Training Diary 2009

[blundey]

Thought I would keep an online diary of my coaching that im recieving at the NBC in Milton Keynes. More of a progress journal for myself, but also hopefully an interesting read for those who are interested in getting some sort of coaching themselves.

I began Coaching in July of 2008. It turned out to be a big eye opener. Previously before that I had played for about a year full time at the local clubs and had got to a point where I was not progressing any more. This is the reason I started coaching.

Since the start of my coaching my game was pulled apart. I went right back to basics such as clears, smashes, push shots and drives. Shoulder pains and bad elbows turned into a thing of the past as my form improved.

My court time increased from a few hours a week to 4 days a week playing 2 hrs or more a time and coaching with Matthew Honey (www.matthew-honey.com).

Over Christmas I've had a bit of time off, but started again last night with coaching and playing club games again. Its my aim this year to start playing tournaments and the likes, and to do this I'm going to have to work very hard over the next 10 months.

Im not quite sure how many people read this now, but I still come back and refer to it to refresh my memory over what I have done and the form I have been taught.

January 26th 2009

I had a few games of doubles prior to training today. Felt really out of it to be honest. Food consumption was poor for the day and energy levels running low. That and the fact I missed the shuttle on numerous occasions! Something I have not done for a long while, as often as tonight anyway!

With this in mind I did not think training would work out so great.

Matt and I started with a few clears, pushes and net shots for a semi warm up. Nothing major, but I didnt miss the shuttle which was a good start.

Then the idea was to have a bit of a refresher session. To start we did a couple of sets of smashes, these went OK. No problems here. Then we looked at a newish routine.

This routine consisted of the following:

Push, smash, drive.

Push from the left, smash from the right rear court and then drive from the right mid court. Three sets of these, same both sides.

Push was good
Smash was good
Drive was poor.

The drive was just not snappy enough. The fingers were tightening on point of impact but I was holding the racket with a forehand grip and not the pan handle grip I should be using. I was also slicing the shuttle and not hitting it squarely. So we did a few sets forehand and backhand drives on there own. Some improvement, but in comparison to Matt's demonstration they need alot more pace on them. Another bad habit I have formed is after the smash I should of been using the forehand drive, but my body kept wanting to go for a backhand drive.

The drives are something I can improve on during my club games, but with correct form, it should be OK.

Matt and I then had two games of half court singles. Matt put a little bit of pressure on me with more attacking shots which was nice. I think the end scores were something along the lines of 4-11
7-11. With Matt OBVIOUSLY winning both sets. But I see how he works now. He makes me really tired doing routines then takes advantage of my fatigue in the game! Or so I like to think anyway :)

After the singles game he pointed out one or two things. One of the main things is to take the shots as early as possible as I sometimes leave the shot to late.

Then to finish some foot work! Singles orientated.

The foot work consisted of Moving to the rear right hand corner (smash) then to the left front corner (net) Then to the mid court on the right (drive) then to the rear left corner (smash) then to the front right corner (net) then to the left mid court drive. Had to do this as many times in 30 seconds for 5 sets.

One word....ouch. Needed way more sugar and oxygen to do these quickly continuously! But it was a nice routine.

That was the end of the session.

Until Next week.

[blundey]

No training today due to snow storm.

[blundey]

Thursday 26th February 2009

Well its been a while! One thing or another has come up the last week. Sometimes snow, and other times Matt was playing.

So I arrived promptly at 6:45am last night to be told I don't have a court booked! Must admit I was not impressed as I just drove 40mins. Just as I was about to walk out the door, the lady shouted "Lee! Hang on till 7 to see if this Luke person turns up." Apparently there was a single name on the booking called Luke and she thinks that maybe someone misheard the name Lee and wrote Luke instead.

Luck has it I was Luke! At this point I felt the force of the Jedi and went to warm up.

I had just restrung my racket with some 65Ti and was loving the fresh feeling that I was obtaining with the long clears and drives in my warm up.

