Badminton Gives Me A Purpose In Life – To Serve Others
I'd Rather Be Playing Badminton…………..
5:53 pm
May 6, 2010
Offline I often have problems with my mental approach to games. I haven't played any tournaments so most of mine are limited to club sessions and league matches. I have two main clubs that I attend and both are very different to each other in approach and ability of players. One of the clubs is informal and more recreational badminton of which I am pretty much the best player there. The other club is much more organised with much better players, very good youth players and good experienced older players. In this club I am amongst the worst of the players there.
I am having coaching which is going well but I am finding it hard to put it in to effect when I go to the more advanced club. I get very frustrated with myself and often feel embaressed by my performance. At times I feel that my allotted position is to be beaten by the good players and can't seem to get myself out of this circle of self doubt. I want to improve my game and I know I can play pretty ok but don't seem to be able to put it in to action. I often play a bad shot, misstime a shot or just not get that crisp hit and find myself losing confidence from it rapidly. I find it very hard to just relax and play the game that I am capable of doing. It's like I am trying very hard but getting nowhere.
I would really like to put a stop this and get my game going. Any help on this would be appreciated. 
8:26 pm
March 2, 2010
Offline Cybershuttle, I'll give it my best shot, since you seem to be in a position I have been in for a while. I think it all started to turn around when a famous British coach called me (
), and we talked about an hour. He gave me a few tips, and I started working. As in many sports, there's a part exact science, and a part talent (or whatever you want to call it). I mean, give 2 people 50h the same training, and they should reach the same game level. We all know this will not be true. For the science part, it is simple; start working, and working hard is about the only way to make progress.
His tips calmed me down, and until now, I haven't played a match full of nerves and tension. This started (I think) a bit of a chain reaction. Since then, I'm able to adjust my game throughout the match. I even started thinking LOL ! I make less mistakes. Not that all of a sudden I win every single match, but I don't go down in the way I did before. This elevated my confidence. Ever since I'm eager to play better. So I started running (I hate running, but I still do it), this elevated my physical level. Makes it rare that I miss a shuttle because I'm too late on the right spot. Last club night, I played against my usual (better) MD partner with a friend of mine (since we will play a tournament in december !). We knew we couldn't win, but we gave it our best shot. The opposition was too strong for us, but we did alright (til in the second game my friend sprained his ankle 
, hope he'll be okay for the tournament).
One of the first things I learned from this forum is the importance of the serve (high or low, backhand and forehand). I started training my serve in the club. Other members looked at me like I was mental. Ever since I have one of the best serves in the club. How do I know ? Better players really love to attack a lousy serve. They never attack mine.
So what's my point ? Stop, and get back to the basics. Maybe skip a few club nights (but no more than a few). I stopped playing club matches, and with another friend started playing singles, but only rallies. No matches, we just played rallies, focusing on one or a few aspects of the game. So actually this was a kind of self training ourselves. I think one trigger can start the ball running, thing is to find that trigger.
I wish you all the best, and hope you can turn things around. Because in the end you're the only one that has to do it. And now I'm off running my km's. ED
3:17 pm
May 6, 2010
Offline Thanks for the feedback Ed. Good to know other people are in my position and have managed to turn it all around. I will endevour to do so myself and will take on your suggestions. I may even try a bit of running too! I have been threatening to do it for a while. Good luck in your tournament in December.
11:38 pm
February 15, 2011
Offline Cybershuttle
This is an interesting topic and has some simple solutions.
Thanks Ed for the nod in my direction. It really was a pleasure chatting with you and helping you move on. Overall, I didn't do much – you did it. I was just the catalyst.
Cybershuttle, you are moving between two clubs and two extremes and expecting to bridge the gap way to quickly, hence the reason you are putting pressure on yourself and getting frustrated.
What you should do is work on one aspect of your game at the better standard club and another at the lower standard club e.g. I would work on serve or return of serve in the higher standard because as you improve you can easily see that the better players are having more difficulty playing against you for the opening of the game.
I would then work on footwork or one particular shot in open play where you are under less pressure, but work to perform it has perfect as you can. It doesn't matter whether the shuttle is returned because you are trying to improve the shot or technique. Better players return the shuttle more often so your improved technique may only mean they have to return a superior shot compared to a weaker one.
