Badminton is becoming much more competitive. Some children will start playing a bit and then if interested (and if the parents are supportive), will go on some sort of training under the guidance of a coach playing perhaps two times a week or more. However, what age are they starting? In Hong Kong, kids are starting with a coach at a younger age. Starting from 6 years upwards. In Denmark, I was told training started at 10 years but recently, it's been moving downwards to 8 years old. In England, where the game is moderately popular, there are fewer juniors and so, there is a lot of variation in the age of starting with a coach. What about other countries?
I would say as early as possible. But then training will take out all the fun in badminton. Singapore kids in primary school cannot just join the badminton CCA for fun. The kid will be evaluated and selected. Don't perform u will be out. So many parents will send their kids for training way early so their kids will selected into the team. So this system will mill out many players with no or little passion. Maybe that's why we are not seeing any good players. Playing for fun vs competitive is very different. However passion for the game is very important. There will be no drive....So kids will just go thru motion as their parents sent them there not their choice. Look at the kid who loves badminton but was not good enuff to make the cut as he/she was not privileged to have parents financially able to give him head start. Gone are the days we play with friends and daddy's friend for the love of the game. Nowdays is all competitive or nothing. Thailand has some good programmes. Is a badminton specific school. Anyway the key is to start as young as u possibly can. Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk
In china, as I'm sure you can imagine, kids start quite young. It's regular and common to have a 3-4 year old running around hitting shuttles and rolling around on the floor. My coaches son is now 7 and trains quite hard, about an hour a day (although he doesn't like it, he does it because his dad makes him do it, haha) There is another kid who is a little older than my coaches son who is clearly on the path to National Player. In China they get "chosen" at about 13-14 years old. So you gotta start killing it at around 10 years old which he is. He's an amazing player though and has top form and tactics. He's just very pre-puberty so his downfall is his little legs can't get him around the net as quickly as he needs to beat top level adults (though he can beat intermediates no problem.) But as for normal kids, it's still quite young. Badminton training camps for kids here is like tumblebugs back in america. (Anyone remember that? Haha.) It's just what you do on weekends/summer break regardless of if you like the sport. Most kids start around 4-5 year olds until about 12-14 when their schooling gets really tough and they have to stop doing any activities outside of studying. But it's never too late to start! I started at age 39 and while I certainly wonder what my life could have been like if I discovered the sport as a little kid I'm still grateful everyday I eventually found it.
Hey im from Denmark and i started at 13 years old. Age isn't important for me if you just fight for it Sendt fra min SM-G955F med Tapatalk
The club where I started(Netherlands) as a 7-year-old doesn't allow kids younger than 8 because they are generally too unruly. I don't think this is the national standard though. In general, the younger the better. I think it has to do with natural coordination. As a kid it's easier to learn new movements. Probably for the same reason kids learn everything easier. Though I'm certainly not a veteran, at 24 I notice new movements don't come as easy and even after practice, it still looks and feels forced and unnatural.
Good point. In HK, group classes can start at six years old. Coaches say that’s when the kids start to be able to listen to instructions well enough for badminton in a group.
Interesting question, more interesting answers! Thanks to everybody! For the following, please keep in mind that I'm in Germany and badminton is not a popular sport in Germany. The city where my club is, is aware of badminton, but this means we (as a club) compete against more popular sports and at least four other clubs in the same city to get good athletes. And still, none of them have the hope to earn a living playing badminton. Some might dream of it, but in Germany, there's just not enough money in this sport. My club is trying to find young talents and the area we're in is quite competitive in that way. Clubs fight for the best talents. There are a few clubs cooperating with schools, we are one of them, it's a secondary school though, so the age is ten and above. Our youngest kids are nine, the youngest kid I ever coached was seven (maybe six when he started) and this was not a problem at all. He was motivated and talented, a great combination. Also an easy to deal with boy and he was accepted by the older ones (some being jealous of his progress, but it worked). We would never sort out any children who are not talented enough and they also get the same coaches. I think it is natural that there might be some who lose their motivation when they see that the development of other's skills is much faster, but I didn't see anyone quit yet. Now to the more interesting part.... Some parents I know, both passionate badminton players, let their son play Handball starting at the age of four to get some exercise and to learn some skills he could use for badminton, mainly the throwing motion. I think he started badminton at the age of eight. Is he better than other players his age (thirteen)? Overall, he's doing quite reasonable (not outstanding), at his club he's among the best, the best at this age, as far as I know. All children who stay at this club will plateau at some point, but no one at that club would ever admit that, of course. I like the idea to start with (something like) Handball. Less technique needed, but includes some essential movements. Also learning a team sports (which I miss in badminton)... If the kid wants to continue it, let it do both (at first ) Badminton and Handball. Handball coaches will build a strong physical base while the badminton training can focus on other things. I've seen five year olds (some older, maybe some even younger) playing around and learning some technique from their (Japanese, badminton scholarship at University) parents and if they started regular traning by now, the coaches will be happy that they already have something to work with. They went back to Japan, so I don't know about that. If someone wants to really stand out, passion is most important. From what I read so far, we all agree on that. So what's the best age to start Badminton and build the pain that's needed?
I started at the age of 6, that is prob younger than average but I think that most kids start at maybe 8-9 since badminton isn't really the first choice sport in Sweden. I also think that many kids start younger than 8 years old in Denmark, from my sightings at tournaments
Best age to start will be different for different children. I have heard of cases where parents and coaches are enthusiastic but the child is less so and then get put off by the training. However, this happens for all sports and other activities as well - not just badminton.
When we lived in shanghai, my kids started badminton lessons around age 8. There were plenty of other kids of similar age in the halls having lessons too. these were more casual lessons, not training for competition, more for fitness n coordination and fun.
So true. I'm 48 and only started playing this year. Played squash for years when I was younger but really loving badminton. Only play at a recreational level but like yourself very grateful to be playing it now. I've told my son that I'll be bringing him out for a game as well and hopefully he'll enjoy it too.
my sons started tennis at 3.5. Given the proper environment i don't see why kids can't start badminton at that age.
Most of the kid in Thailand starts when they turn 4 years old, but my coach started at 7. She was good enough to make her way to the nation team without any financial support just her passion in game and bunch of good coaches that trained her because they saw the passion in her. Just like the famous Ratchanok Intanon. She is one of the best. There are thousands of parent support and sending their kids to the academy, but I think passion and training make one to be one of a kind not the money.
it really depends on the kid. I have played with a 6 yrs old girl, and she is just natural. she hits well, hard, and seems to totally enjoy it. i tried starting my kids at 6, they just weren't getting it. only until they got to 9-10 before they show some idea what to really do with the racket. meanwhile all the peers have surpassed them. some kids are just not meant for racket sports.
