TRANSFORMATION PART 5

This is fifth and final part of the Transformation series.

D. Pre and Post match video reviews

When the tournament draw is out, we will be able to see who her opponents are. We will find videos (if available) to study her opponent’s game. Her coach can give pointers to strategize her game plan.

While in a match, Kiera wasn’t able to see herself how she played. With the video playback, she can see where she did good (reinforcement) and also where she could have done better (for improvements). Her coach can therefore, focus on areas that needed improvements.

After her match, we playback her match to analyse numerically by counting number of winners and errors. We discovered interesting statistics especially in doubles matches; who is playing well (low error counts + high winner counts) and who is having a bad day. The statistics doesn’t lie. One playing well doesn’t necessarily mean both will win the match. Both have to complement each other in the game. If a partner cannot compose her game temperament with high error counts, this will negate the winner counts and hence cost the match. More on this later.

E. Pre match warm ups on court

Often in the beginning of a tournament, especially first round matches scheduled early in the mornings, we can expect she may not be at her best. Kiera plays better when she has a pre match court warm ups just before her match. It is like she is playing her second set when she starts her match. Nothing too intense nor heavy, just variety of shuttle feeds movements to get her feel and rhythm going with the shuttle.

Usually if her match is in the later part of the day, we will look for nearby courts for this purpose. We time it just right after her court warm up, 30 – 45 mins before her match. It works well for her. Bigger international tournament venues have separate hall with additional courts for players to do warm ups. I see this in many western BWF super series tournament venues. This will definitely be helpful for the players.

However, if her match starts early in the morning, the best we can do is to do light drills, a day earlier. If she follows her club team for tournaments, her coaches will do some light workouts early, wherever they can find empty spaces near the hotel or court venue. Other than that, some rope skippings or hitting shuttle against the wall etc. will be helpful as well. That would be as best as can be done to prepare her warm-ups before her matches.

F. Mental Preparation and Visualisation

Perhaps one of the most important aspect but least “thought-up” is pre-match mental preparation. It may work differently for different players. Here are some but not exhaustive examples :

- Focus on tactical, strategies, executing quality of strokes and play. Playback previous videos that has, ie. winning rallies, winning game points etc.

- Have her to do mental visualisation, on court conditions, on previous matches that she did well, on specific rallies or moves/strokes which she played well and scored good points. This mental rehearsal I belief is a powerful tool to provide positive input into her sub-conscious mind. Hence boosting her confidence going into her match.

- Having positive conversations and steer away from discussions that are otherwise. Get 3rd party validation. The belief and encouragement from coaches will boost confidence.

- When ever she has the “jitters” spend time to do other like listening to music and watch movies to get her mind off the stress of the coming big match. However, this needs to be supervised not to overspend long screen time on her device.

G. Win Error Video Analysis

This is an interesting post mortem on how a player and opponent performs in a match. During her 2025 MSSM U15 doubles preparation, her club coach advised her to play a supporting role to her partner. He saw that her partner was strong in the front court and advice Kiera to play to her partner’s strong areas. When we did the post-match win error analysis, we were surprised that Kiera played better as a supporting role rather than the initiator. The initiator or lead attacker takes more risk and hence likely to commit more errors as well as (but not necessarily) more winners. However, a supporting role will have lesser winner count as well as lesser error count. Kiera normally takes the initiator role in most of her doubles match hence her error counts were high. In this case, she could contain her error count but at the same time, able to win some winners. So it provide more stability for the pair.

I urge the readers to try this method of post-match analysis because it will assist the player to understand better why he/she plays better and like-wise. Wish to know more, you may pm me or leave your contact below for me to reach you so as I can share it with you.

This is the end of the 5-part Transformation series sharing since part 1 back in May 2024. I am happy to hear any comments if any and learn from the readers experiences and sharings as well.

Thank you for reading.

