For visible results, do consider alternative clubs or coaches to welcome fresh perspective in players’ development. Often after many years of over reliance in a single academy especially with large monotonous group trainings, talents are not harvested enough and players get lost in their comfort zone as in pink curve (see Graph 1) depicting diminishing returns over time. If you see players are not progressing, bored and uninterested, its time to consider alternative clubs or coaches. I have seen players performance shot up in a matter of weeks upon switching clubs - graphically represented by the green curves in Graph 1. It's like their ability having been supressed all those years are now suddenly being released in the new club.
Some clubs that I know of offers multi-faceted training programme. Apart from physical fitness, it is balanced with court drills, multi shuttle feeds and sparring. They include gym sessions for strength building, aquatic sessions for recovery, occasional track sprinting sessions for speed and response and even non-badminton activities eg. Futsal games, group outings for movies, theme parks etc. Occasionally they also organise friendly matches with other clubs and state badminton associations.
Kiera’s base club currently emphasises on perfecting core badminton techniques in wrist skill, shuttle control, contact point, shuttle speed etc. However, I noticed this club fell short in translating these skills learnt into match results. Furthermore, the absence of her coaches’ involvement in her competitive development in the State BA had compelled me to rethink about the adequacy of single club training.
In order to follow a state player’s progress, club coaches should be aware of the dates of major state tournaments ie. State Closed, State Selection & Ranking, Junior Elite Tournaments 1, 2 & Final and Interstate Team Events in the annual calendar. I think clubs should tailor their training programme around these important tournament dates with the objective to prepare players to peak at the right time. This methodical approach to training is called Periodization is not new in sports science. It is applicable in all types of competitive sports. Non state players can hitch a ride on this programme with no detrimental effect in their development. Sadly, many clubs do not adopt the Periodization training method. These are explained in full details in You Tube if interested.
GRAPH 2 : Example of Periodization Calender.
Over the years, I came across parents lament their children are unable to produce the performance that they are capable of in the tournaments. They are only able to perform 70% to 80% of their capability. Understandably, players suffer the jitters when they are put on stage under pressure to perform. Fortunately, there are ways to mitigate this and possibly perform above 100% of their capability in tournaments if the player prepare their pre-tournament really well.
In Graph 3, depicts a typical player’s actual performance (undulating in orange) vs the desired training level to attain (in dark blue diagonal line). That is why on some days, ( as per orange line ) player will play well (highs) and on some days, play below par (lows) due to various reasons afflicting their emotions. As long as the player continues to train regularly and recovers well, their performance level will progress over time as shown by the upward blue slope. If the player is prepared well, it is possible to peak them at the right time (eg. for Tournament 1 & Tournament 2) and in some rare occasions, they can perform above their capability (as shown by orange line above the blue line).
One of the essential preparations before a match is a 30mins to 45mins court time for movement and rhythmic drills, strategy rehersals, stroke practises and short sparrings. I normally find an external court nearby. The trick is to time it in such a way that after this warm up session, we have just enough time for a clothes change, journey to the tournament venue and just in time 30mins before her match.
