For some reason the title sounds funny to be (Or prehaps Ironic)

I have been coaching badminton at my locale highschool for the past 3 years now. I started off with a team of players (In 2000) with hardly any experience or no experience at all.

I taught them all I knew in the first year, and gradually they improved alot. By the year 2002, they could match my skills. Now, I am nowhere near their skill level. Still, they want me to be their coach this year (Their last year of badminton before they graduated from highschool)


How the heck in the world am I suppose to teach them? They know all the knows rules except for a few odd ones in the rulebook. I don't feel much like a coach if I just sit back and relax everyday or fool around.

Sighh....

1. You can still watch them play and offer advice on how they can improve their game/technique

2. You can supervise them in drills and matching them into games

3. You can feed them birds to help them practice shots

You must be one great coach to have your students become better than you! Dont worry about it, it shows you can teach well. You dont necessarily have to be able to beat them to gain their respect, I think you have already earned it.. maybe enjoy watching some of your players excel and encourage them all the way ;)

Coaching is not the same as playing! True many coaches may have been or still are great players but your students can be better than you and still benefit from your knowledge.

A coach can watch closely and analyse all the parts of someone's game and then feed it back. A coach can drill students, knowing at what difficulty to pitch the drills in order to maximise the benefit to the student. Indeed a coach could even devise new drills to specifically help a players weak points. And a coach can boost a players confidence and morale enormously with the right words.

Being coach requires a great many skills, and they are not exclusively related to how good a player you are.

One of the qualities of a good coach is attaining respect. I know they have your respect. And everything else is said already on the post above... I agree to all...

Do you think chen hongs coach is better than him? If he was there would be no point in him being coach, as he would play. A coach is a coach, someone who tells the person how to play, and how he can achieve that. A coach is a person who can communicate the way to show people how to do something/ Improve something. A coach may have all the knowledge in the world, but simply may not be able to do it, but if he can teach people to do it that, in my opinion is worth more than being able to do something, but not able to show others how to do it.

What I am trying to say is that if you know what to teach them, then do it, think of new routines to keep them intrested, better ways of explaining a tactic/shot/technique. Good luck. keep up the good work.

Agree with everyone above.

A coach's job is far more than "playing better than the students". others might include to teach the students the right way to learn, to improve (physically and mentally), to give advice, to guide them on the right path in the future, etc.

Actually, ur students playing better nowdays, is a good sign of how good a coach as of you. Good coach can let the students being as good as himself/herself, better coach can let the students go even higher than that. Otherwise, the sport itself will only go downhill, since no one will pass their previous generation.

It's nice to hear that u have all the support from ur fellow students. They must seen a lot of in u, not just the tricky shot, the rule books, but more like a person they can rely on during their improvement. The "trust" is the most valueable piece in the relationship, much more important than the "skill", "strategy", etc.

Yeah, most top level coaches aren't anywhere near as good as their players. By the same token, those players are probably not the best of coaches.

Coaching is different. You need to watch your players. Study their form, understand their game and then coach them to a win.

For example, I had days when my smash was solid and some days when my smash had no bite. I had no idea why that was happening. It was once I had a coach who would tell me that my elbow was carrying too high or that I wasn't extending into the smash that I was able to start gaining some consistency.

Coaches do these sorts of things. They assess how your technique is because face it, you can't, at least not all the time. They also give you clues as to strategy. You don't have to play the game as well as your players, you just have to be able to make them better players.

So now that your students have outgrown you, are you deciding to take the easy way out and just become a part of the past?

Get off your butt and learn more about coaching. Pick up or refine your technique and strategies and further your coaching abilities. Don't aspire to just being in the background and a shuttle feeder.

Your students look up to you for guidance and direction, and in tournaments your support and in-sight. By honing your coaching skills you can help each and every one of them acheive even greater success.

As a coach, you must be striving for excellence and always learning! So get with it buddy!

Congratulations first of all that your students still would like you to be their coach! Obviously you're doing something right! :) I'm in a similar situation as you are where most of the players that I coach are at a very elite level now and much better than myself.

What you can do to continue to improve them is continue to observe what they need work on and setup drills to help improve those portions. Coaching is about knowing the sport and using your observation skills to help improve your players.

You may want to consider seeking certification for NCCP coaching levels. They are most helpful in furthering your own coaching knowledge. There are also a handful of books and videos that are helpful in assisting in coaching new skills.

I have to say that coaching has been the most rewarding for me personally and I'm glad to still be doing it.