Good Weekend It Was!

Indeed a good weekend it was 

Arsenal drew 1 – 1 with Champions, Manchester United at home which still kept them in hunt for next year’s European Champions League.

Datuk Lee Chong Wei had to work hard in India to earn his third Super Series title in 2013 although dropping a set against the tenacious Kenichi Tago of Japan.

The icing on the cake was, Aaron has beaten Chai Chun Hong (also 10) in two sets. Chun Hong was the runners up of last year’s Inter-MBA tournament in December 2012. It may just be their routine sparring sessions but it was a good indication that Aaron has progressed well over the past 4 months.

Ryan continues to undergo his foot rehabilitation every night to keep him bouncy. If I could turn back the clock, I would surely start the boys on foot and legs exercises first to get their proper footing right. True as what Kwun of BadmintonCentral advocated, excerpt here...

"...the one and only thing that i recommend, is free, the only thing you sacrifice in getting this imho, pretty sizable improvement, is you need to spend the time to practice it and what is it? The old saying, if you can't get there, it doesn't matter how good you can hit the birdie. i recommend you practice your footwork."

This week, the boys are in fact still in the middle of their academic exams. Therefore, we will take badminton off their minds temporarily for this week so as they can concentrate on their remaining papers.

Aftermath of our weekend of badminton-drying out the handle grips

FLAT FEET

One evening while Ryan was training, I discussed with coach Alex concerning Ryan’s footwork. He asked me if Ryan was flat footed. Honestly I had no idea. I assumed he had an arch like any other kids. When coach Alex requested him to remove his shoes and socks, I was startled to learn that he had a flat foot on his right foot (his strong foot being a right hander). Suddenly all the mystery surrounding his slothful footwork began to uncover itself or is it mere coincidence?

I was of course intrigue by this new discovery. How did I miss this in his two years of badminton? Does flat footed athlete really is disadvantaged in competitive sports like badminton? Is this the end of his journey? That night at home, I was frantically crawling all over the floor to study all the foot arches of my family members. None of us had flat feet except Ryan. Interestingly his left foot has a tiny arch. I wasted no time by immersing myself in research like a possessed man. Here are some wiki excerpts :

Flat feet (also called pes planus or fallen arches) is a formal reference to a medical condition in which the arch of the foot collapses, with the entire sole of the foot coming into complete or near-complete contact with the ground. In some individuals, an estimated 20 to 30% of the general population, the arch simply never develops in one foot or both feet.

The appearance of flat feet is normal and common in infants, partly due to "baby fat" which masks the developing arch and partly because the arch has not yet fully developed. The human arch develops in infancy and early childhood as part of normal muscle, tendon, ligament and bone growth. Flat arches in children usually become proper arches for most by the age of four to six years.

If a child appears flatfooted while standing in a full weight bearing position, but an arch appears when the person dorsiflexes (stands on heel or pulls the toes back with the rest of the foot flat on the floor), this condition is called flexible flatfoot. This is not a true collapsed arch, as the medial longitudinal arch is still present and the Windlass mechanism still operates. Most flexible flat feet are asymptomatic, and do not cause pain or unstableness due to overprognation. In these cases, there is usually no cause for concern, and the condition may be considered a normal human variant, although the term 'flat foot' is still applicable as it is a somewhat generic term. 



Ryan's right foot - FLAT

Little arch appears when dorsiflexed

From the pictures of Ryan’s feet, he seems to fall in the category of flexible flatfoot. His foot doesn’t seem over prognate (roll inwards) and neither does he experience from any foot pain or strain, which is not all doom and gloom after all. There is a lengthy debate in badminton central forum concerning this topic here :

http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php/11589-Are-you-flat-footed/page2

Although I have yet to read any conclusive empirical evidence on the disadvantages for flat footed athletes, there seemed to be a general perception that flat footed athletes lack ability to bounce in high impact sports like badminton. Yet there is this article which completely goes the opposite of this general believe :

Dr. Allan M. Levy in 1993
Team Physician for the New York Giants and formerly, the New
Jersey Nets and New York Islanders.