Matt didnt have any rackets with him tonight as they were all away to be restrung, but he did have a 160gram training racket. I asked for a quick go in the warm up and almost lost my arm. I gave a good swing for a clear,but the the racket kept on going and almost took me with it at the end of the swing! A massive difference !

Back to the training. We started with controlled drops, pushes, and nets. 30 shots around the court. 15 shots had to make it over the net or I had to start again. Consistency was not really a problem. The push shots apparently were.
I was using to much finger and wrist action. Matt wanted the wrist locked and the push to come from extending the elbow. So once I had done this routine for 3 sets both sides, we went and had a look at forehand and backhand pushes.

As said above I was taught the Push shot should contain NO wrist or finger. Its a relaxed grip and the push comes from the elbow. The racket was to not swing back and forward. The racket should point towards the shuttle and then take it early and push just over the net, aiming for the service line or shorter with a low arc.

Forehand went OK once I had the feeling. Backhand took a little more getting used to. I had a bad habit of lifting my racket up and then going for the push, when I should have had the racket at a low position facing the shuttle and then taken the push.

Next was onto a very similar routine. Cross court smash followed by push either forehand or backhand. Both sides 2 sets of 12.

Lastly Matt and I had a game of singles half court rules. Yes he still thrashed me with his 160gram racket, but we did have a long rally which made a nice change. I did play rubbish though...

Finally footwork. Footwork was covering the rear and front corners of the court. I'm back out of touch with footwork. Not like I was ever in touch, but I was exhausted by this point. So next week we will train for 2 hours and start with footwork first, so I can take a fresh approach to it!

So until then....

[Peter Warman]

How many hours of coaching did you get last night?
:confused:

[blundey]

1hr last night and 2hrs next week

[Peter Warman]

Do you find if you have an hour that the session either feels rushed or your constantly lookig at the time?

I'm just thinking, cost aside for the minute, that if I had two hours it would give my sponge of a brain time for the information to soak in properly. Whereas if I had an hour, it's be like, teach me this, and this and this, quickly!


Could just be me though..............


Though I can't even afford one hour coaching so there we are!

:cool:

[blundey]

Do you find if you have an hour that the session either feels rushed or your constantly lookig at the time?

I'm just thinking, cost aside for the minute, that if I had two hours it would give my sponge of a brain time for the information to soak in properly. Whereas if I had an hour, it's be like, teach me this, and this and this, quickly!


Could just be me though..............


Though I can't even afford one hour coaching so there we are!


To be honest after one hour im extremely tired, so at this point im happy to finish up. To much information is not always good. With the two hours next week (its a first) I hope to focus longer on certain weaknesses for longer, and having more time for footwork.

[myself]

]To be honest after one hour im extremely tired[/SIZE], so at this point im happy to finish up. To much information is not always good. With the two hours next week (its a first) I hope to focus longer on certain weaknesses for longer, and having more time for footwork.

first, i myself think that you need to do aerobic training at your own time, at least 4 times per week. once you have achieved a higher level of cardio fitness, you can train longer in higher intensity without feeling tired. the better your cardio, the faster you can move and shot meaning your opponent will be slower than before in a comparative sense. in order to win, endurance is a key, coz many a person loses the game not becasue of skill but because he does not have enough energy to win the last few points.

second, what are your weakest shots? name the weakest 3! good training session will include continuous evalution of the weakest shots and making them the strongest...most of the good players will use the first few points to test the opponents about their weakest shots, once the weakness is identified, the better players will gain points by hitting the cocks there!

third, i myself hope that you would train your serving(learn the correct skill from the coach and practice it yourself and ask the coach watch you next time), making sure that all your serving is acurate and you can make the bird flies to the top(almost hit the ceiling) before it drops right an inch in front of the bottom line.

just myelf's 2 cents...good luck and keep us informed of your progress

[blundey]

first, i myself think that you need to do aerobic training at your own time, at least 4 times per week. once you have achieved a higher level of cardio fitness, you can train longer in higher intensity without feeling tired. the better your cardio, the faster you can move and shot meaning your opponent will be slower than before in a comparative sense. in order to win, endurance is a key, coz many a person loses the game not becasue of skill but because he does not have enough energy to win the last few points.

