TIPS FOR THE TOURNAMENTS

1)   Always hold your racket head high.         

2)   Always watch your opponent movements carefully.

3)  Hit the shuttle early. Don't wait for the shuttle to drop too low to the floor.

4)   If you are playing singles, serve long.

5)   Serve over the head of the opponent to force him bend back to reach the shuttle.

6)   Always run back to the middle of the court after you hit the shuttle.

7)  Make your opponent move around the court; don't hit towards him.

8)  Aim at their backhands. Most players will have trouble returning a good shot.

9)   If you are not sure where to place the shuttle, hit it to the base line.

10) Better to place the shuttle accurately than to smash.

11) Use overhead shots instead of back hand shots as much as possible.

12) Don’t be tense. Relax and play with Rhythm.

13) Avoid mistakes. Get more points from opponent’s mistakes to win the match.

October – Graduated Into Intermediate Level

As expected, the coach had promoted the boys to Intermediate level in October. I had to upgrade them to a 3-times a week training package. I might as well since my wife took a long holiday to the UK and therefore had less hand to take the boys up in personal training.

Interestingly the level of training in Intermediate level was more rigorous. Both Intermediate and Advance level received attention from the head coach Pak Budi Rijanto. The hours were also extended to 3 hours per session sometimes 4. Aaron just turned nine on 7^th Oct was not used to the grueling demands of this new training regime. He suffered fainting and vomiting spells. Ryan initially had mild muscle pulls on his legs too. I began to accept that Pak Budi’s Indonesian style of rigorous training had become their primary badminton diet and I had to relegate my coaching to a supporting role.

It was quite a challenge to squeeze out the time from the boys weekly academic tuition schedules. In the end, they had to sacrifice some of the tuition classes in favour of their increased badminton trainings. The boys put up with it because Pak Budi was urging them to double up their efforts in training and they knew they have only but three weeks to prepare for the tournaments.    

I also began focusing the boys on doubles sparring. I imparted as much knowledge as I could to them in this short period of time. They have much to learn about how to cover the court efficiently and develop an understanding between them. They still lacked fluidity on defensive and attacking formation as well as shuttle placement techniques.

Pak Budi had a particular eye on Intermediate players because players at this level were easier to shape and mould. He spoke to me about exposing Aaron to overseas tournaments. He had Aaron in mind to fill in under 9 category for the Junior Tournament held in Miri, Sarawak on 16^th November. Much as I was honoured by the invitation, I regretted that I had to turn it down because Aaron already had to be in his compulsory Church Camp in preparation for his first Holy Communion on the same date.

Aaron meets new friend from Kwek Chiew Peng Academy

Then, on the 28^th October, MBA had a visit from Total Badminton Academy, Port Dickson established by an ex-Thomas cupper Kwek Chiew Peng to play friendly matches with our advanced players. Coach Budi urged both our boys to join in as well. Aaron played singles whereas Ryan later paired up with Aaron in the doubles. Although the boys lost to their more battle hardened opponents, it was a good eye opener for them on the standard of play which the boys will be expecting in the coming BAKTI tournament.

Meeting With MBA Head Coach




L : Head Coach Pak Budi, Coach Andre & Coach Tony

 

In October, MBA invited parents to meet with the coaches over dinner to discuss the progress of their child. It was also an opportunity to meet their newly appointed head coach, Pak Budi Rijanto whom had over 30 years of badminton experience behind him. He was previously a senior coaching staff for Badminton Association of Selangor. This move was lauded because both my wife and I could get close and personal with him to share his thoughts on our boys.

He was candid about how serious we want our boys to progress as it involved lots of sacrifices on the part of parents and players. To progress, he put parents first, followed by the player, then came the coaches. If the parents dropped off their kids for coaching like a tuition class and rely 100% on the coaches to turn their kids to play like Lee Chong Wei, then, forget about it, he put it bluntly

In fact, most of the attendants were parents of players from advance level. Many of these parents were former players themselves and are passionate about the sport. Understandably so, as they were more equipped to guide their kids to be better players.

As the first logical step, Pak Budi encouraged the parents to aim for Bukit Jalil Sports School. BJSS boasts to have the best academic and training facility to produce world class athletes with brains. It was said that not anybody can be admitted into BJSS. Instead, the school will select those who is worthy to be admitted into BJSS. More about BJSS here…

http://www.bjss.edu.my/page.php?pageid=23

In order to get the attention of BJSS, the main stream route is to be selected to represent under-12 state competition called “Majlis Sukan Sekolah Negari” or MSSN. Let all be warned that the competition level especially in the boy's category is extremely competitive.

Pak Budi spoke to me that if I was up for it, he will prepare Ryan from next year on. As Ryan will be 11 years old then, we have only a year to turn him into a state level player. His advice was to expose both the boys to as many tournaments as possible. If opportunity permits, he will recommend MBA to send selected junior players to compete in overseas junior tournaments. Finger crossed.

Doing sit-ups under the watchful eyes of Pak Budi

Pak Budi also touched on the career path as a professional badminton player and life after competitive badminton. He explained a career in badminton is just like any career in other fields. If you are passionate about badminton, you can do many things and it can be equally rewarding as in any other careers. Many ex-player turned successful coaches eg. Datuk Misbun Sidek earned RM30k per month when he was with Badminton Association of Malaysia. Some international coaches eg. Park Joo Bong was even earning more when he was the chief coach in Japan. Many ex-players and back-up players came out of BAM to start their own badminton academy and business as well.