Flat feet:
Bones, muscles, and tendons under the foot create an arch in most people.
Some people, however, are born with "fallen arches," or flat feet. Contrary
to popular belief, flat feet are not a problem for athletes. In fact, flat feet
usually are more flexible, have greater range of motion, and are better able
to absorb the shock of running and jumping.

It is the athletes with high arches who are more injury-prone. An unusually
high-arched foot is more rigid and has less range of motion during quick,
agile movements. Also, a foot that's precariously balanced on the heel and
ball has poor shock-absorbing ability.

Many children start off with flat feet, but the vast majority develop normal
arches as they grow. Until recently, flat-footed children were frequently
treated with orthotics and perhaps surgery to create a higher arch. But
few studies have shown that wearing a particular shoe or arch support
can make a significant difference in the development of an arch. Most
doctors now feel that flat-footed people should not limit their activities
and do not need special treatment. Seek medical care only if your feet
hurt.



No over progation

Profile of Ryan's soles

If it is any consolation, I read that badminton legend Han Jian is also flat footed but it did not stop him from becoming a world champion. It may be a small degree of mind games here but I do not want this to be an acceptance for Ryan to move slowly or inefficiently on court. Coach Alex certainly did not put any damper on his condition. On the contrary, he urged Ryan to continue to train hard.

I began to compile some simple foot exercises for Ryan to work on every night before he goes to bed. It seems these series of movements will in some way awake some dormant tendons and ligaments in his foot. It has yet to yield any results but I am determine to keep him at it. We shall see.



Going through some foot exercise on the stairs

MALAYSIAN PRIVATE JUNIOR TOURNAMENTS

From the statistics of Aaron’s results, he has progressed well in his age group (under 10). My wife has been urging me to hunt for junior tournaments for him to participate in before he turns 10 on October 2013. Technically, he is still 9. 

SINGLES COMPETITION RECORDS
	RYAN				AARON
	PLAY	WIN	LOST	% wins	PLAY	WIN	LOST	% wins
Career	26	15	11	58%	27	19	8	70%
2013	4	1	3	25%	11	9	2	82%

When it comes to private junior tournaments, there are no lack of it throughout the year organized by various private academies and associations. In my opinion, the Kuala Lumpur Sports School Council tops them all in terms of size and quality of participation. Supported by commercial sponsors, they have attracted many serious youngsters and their parents alike from other states.

By and large, many of the private grassroots tournaments have rather poor publicity largely due to lack of funds. Much of these events are passed on by word of mouth by closed circles who are so called in the game. At least in the Klang Valley, many of these tournaments are freely accessible via internet which is where most of my source of information comes from. Sadly for outstation tournaments, these are not so readily available.

Unfortunately, the results of these private tournaments are largely ignored by BAM. The fate of the thousands of young hopefuls now rest on only two obscure routes. Firstly, via the traditional convention of representing their school team and gradually make their way up through district level (MSSD) and then state level (MSSN). Secondly, by scouting which is by no means an easy endeavour. Unless the child is an exceptional player like Goh Jin Wei from Penang, whereby Singapore was on the brink of snatching her away before BJSS offered her a place among the elite - otherwise only the privilege few and the influential may see better life.

Of all the junior tournaments I discovered so far, non have more significance than the one organized by Selangor Badminton Association (SBA) which is open to all budding shuttlers who resides in Selangor. In this tournament SBA will hand pick promising players to refill their talent warehouse as Selangor future state players.

Another point I like to point out in the hope that some good souls from BAM can make a change to this, is the lack of regulatory system in the Malaysian grassroots badminton development. I was to understand in Indonesia, all players (in every age group category) have a registered record of all the sanctioned tournaments they participated in. Each one earns points from the tournaments and is ranked thereby providing a transparent system for each player to be tracked on their progress ala BWF system. This also enables organizers to seed players accordingly for a fair tournament draw. Unless we see some light to this by high badminton authorities, our grassroots development will by and large remain a badminton backwater.