Post Chengdu Trip Musings

The Badminton Asia U17 & U15 Junior Championship in Chengdu, China is an ideal reward / next destination international tournament for top achievers nationally (from the JET Finals / MSSM) because this is the highest continental level tournament for this junior age category. Therefore, BAM did good by sending selected top U15 & U17 juniors in the country to this event which is commendable and absolutely the right thing to do. All the other 15 Asian countries would have undergone the same process internally and therefore the final participation list would be considered the cream of the Asian Juniors (if not the world), which makes this event so prestigious.

Be that as it may, there were some areas in the approach to this event I feel ought to be thought over for further improvement.

I can see the intentions of ABM is to measure where our selected juniors stand in the midst of the top juniors from other Asian countries and rightfully so, as this is an ideal platform for this purpose. However, I still think we could give our juniors a little more mileage going into this event with better preparation, provide more motivation and develop camaraderie in the group.

As I understand, the mix of our juniors comprises of ABM juniors and non-ABM juniors. It is visibly apparent there is a divide within the team. I would have preferred that the senior players (those whom have been to this event before the previous years) to guide the first time participants and mentor them, sharing experiences on court conditions, managing the cold climate, their playing experiences offering tips and tactical tricks etc.

I am not sure if there were any communications of expectations and targets to be achieved but I think this has not been emphasised enough. Nevertheless, Malaysia fared 1 better this year with 2 semifinalist in BSU17 (Lucas Lee) & BSU15 (Muhd Noor Hanafi) compared to last year with 1 semifinalist in XDU15 (Wong Tze Han / Chloe Leong) and 1 quarterfinalist in BSU15 (Ng Hao Tong).

Strangely, our contingent comprised of 44 strong players both girls and boys but were not represented in mixed doubles. Its really baffling.

Prior to the trip, there were minimal or no centralised training planned. I think I can understand the constraints ABM were facing with shortages of coaches, tight schedules due to the demands of other international events to attend. As the result, they had to make good with whatever resources they have. This year, they had to call in other state BA coaches to assist in this trip. It was just a shame, had we been more cohesive as a team (like preparing for a team event), we could bring the best out of our juniors and perhaps see more podium winners.

Finally, I feel there were lack of vested interest from the top management, understandably since it is only U15 & U17 junior event with little stake in it to be justified for top attention. Nevertheless, at the very least, there should be an individual players review / post mortem on their performances. After-all these were supposed to be the top juniors from our country.

A check in Wikipedia from the history of this event, we can see scant Malaysian juniors Champions but sadly most have transitioned to the senior team poorly :

2011 – Boys U15 doubles : Tan Jia Wei / Ooi Zi Heng

2014 – Boys U15 doubles : Chia Wei Jie / Chang Yee Jun

2017 – Boys U15 doubles : Fazriq Razif / Ong Zhen Yi

2018 – Boys U15 doubles : Fazriq Razif / Justin Hoh

2018 – Boys U17 doubles : Demond Anthony Samin / Junaidi Arif

2019 – Boys U17 singles : Justin Hoh

Already we can see other Asian juniors development has clearly surpass us since this Competition started in 2006. Note that we have non girls Champion todate. I have compiled the statistics below for your views and leave the conclusions to you.

History of Champions count (by country) for all categories from 2006 to 2025 :

Number of Champions by country U15

Korea – 20

Japan – 14

Thailand – 13

Indonesia – 12

China – 7

India – 5

Malaysia – 4

Taiwan – 4

Hong Kong – 3

Singapore – 1



Number of Champions by country U17

Thailand – 17

Korea – 15

China – 14

Indonesia – 12

Taiwan – 9

Japan – 8

India – 3

Malaysia – 2

Hong Kong -2

Singapore - 2

BAC RANKING

Here is BAC GSU17 Ranking as at 26 Oct 2025 :

We are eternally grateful to the generosity of SKBA (and all the co-sponsors) for their Sports Kemp Scholarship which enable Kiera to achieve this results in Badminton Asia Continental level. We hope this will give her the impetus and catapult her further in the international scene next year.