Finally, we asked Pak Budi’s opinion on how realistic it was to turn our boys worthy to be selected into BJSS. He could see that our boys had high work rate, coupled with our support and guidance, he expressed optimism and worth to take a shot. Though it was an encouraging note for us but we were well aware of the tough roads and many uncertainties ahead. Nevertheless, we will do our best to make this journey with the boys a memorable one. 

Look What Has Arrived?

A postage arrived from UK. Looks like its from Auntie Soo Chin, my wife's sis. A pair of cool dry fit jerseys and wrist guard for the boys. Thanks Auntie Soo Chin. These are very nice indeed. Will definately wear it for the coming Tournaments.

    

Nice Dry Fit Jerseys

Some Add Ons For The Boy's Humble Cause

My Sports Life

Let me tell you briefly about my sports life. Unlike my wife, I am what they call in an old adage, “Jack of all trades, and Master of none.”

I vividly recalled since my early primary days, football has been my staple diet for sports. I remembered my mother’s rants as my Bata school shoes lasted only a few months before she had to buy another pair for me again. I also played badminton seasonally normally at communal courts such as Rukun Tetangga, at the back lane of my friend’s house and at open car parks. Badminton was come and go, depending on who the group of friends were, but football has always been like “any time, any place, you name it.”

This took me up to secondary schools when my buddy friend urged me to try out hockey. I remembered I bought a hockey stick with him at Thrifty Super Market in Section 14 as it was called then. The “must-have” stick then was the Karachi King 3 Star made in Pakistan. Pakistan was on top of the world then in Hockey. I was more like just accompanying him and later got selected into the under 15 and under 18 school team. I also tried to get into the school team for football but the coach rejected me because I was wearing glasses. So my secondary school life was all about hockey and of course leisure football. I used to follow British football division 1 as it was known then. The 1979 FA cup final between Arsenal and Man Utd was permanently etched in my mind. This classic match here…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1979_FA_Cup_Final

When I got into the university, my friend urged me to take up squash. I suspected the motives were due to some girls taking up the game as well. Although I continued playing competitive hockey in the University, squash was my social activity with my friends. I still remembered the Australian siblings, Brett and Michelle Martin were World No. 1 then which I never failed to follow.

After graduation, I started my working career and golf was introduced to me. Golf was starting to get popular in the early nineties with countless golf clubs booming all over the country. Golf in the corporate world was like the next thing to do after talking business. Large multinational petroleum Companies threw lavish golf tournaments annually with lots of goodies to give away. I got crazy with my group of equally crazy friends. Whenever there was a golf date, it doesn’t matter where and when, rain or shine, we will be there even if it means getting up at 5am in the morning. I have even kept my scores in all the games I played in. It was during this cross roads that I was forced to forgo my racquet games because it was affecting my golf swings.

Naturally, I enrolled for membership at Kelab Golf Kuala Kubu Bharu and later Bukit Jalil Golf and Country Club. Golf became my weekend ritual. So the tanner you become, its a dead give away that you been under the blazing sun. The joke then about handicap was the better you are at golf, the lower your handicap is and that number represents the number of just how many working days you put in your office per month.

Then, sometime in 2006, my dormant hobby as a car enthusiast suddenly came alive with the sport of drifting started to pick-up its popularity. The Nissan Silvia turbo-charged coupe dominated drifting competitions and I instantly fell in love it.

Having acquired one Nissan Silvia S15 myself, I began to immerse myself into this new playground. Together with like minded owners, we began our foray into acquiring skills and knowledge about rear wheel drive handling dynamics, modification and power upgrades. Although I was still able to break away for my golf games occasionally but  inevitably, it gradually waned. Although I don’t drift competitively with my car but I had interest in the sport and attended many locally organized drifting events. I also followed many other motorsport programmes such as F1, Japan Super GT, Australian V8, BTCC, WRC, and European DMT. GT1 etc. It wasn’t until I met Kenneth Lau, the owner of Pitworks that I began to involve myself in competitive racing, go-karting, gymkhana and time attack. More here…

http://gunner93.multiply.com/journal

For me, motorsports racing has its limits. It requires big budget and unfortunately I was not in that league. However, I remain an ardent car enthusiast until today.

As Ryan and Aaron grew up, their weekend activities began to demand more attention. I still play golf by invitation but the lengthy time in which the game took meant that I have more often than not turned the game down.

Strangely, for the past two years, I found myself started to pick up my badminton racquet again. Courtesy of my company’s sports club, I started playing badminton every Thursday evenings with my colleagues. That was the time my wife and I began to introduce the game to the boys. When they were selected into their school badminton team, it suddenly dawned on me that they too deserved to excel in the sports they love. Unlike us, the boys have the whole future ahead of them. We decided to take this journey together with them and see where it leads to. So that was how this blog came to be.

Hanson Badminton Team (L to R) Brandon, Eric, Yours Truly, Jason, Uncle, Nazri (crouching), Sophia & Yee Suk  (Absent Alex Lim)