I hear you matey. My fitness is alot better than it was this time last year. I can play doubles for 2 hrs straight and not be to much out of puff, but the rallys are hardly long or at most challenging. However If i play a few games of singles, then yes your right, Ill soon start to tire quickly!. I do need to do more aerobic sport, its just hard to motivate myself in the cold winter months :P

second, what are your weakest shots? name the weakest 3! good training session will include continuous evalution of the weakest shots and making them the strongest...most of the good players will use the first few points to test the opponents about their weakest shots, once the weakness is identified, the better players will gain points by hitting the cocks there!

Good question. I think they would be


Offensive drive
rear court low - clear (when the shuttle comes in low to floor)
Backhand clear


I will say Matt is quite good at seeing my (many)weak areas and will focus on them within training to improve them. I do struggle with the backhand clears. I can do backhand drops, but backhand clears are a little disastrous ! I guess these will come with time. Matt has suggested that I improve on footwork to get to the backhand clears and take them forehand. So far this has worked OK apart from a few exceptions.


third, i myself hope that you would train your serving(learn the correct skill from the coach and practice it yourself and ask the coach watch you next time), making sure that all your serving is acurate and you can make the bird flies to the top(almost hit the ceiling) before it drops right an inch in front of the bottom line.

Im quite comfortable with my short serve, drive serve and flick serve. Matt has looked at them on a few occasions and said they were OK too, so I guess that's why we have not focussed on them. Im sure there is ALWAYS room for improvement though.


just myself's 2 cents...good luck and keep us informed of your progress

Thank you for you input. You are right I need some more cardio vascular exercise in my life outside of training, so this is definitely something Ill be looking into. Skipping/running I think would be a good start?

Ill also give Matt my list of 3 and see if we can focus on these as well as what he has planned for Thursday.

Once again thanks.

[Peter Warman]

How good is skipping for badminton?

Good for the arms or legs? Or the whole body.

Somebody mentioned to me about skipping before now and now it has cropped up again, I might look into this!

:cool:

[blundey]

They do it in training for the England squad as far as ive been told, unless Matt does it off his own back. But its good for the legs and arms.

[littlemissloud]

skipping is an excellent form of aerobic excercise and really gets the heart rate up. assuming its done properly, i.e. in the style a boxer does not like a little school girl in the playground

[blundey]

No training this week or next.

[myself]

No training this week or next.

if you want to improve 10-20%(i mean beating those guys who are slightly better than you), you don't really need to have a coach or go to the badminton court...train yourself inside your own house on:

1) aerobic - jogging/running when turning on CD(or watching some graphs using huge monitor is OK)...over a few weeks time(depending on your basal fitness), gradually increase your endurance(length) and maximum VO2(intensity)...(can also consider putting some weight-bar on the legs) than eventually you can play very intensive badminton non-stop for a few hours

2) anaerobic - train up your leg muscles with squat with light weight (don't over do) + leg raise + leg curl.

strong heart and powerful legs are the foundation of playing good badminton...others remain constant (i mean your skills), you can move much faster than before in the court...your same level friends will eat dusts coz you feel like waiting for the shots...you have alot of options for returning the shots

just my two cents

[blundey]

two cents well spent. I am doing regular cardio as of the last two weeks, however still have the need for more coaching to work on my form :) Im aiming for another 100% improvement on what I am now.

I dont train so much to be better than others, I train to be better than myself :D

Whilst speed and agility are the key components of badminton, I still have a long way to go with supination and pronation in my strokes to maximise power.

[redkingjoe]

two cents well spent. I am doing regular cardio as of the last two weeks, however still have the need for more coaching to work on my form :) Im aiming for another 100% improvement on what I am now.