As for the boys, like the thousands who continue to remain hopeful will have no choice but to fend for themselves as long as they remain irrelevant by BAM. The irony is that the country has yet to find an answer to Datuk Lee Chong Wei’s successor when his days will come to pass – very soon.

Pertandingan Badminton MSSD 2013 Bawah 12 Tahun DAERAH PETALING PERDANA

Sekolah Rendah Cina Ladang Harcroft Puchong School Badminton Team

Majlis Sukan Sekolah peringkat Daerah (MSSD) for Petaling Perdana district has about 84 primary schools taking part in the under 12 years of age category.  This year, the boys represented their school badminton team (SRC Ladang Harcroft) as second doubles. The tournament is held in Suria Sports Badminton Centre in USJ1 with 30 full premium taraflex courts.

The boys had it easy in the first four rounds and found themselves in the quarter finals. They were up against an unbalanced malay pairing of Muazzam and Hussein from Sekolah Kebangsaan Subang. Muazzam seemed to be stronger between the two players does most of the job covering his baseline very tightly with strong smashes and side line placing whereas Hussein was in front of the net contributing at most 35% of their game.

The boys tactically failed to recognize the weaker of the two opponents and fell into Muazzam’s stinging smashes and pin point drops. Before Ryan & Aaron realized it, they had already lost their composure and succumb to their opponent 21 – 30.

  

Nevertheless, SRC Ladang Harcroft has something to cheer about because they had three finalist in this tournament. State player, Ooi Zhin Yang became Champion in the singles as well as the doubles with Lee Jie Quan,  whereas the girls doubles, ended runners up. The final results here:

Boys Singles Champion             - Ooi Zhin Yang (SRC Ladang Harcroft, Puchong)

Boys Singles Runners Up           - Muazzam Danish (Sekolah Kebangsaan Subang)

Boys Doubles Champion            - Ooi Zhin Yang/Lee Jie Quan (SRC Ladang Harcroft. Puchong)

Boys Doubles Runners Up          - (SRC Lik Hang, Puchong)

Girls Singles Champion              - SRC Han Ming, Puchong

Girls Singles Runners Up            - Sekolah Seri Serdang

Girls Doubles Champion              - Sekolah Seri Serdang

Girls Doubles Runners Up           - Tan Chi Yi/Low Zhi Wei (SRC Ladang Harcroft, Puchong)

Boys Doubles Under 12 Years Old

1^st Round :        Ryan/Aaron (Harcroft) vs Bye     

2^nd Round  :      Ryan/Aaron (Harcroft) vs TekWH/ChinMH (Serdang Baru 2)           30 - 14

3^rd Round :        Ryan/Aaron (Harcroft) vs Zariff/Hafizuddin (Puchong Perdana)        30 - 11

4^th Round :        Ryan/Aaron (Harcroft) vs Amir/Nur Farhan (Sek 17 – 1)                 30 - 16

Quarter Final :   Ryan/Aaron (Harcroft) vs Muazzam/Hussein (SK Subang)             21 - 30

KEJOHANAN BADMINTON PBVKL, PBWKL, JABATAN BELIA DAN SUKAN 2013

MBA Semi-Finalist and Coach Andre (L), Erik & Alex (R)

This junior tournament was organized by Times Badminton Academy. In support of their new courts launching in Kepong, MBA sent their full force of over 50 participants.

Aaron continues to make great strides in the boy’s singles under 10 category. In his semi final match, he lost only by a whisker 29 – 30 to allow Daryl Foo of Pei Chai Chinese School PJ to squeeze past him into final and became the champion. It was such a satisfaction to see Aaron played with so much confidence and elegance so much so that I did not interfere with his games en route to the semi-final.

Ryan finds it tough going in the under 12 category went down fighting in the second round after receiving a first round bye. His court coverage was felt wanting as can be seen from his net play was mostly out of reach. We were really puzzled with his lackluster performance of late.