I hope this makes sense. With better players always expect the shuttle to be returned. You'll find the game is about mistakes rather than winners. With lower standard the game has a greater percentage of winners because players do not have the skills to return the shuttle. As you would expect at this level there are also a lot of mistakes too.
Let me know what you think.
Paul
11:38 pm
February 15, 2011
Offline Cybershuttle
This is an interesting topic and has some simple solutions.
Thanks Ed for the nod in my direction. It really was a pleasure chatting with you and helping you move on. Overall, I didn't do much – you did it. I was just the catalyst.
Cybershuttle, you are moving between two clubs and two extremes and expecting to bridge the gap way to quickly, hence the reason you are putting pressure on yourself and getting frustrated.
What you should do is work on one aspect of your game at the better standard club and another at the lower standard club e.g. I would work on serve or return of serve in the higher standard because as you improve you can easily see that the better players are having more difficulty playing against you for the opening of the game.
I would then work on footwork or one particular shot in open play where you are under less pressure, but work to perform it has perfect as you can. It doesn't matter whether the shuttle is returned because you are trying to improve the shot or technique. Better players return the shuttle more often so your improved technique may only mean they have to return a superior shot compared to a weaker one.
I hope this makes sense. With better players always expect the shuttle to be returned. You'll find the game is about mistakes rather than winners. With lower standard the game has a greater percentage of winners because players do not have the skills to return the shuttle. As you would expect at this level there are also a lot of mistakes too.
Let me know what you think.
Paul
11:00 pm
March 2, 2010
Offline Just for info, and since this covers a bit the subject of this thread; here are my results of this first season part:
A while after Paul's phone call, he invited people via the forum at the beginning of the season they would mail him their goals (since one of his articles couvered this topic). I had little motivation at that time, thought about it for a long time, but never the less I took the chance. He's a coach, I was scared he would be thinking: “Is that it ?”. I stated to win half of all my matches. Goals need to be realistic, I learned from Paul's article.
This is where Paul's tips brought me: I played 16 matches in the past 4 months, and won 8 of them. In the last 2 interclubs I won all 4 of my matches. In MD, I won one with my son (age 14), won 2 with a rising star in our club (age 11 !) and one with the guy I'll be playing a tournament shortly. In MX, 2 of the 4 I won with a senior lady in our club. Since I have deep respect for her, let's just say she was born 5 years after the end of the 2nd WW. So on our side of the court, the sum of our ages was over 100 (yes, nothing wrong with your eyes !). The summed ages at the other side of the court was about 30.
This is a bit of a (modest) succes story, but this didn't all change between a sunday and a monday. The process was slow, and Paul's tips simply started this process. I felt more and more relaxed playing competition. This made me focus more, making less mistakes, making me more confident, focussing even more, …
Thing is to start, and hold on. Get the possitive things out of what you do, and hang on to them. The physical part is easy, just start working. The mental part is difficult. If you're in a dip and cannot get out, you need this trigger to turn the tide. In my situation, my nerves blocked about all I did. So handling this first was the way to go. Where this all got me ? I met my goals, what more can I say.
All the best, ED
12:38 pm
May 6, 2010
Offline Thank you for the feedback everyone. Getting the mental attitude right is pretty difficult, having the right degree of focus without becoming over-tense or anxious. I am keen to improve and sometimes I think too keen if that makes any sense…? I think I put more pressure on myself than I should and indeed sometimes forget to simply enjoy the game. I will concentrate on the serve and return (especially the return as it is often a weak spot for me which of course can set the rally up pretty badly to start with.)
I had a bit of a mixed bag at the latest league match. Started poorly again, bah! Although it didn't help that the team we were playing fielded a div 1 standard player in our div 4 match! Couldn't do much against this chap and lost my way a bit. The rest of the match went better and my partner and I were pretty competitive in the next mixed set. In the mens level were did fairly well in game 2 by having the plan of simply keeping the shuttle away from the good player. Just got pipped 20-22 so I was glad I was able to get my composure back for these games.
9:44 pm
February 15, 2011
Offline Cybershuttle
I can't remember where you live but perhaps we need a talk like I had with Ed. I'm confident I can help solve the mental aspects of your game so the offer is there if you need it.
Paul
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