I dont train so much to be better than others, I train to be better than myself :D

Whilst speed and agility are the key components of badminton, I still have a long way to go with supination and pronation in my strokes to maximise power.

Where's your passion?:cool:

[blundey]

If i told you that, I might have to remove my post :D

[Peter Warman]

I'm thinking of buying this (http://www.yehlex.co.uk/productdetail.aspx?prodid=504&prodgroupid=20)

I saw this at the All England and belive me, it's heavy!

You could give it a try?

Tis only £30


:cool:

[blundey]

Matt offered me one of these. Not this make but was 130 gram racket, and it hurt to use it! Ive not got the biggest wrists in the world and taking a full swing with this took my body half with it! Ill stick to the powerball!

[redkingjoe]

Matt offered me one of these. Not this make but was 130 gram racket, and it hurt to use it! Ive not got the biggest wrists in the world and taking a full swing with this took my body half with it! Ill stick to the powerball!

In offering "this", Peter is your real friend.

When I read "myself"'s post,it appears to me that myself was trying to help you to have a compromised training! Both Peter and myself hope that you can at least train at home!:cool:

at home, you can gradually increase the total number of swings each time you training to improve your power and endurance! it won't hurt if you follow the correct principle of training!

[blundey]

ah ok! On the off days? I understand.

[Sketchy]

A racket with the head cover left on is just as good a training racket.

Best thing you can do is get a dog - you get heaps of aerobic/leg muscle exercise from taking them for a run.
Also, throwing a large stick is perfect for practising your swing and building arm strength - you can use forearm pronation, finger-power, the works (it's better than throwing a cricket ball for example). They never let you skip a day of training either.

[essjaydee]

I'll stick to the powerball!

Just got one of these myself to hopefully improve my wrist and arm power :D and to stop the aches i get from sitting typing all day long :(

Very impressed so far!

[blundey]

Thursday 19th March 2009

After another long period of time off I got another session sorted out. Sessions are becoming less frequent leading up to my Holiday, but needs a must :D

Started the session with some consistency training. Full Court my side half court Matts side. First set was soft shots (drops, pushes, net). Counter had moved to 25 this week without mistake. Two sets of 25 a side.

100 shots later and onto hard consistency shots. (smashes/drives/etc..) Again 25 a set 50 a side.

All in all the consistency was not to bad. The key though was to relax as I kept wearing myself out. Also not forgetting to breathe out on each shot, as I have a habit of holding my breath.

Oh and another thing while I remember. I have another habit of putting non racket leg forward on a lunge when i'm out of foot synch! More footwork training needed!

We then had a look at late rear court returns. Matt noticed that when at the rear corner that if im late getting there, then my return shot is poor (could not agree more :D). So we had a few sets of Late rear court returns.

Consisting of:

Lunge into rear corner foot facing direction im heading.
Racket up and ready to intercept as early as possible.
Push shot to net with semi locked wrist.

I found I got this shot easier with better preparation as said above.

Next we went onto Back Hand net shots. These went well. Controlled and seemed consistent enough. Then onto Backhand Clears.....wow.....I was rubbish. Using correct form meant the impossible. This is something im going to have to practise practise practise.

From what I can remember the key points were.

Elbow low
Elbow High
Arm to follow supinate?

He said there were two distinct moves in the action that are one. I found it hard to bring both together, so its going to be harder work to generate power. Its something im going to have to shadow at home I think!

We then had a game of half court singles. Obviously I didnt win but I did get more than 5 points this time :D

All in all a good session, and ive taken something away to learn. Run out of time for footwork :(

[Backlash]

Well if all this carries on ill be seeing you on the next olympics, you must be pretty dam good by now :D

MaRk.

[blundey]

I Wish! :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Im sure everyone who is going for the Olympics can do a backhand clear with no problem!

Anyway..no training this week. I have heavy case of man flu

[Backlash]

And also a back somersault backhand smash? :D

I wouldnt say my backhand clear was any good but with a little flick i can get it into the tram lines, for some reason for me the key seems to be not to try too hard.

MaRk.