CONTINENTAL JUNIOR BADMINTON CHAMPIONSHIPS

Here are additional information about Continental Junior Badminton Championship we ought to acquaint ourselves with.

1) As far as Junior tournaments are concern, BWF only recognise “World Junior Championship” (Individual and team events) for the U19 age group. For me, this is the biggest junior badminton tournament at world stage before the senior or professional level.

2) For younger age-groups such as U17 & U15 these are handled at continental or regional level rather than at global world-championship level. There are five continental junior badminton championships for U17 & U15. They are :

a) Asia - Badminton Asia Confederation (BAC),

b) Europe – Badminton Europe Confederation (BEC),

c) Pan America – Badminton Pan AM Confederation (BPAC),

d) Africa – Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA),

e) Oceania- Badminton Oceania.

3) The Continental Junior Badminton Championships ranking points are not part of the official BWF junior world ranking (U19) system at all. Therefore it does not contribute to BWF World Junior (U19) Ranking points. At this moment, there is no global unified BWF ranking for U17 & U15, only at continental level.

4) Each continent maintains their own internal or development ranking points system for U17, & U15 levels. Each continent defines its own formula ranking points awards. Points cannot be transferred across continents or to BWF rankings. The total ranking is based on player’s best 6 results over 12 months.

5) The ranking points are used by national federation to seed junior players U17 & U15 or select them for continental tournaments and higher tier (U19) tournaments.

6) Players turning 18 – 19yo resets into the BWF Junior Ranking when they participates in BWF U19 tournaments. The ranking for U19 takes priority over the U17 & U15 ranking points.

Among the 5 continental junior championships, Badminton Asia’s system is the most competitive and heavily weighted. Even though the ranking scales are not universal, Badminton Asia U17 & U15 Championships are regarded as the strongest and highest level continental tournament for youth worldwide. Why?

a) Depth and density of talent. Top badminton nations (China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, India) compete here.

b) High level of play. Often equivalent to or higher than the U19 continental level in other regions.

c) National importance. Most Asian countries use results here for their national team selection, development and fundings/sponsorships.

d) Ranking weight (internal). Many national federations treat Asia U17 & U15 rankings higher than any European or Pan Am youth tournaments.

e) As far as the highest Badminton Championship Event by age groupings are as follows :

- BWF World Championship – Senior Level

- BWF World Junior Championship – U19 (Age 18yo and below)

- Badminton Asia Junior U17 & U15 Championships – Age 16yo and below & age 14yo and below.

This is to say if your child is selected to play in the Badminton Asia Junior U17 & U15 Championships, this is equivalent to World Championship level for this junior age group.

Junior Badminton Gland Slam Tournaments

For me in Malaysia, there are four Grand Slam Badminton Junior Tournaments in the year which I belief every budding junior badminton player should attempt to aim for in their calendar. Why these four Tournaments? Primarily, these four tournaments involves nation-wide grass roots participation. Secondly, these four major tournaments are supported, endorsed, funded and/or collaborated with either BAM or KPM with significant reward and recognition.

1. Junior Elite Tournament Finals : U12, U14, U16 – organised by BAM under Kementerian Belia dan Sukan (KBS)

Comprising of 15 State Badminton Associations, selected state players require BAM ID to participate in the preliminary JET 1 & JET2 (over two legs/locations) broken into 3 groups (of 5 states each). Top 6 singles and top 4 doubles in each group qualifies for the Finals. In the Finals, selected ABM players were also invited to participate. The quarter-finalist in singles and semi-finalist in doubles will be invited for Talent Identification Development Programme –TID (pre-cursor to join the Akademi Badminton Malaysia - ABM). Moreover, selected players from here were also invited to represent the country to play in Badminton Asia U17 and U15 Junior Championship in Chengdu, China. (Refer to The Chengdu Connection post)