For doubles, the coaches decided to split the boys up which I though was a good move for a change. Aaron partnered Chai Chun Hong both 10 years old while Ryan paired with Daniel Yee, who is 12 years old. Surprisingly, the younger pairings were the ones who put together a good run until quarter finals.

Although Ryan and Daniel had a free passage to the 3^rd round but their challenge fizzled out with a rather disappointing performance.

I think Aaron caught much positive vibes from his partner Chai Chun Hong who was the runner-up in the previous 13^th Inter-MBA tournament last Dec 2012. Both had a natural chemistry to blend together and it was a delight to see them psyched themselves up while enjoying their tournament. 

Ryan’s glaring lack of footwork speed was troubling. He seemed resigned despite trying his best but the fact was his best was not enough. We are still putting special emphasis in this area in his trainings even if he needed more time to get it right.

Boys Singles Under 10 Years Old

1^st Round  :        Aaron Wong vs Goh Sheng Feng           30 - 8               

2^nd Round  :       Aaron Wong vs Vikash                          30 - 13

3^rd Round  :        Aaron Wong vs Kelvin Ng Hoe Tao         30 - 10

Quarter Final :    Aaron Wong vs Hooi Shao Herng            30 - 21

Semi Final :       Aaron Wong vs Daryl Foo Kit Haan         29 - 30

Boys Singles Under 12 Years Old

1^st Round :         Ryan Wong vs bye

2^nd Round :        Ryan Wong vs Chong Ee Jack                 25 - 30

Boys Doubles Under 12 Years Old

1^st Round :         Chun Hong/Aaron vs Chan Jun Hang/Choy Hen Mann       30 - 27

2^nd Round  :       Chun Hong/Aaron vs Hiau Zhew Hao/Chong Ee Jack         30 - 22

3^rd Round :         Chun Hong/Aaron vs Brian Aw/Chong Jia Hao                  30 - 22

Quarter Final :    Chun Hong/Aaron vs Tan Jia Jie/Lim Chun Yeh                 22 - 30

1^st Round :         Daniel Yee/Ryan vs Bye

2^nd Round  :       Daniel Yee/Ryan vs Teh Jin Hong/Ooi Yi Hong                  Walkover

3^rd Round :        Daniel Yee/Ryan vs Lee Kin Lik/Loo Yu Qang                   21 - 30

Q1 2013 REVIEW

Despite all the schooling, extra curricular activities, academic tuitions & violin lessons, the boys were still able to put decent hours into the court for Q1 in 2013. This unfortunately was at the expense of some weekend masses and one Sunday school class skipped, which I am not proud of.

Despite the drop in court hours in Q1(2013) vs. Q4 (during 2012 year end holidays) which is expected, their attendance for training sessions were commendable despite their ultra tight schedules.

Year                                  2012                            2013

Month                   Oct       Nov       Dec      Jan       Feb       Mar

Court Hours           54         72       109        78         58        74

No. Sessions         22         25        36         30         24        27

Aaron continues to make rapid progress which we can see from the results of competitive matches he participated in 2013. See below ala BWF style.

	RYAN				AARON
	PLAY	WIN	LOST	% wins	PLAY	WIN	LOST	% wins
Career	25	15	10	60%	22	15	7	68%
2013	3	1	2	33%	6	5	1	83%

Ryan on the other hand, learning curve began leveling out. In one of my conversation with Coach Alex to address Ryan’s footwork, he suggested to inject short distance sprinting into his training diet. I took his advice and started the boys with 100m sprints at the Bukit Jalil Sports School track. In their first session, Aaron clocked a respectable 18 secs and Ryan about 2 secs slower. This may be early days but I was determined to break Ryan’s shackles even if I had to sacrifice my badminton matches every Thursdays (arrrgh).

The boys will be sitting for their first term school exams in April and we expect some loss in training hours. What we are more anxious is how they fair in their exams amidst all the hectic activities. We shall see.