2. Majlis Sukan Sekolah-Sekolah Malaysia – MSSM : U12, U15, U18 – organised by Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia (KPM)

The Malaysian School Sports Council is a body under the Malaysian Ministry of Education, organizes and coordinates annual sports competitions (for 24 types of sports, including badminton) for primary and secondary school students across Malaysia. It aims to develop physical and mental growth through sports as part of the extra-curricular under the school’s curriculum. KPM reported over 19,000 students in all public and private Schools registered under KPM participated in this programme in 2025. Its starts from inter-school competitions via MSS Daerah, inter-district competitions via MSS Negeri and finally inter-state via MSS Malaysia. Selected athletes with potential including the Champions in MSSM in the respective age categories will be invited to the Bukit Jalil Sports School which develops national athletes for high-level competitions (including the Olympics) by offering a balanced education with high-performance sports training with the objective to produce world-class athletes.

3. Allianz Junior Championship Finals : U13, U15 – sponsored by Allianz Corporate Social Responsibility Programme (CSR).

Commencing in 2022 after COVID, it quickly gain popularity due to the elaborate 10 qualifying round competitions held in all major cities in Peninsular, Sabah and Sarawak throughout the year, where participants participates for free. It is considered one of the largest junior tournaments in Malaysia, attracting thousands of players nationwide. The finalist in each qualifying round will qualify for the Grand Finals in Kuala Lumpur. Winners at the qualifying rounds receive cash prizes and a special grant to help cover future competition expenses, equipment, and coaching. The grand finals also offer substantial cash prizes for top performers.

4. Astro Kem Badminton : U12 – sponsored by Astro Corporate Social Responsibility Programme (Astro Kasih Foundation).

Launched in 2012, Astro Kem Badminton is a grassroots badminton development programme aims to discover, train and nurture young shuttlers to become the next champions. Children of ages 10 to 12 years old are eligible to participate for free in any one of the 4 badminton camps held in major cities. They are assessed and filtered by appointed professional coaches. The best players will be selected to take part in the Kuala Lumpur Selection Camp and will further filter to the top 10+ boy and 10+ girls. The selected players will then have the opportunity to go for the all-expense paid trip overseas where they will attend a week long special training tour programme with world renowned coaches.

Which Junior has the best record for the above three Grand Slam? This excludes Astro Kem Badminton because it only confined to U12 and do not have ranking by competition matches. Instead the organizers select a group of players for the finals.

Only Low Zi Yu (Johor) achieved the coveted 3 Grand Slam titles not once but twice in 2022 and 2023. Second place falls to Chong Wan Xin (Pahang) in 2003 who became champion for both JET Finals and MSSM, but fell short as runner-up in Allianz. Here are the top 5 with detailed records of their achievements :

1. Low Zi Yu (Johor)

2022 – Champion GSU12 JET Finals, Champion GSU12 MSSM, Champion GSU13 Allianz

2023 – Champion GSU14 JET Finals, Champion GSU15 MSSM, Champion GSU13 Allianz

2024 –Champion GSU15 MSSM, Champion GSU15 Allianz

2025 – Champion GSU16 JET Finals, Champion GSU15 MSSM

2. Chong Wan XIn (Pahang)

2022 – Runners-up GSU12 MSSM

2023 – Champion GSU12 JET Finals, Champion GSU12 MSSM, Runners-up GSU13 Allianz

2024 – Champion GSU14 JET Finals, Runners-up GSU13 Allianz

2025 – Champion GSU14 JET Finals

3. Razeeq Daniel (Selangor)

2022 – Champion BSU15 MSSM, Champion BSU15 Allianz

2023 – Runners-up BSU16 JET Finals, Champion BSU18 MSSM

2024 –Runners-up BSU18 MSSM

4. Dania Sofia (Johor)

2022 – Champion GSU15 MSSM

2023 – Champion GSU16 JET Finals, Champion GSU18 MSSM

5. Khashah (Kelantan)

2022 – Runners-up BSU12 JET Finals, Champion BSU12 MSSM, Runners-up BSU13 Allianz

2023 – Champion BSU14 JET Finals

2024 – Champion BSU14 JET Finals

Tangkis 2030

Tangkis 2030 is a strategic 5-year roadmap launched by the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) under its president Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz, with the aim of returning Malaysia to being a powerhouse in international badminton.

Here are the key components and goals of Tangkis 2030:

🎯 Main Goals

1. Win the Thomas Cup in 2026 — Malaysia has been chasing this since last winning in 1992.

2. Secure our first ever Olympic gold in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

3. Produce world No. 1 players in at least 3 out of 5 event categories (i.e. men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, mixed doubles)

🛠 Strategic Focus Areas

Grassroots & Early Recruitment: Lowering the age of recruitment of junior players. Engaging more with schools, state associations, clubs, and academies to build a strong base of talent.

Athlete Welfare and Support: Improving conditions for players, including better nutrition, increased allowances, and better infrastructure. For example, the food budget per athlete at the academy is being doubled.

Holistic Ecosystem Development: Not just focusing on elite players but the whole badminton ecosystem — coaches, training programmes, sports science, branding, marketing, finance, etc.

Engagement of Experts & Notable Figures: For example, Lee Chong Wei was brought in as an independent council member to help with athlete performance & welfare. Also bringing in experts in legal, sponsors, media branding etc.

🧭 Why It Matters / Context

Malaysia has long had a strong badminton tradition but has been facing stiff competition internationally. The “Tangkis 2030” plan is seen as a holistic response to that, trying to modernize and rebuild not just for immediate results but to ensure sustainability over years.

Recent performances (e.g. breakthrough at the BWF World Championships, women’s & mixed doubles pairs reaching finals) have been used as indicators that the direction is promising.

The Chengdu Connection

Here’s a full explanation of why BAM sends its National Junior players every year to the Badminton Asia U15 & U17 Championships in Chengdu, China. It’s actually a strategic move by the BAM.

1. Official Continental Championship (Badminton Asia Sanctioned)

The BAT Yonex U15 & U17 Asia Junior Championships are the official continental event organized by Badminton Asia, the governing body for Asia. Every member nation — including Malaysia is required and expected to send representatives to this annual championship. It’s equivalent to a “continental championship” for junior players, just like the Asian Games or Thomas Cup for seniors. So BAM sends their players because it’s an official international duty under the Badminton Asia calendar.

2. Exposure and Experience for Young Players

The event gathers the best U15 and U17 players from all Asian countries — China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Hong Kong China, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, UAE and Chinese Taipei.

BAM sees it as a key platform for player development, giving juniors:

- International match experience.

- Exposure to different playing styles.

- Mental and physical preparation for future world-level tournaments.

This helps BAM evaluate young talents for future national teams and BWF World Junior Championships.

3. Benchmarking Against Asia’s Strongest Players

Asia dominates world badminton — so the U15 and U17 Asia Championships are the toughest junior events in the world. Competing here allows Malaysian coaches to measure how far behind or ahead their players are compared to:

- China’s national juniors,

- Indonesia’s PBSI youth squad,

- Korea’s and Taiwan's school system, Thailand's and India's club system etc.

It’s an important performance benchmark for Malaysia’s junior centralised development program.

4. Part of BAM’s Talent Development Pathway.

The players BAM sends to Chengdu are usually from:

- Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS),

- State Badminton Association programs (like Penang BA, Johor BA, Selangor BA), or

- The National Junior Elite squad (ABM)

These players are carefully chosen through Afffin 100PLUS National Junior Circuits, National Championships, and internal trials. The Chengdu event is a final test and exposure stage before moving into the World Junior Championship (U19) level.

5. Centralized and Stable Venue

Since Chengdu has hosted the event consistently since around 2022–2023, it provides:

- World class badminton facility,

- Predictable travel arrangements,

- Cost efficient infrastructures,

- Reliable tournament management.

BAM benefits from this consistency and reduced logistical uncertainty, so Malaysia continues to send teams every year.

6. Building International Relations

Sending teams yearly helps BAM maintain good relations with Badminton Asia, China Badminton Association, and other federations.

This cooperation can lead to:

- Joint training camps,

- Exchange programs,

- Invitations to friendly tournaments.

✅ In summary:

BAM sends Malaysian junior players every year to the Asia U15 & U17 Championships in Chengdu because it’s an official continental event, gives vital international exposure, serves as a talent benchmark, and supports long-term player development under a stable and strategic hosting setup.

Strategy vs Low Zi Yu

Kiera's main adversary now remains the formidable Johorean, Low Zi yu whom had a 6-0 head-to-head win record against Kiera todate. Despite her diagnosed with hyperthyriodism in May 2024, she still competed actively (particularly in doubles) representing the Country in International Junior Tournaments. Kiera was able to take one set of her in three of the matches while the rest were straight game loses. The best opportunity to turn the tide around woud have been the recent 2025 U12 & U16 Interstate Teamevent SEL vs JHR Group Stage but it wasnt to be. She will continue to find ways to build her game further and bridge the gap down and hopefully one day soon, she will be able to get her first win. Here are some of the footage, coach has given some good pointers how to play against Zi Yu.

The following are matches vs Low Zi Yu

1) 19th Nov 2023, Allianz Finals Semi-Finals lost 14-21, 15-21

2) 9th June 2025, JET Finals Preliminary Group A lost 21-14, 10-21, 15-21

3) 14th June 2025, JET Finals Final lost 5-21, 19-21

4) 23rd Aug 2025, Petronas Interstate U18 Team Event lost 12-21, 17-21

5) 17th Sept 2025, MSSM Final lost 21-17, 11-21, 12-21

6) 29th Oct 2025, U12&U16 Interstate Teamevent lost 22-20, 18-21, 18-21

First MSSM

In Sept 2025, Kiera made it to MSSM GSU15 finals for the first time in three years. Be that as it may, she would face-off with the talented Low Zi Yu again whom had 4 - 0 head-to-head lead over Kiera todate. Here is a flash back on how she did it...

2025 Tournaments : Play 60, Win 49, Lost 11 (Win ratio 82%)

Kiera's Biggest Achievement Todate

10 years ago, Kiera’s brother, Aaron won a bronze medal for NATIONAL JUNIOR BADMINTON GRAND PRIX FINALS 2015 in Kedah for BSU12 category, the first in PJba history.

The saying goes achieving good results in tournaments is great… but achieving good results in big tournaments is where it matters… will take the players a long way in their badminton journey.

It took 10 years of waiting for Aaron’s little sister to surpass his feat with a silver medal in the recent Affin 100Plus JET Finals 2025 in Kelantan for GSU16 category.

Watch her here…

This results has pushed her to the second spot in GSU15 National Junior (unofficial) Ranking.

TRANSFORMATION Part 4

3) Performance Knowledge
This is a wide topic to cover but I will just share the ones that has worked for us.

A. Periodization

The original theory upon which periodization has been built since 1964 has evolved. Now it is acceptably defined as a systematic approach to training and planning for the athlete to reach their peak at a specific, pre-determined time. If it is planned well, the athlete can be at his best or ideally be on top form at the intended tournament. After they have peaked, it is only natural that they will dip in their performance. An athlete cannot be at their peak all season. If there are no major tournaments (off season), there is no necessity for the athlete to be at their peak. Therefore, during this period, the player can plan for proper rest for recovery, healing and also pursue other hobbies and interests – just to get their mind off badminton.

In a year, I will plan out Kiera’s major tournament dates for the next 12 months en route to her major tournament dates ie. JET 1, 2 & Finals, Overseas Tournaments, MSSD/S/M, Interstate Team Event etc. These are the target dates to peak. Once these dates are marked out, we can now start to plan backwards, how and what to train in a purposeful and systematic way by working together with her coaches.

The impactful way I feel is to have her coach addressing what is lacking in her game and work on these short comings. Playback from video recordings of her games will help by identifying areas for correction. Training now will be more purposeful. It is best to have a coach that shares the same ideals, that knows her well personally and plan a personalised training programme holistically.

We also complemented her trainings with physical fitness exercises and gymn for strength and conditioning. Periodically, we will arrange sparring sessions and particularly, participate in private tournaments (when available). We belief this will solidify the training process because players’ mentality are different when playing in tournaments with a stake on.

The table below is an example of Kiera’s 2023 calender showing the dates of her major tournaments that were intended for her to peak.

Annual Calander

Note that August month was earmarked for rest and active recovery. The intention was when she returns to pre-season in October, she comes back afresh with renewed energy and hopefully with high enthusiasm. However, it may take some time for an athlete to pick up mentally and physically to the level where they were before the break. So it will require some lead time to build up to form again. That is why the yearly periodization calendar helps with her badminton performance planning.

B. Supercompensation

Supercompensation is a sports science conception that completing a progressive intense training (loading) phase followed by a recovery period leads to better physiological adaptations (e.g., strength/skill/speed gain). It’s based on the idea that higher stress levels take a more significant toll on the body, triggering it to adapt better and effectively handle similar stress level in future.

The video here will do a better job in explaining what this means. There are many materials in the internet you can learn by using this keyword to search.

https://shorturl.at/uwvVp

The question is, what is the ideal frequency to attain Supercompensation? Coaches has to be mindful not all athletes possess the same tolerance level. There are many factors that determine the tolerance level of an athlete. Some will achieve supercompensation earlier and some may not. Some may suffer muscles soreness / discomfort and thus will require longer recovery time. The idea is to progressively lengthen and / or adding the intensity (loading) more than the previous session, within an athlete’s tolerance level, followed by a recovery session to achieve supercompensation. That is why a well structured training program with this principle in mind, may assist the athlete to achieve this benefit. The conceptual graph below sums it up.

I have also shared some of this content in my previous post here so as I do not have to repeat them here.

C. Performance Measurement

When it comes to performance improvement, the best way to know whether an athlete is improving is to measure and analyse their performance. Only then a coach will understand an athlete’s abilities, capability and exposes room for improvement.

For 100m sprinters as an example, their goal is to break their personal best. They can also see other records achieved like the World record and will be able to know the gap and how much more to bridge. Without a stopwatch measurement, the athlete will not be able to see their performance objectively.

Where there is a benchmark to achieve, like the Beep test, coaches can set benchmark scores for athletes to pass certain required fitness level. Eg. > score of 10 for girls and > score of 12 for boys. Also the examiner / coach will also know the extend of fitness optimisation each athlete has when they achieve higher then these benchmark.

When it comes to measuring game performance, we use an index system with a base match vs Danish when she was 12yo. Although she lost in that match however she reported that she played one of her best match ever. Therefore we decided to give that match a base index of 10.

From then on, any matches she plays thereafter, she can measure (approximately) her own performance by comparing with the base match with index of 10.

Therefore, some of her significant matches indices are as follows :

Jan 2023 SBA Ranking win Lim Yew Ern : 14

Nov 2023 SSA Finals win Chanice Tan : 15

Dec 2023 SBA Closed win Siti Nuramina : 13

June 2024 JET Finals lost Mirza Batrisya : 12

This may be arguably a subjective measurement but it’s the best we can come up with to give her some impression of game performance measurement.

More to come in Transformation Part 5

D. Pre and Post match video reviews

E. Pre match warm ups on court

F. Mental Preparation and Visualisation

G. Win Error video Analysis