Hello I'm wondering how you would become a professional player in the US and I can't find any information about it... What I think you do is buy the USAB membership and then just try out in the tournament they have to see who participates for the US in the the Thomas and Uber cup...but I'm not sure. Any info would be great
depends what you mean by "professional player". you can become your own professional player by finding yourself a sponsor that pays for your salary. the chances of that is very very slim though as even the best of the best in US have to find other ways to pay for their bills. (eg. coaching, working in a real job) if by professional you mean able to represent US in international tournaments, pretty much you need to prove yourself first. go out and play all the ranking tournaments, if you go far, you will be noticed. if you want to play in Uber/Thomas/Sudirman Cup, there are team trials that are held before those tournaments, if you win those trials, then you will be able to represent the country. as for other non-team international tournaments, all you need to do is to have USAB sign your entry form. they however, won't pay for your trip to these tournaments, you are on your own financially.
Ah ok and yea I meant being able to represent my country. Ok so would ranking tournaments be like the DC open? I don't really know many other big tournaments. So far I've mainly played in the Charity Open... Umm I want to get a sponsor but how far do I have to go for that? Win the DC open or a smaller tournament like the charity open? This is just any kind of sponsorship from a company like Victor or Wilson where I get free things like shoes, strings, maybe rackets if they give free rackets to lower sponsored people. Of course I'm going to get another job to support myself, can't expect to live off badminton unless I could win a lot big international tournaments that players like LCW and Lin Dan compete in and yes I am a US citizen
what's your national ranking? i think you can find the list of sanctioned tournaments in the usab homepage. i don't think you need to be ranked to enter the national team trials, anyone can enter regardless of ranking as long as you are us citizen. but then the question is that if you are able to win the team trials then you probably already have some ranking points already. as for sponsor, there is no fix rule. all sponsorship contract are individual and different. i know a few very active amateur players who managed to find themselves sponsor. but at the minimum you need to be very active and producing results in the local and national tournaments, otherwise there is no reason why the sponsor wants to give you any money.
I don't know if I have any national points...I have been playing for around 19-20 months and I feel as though I'm really good considering my time and if you don't consider that I have been playing for such a short amount of time I would still say that I am decent. Thanks I'll look into the big tournaments. I plan on winning the DC open or becoming very good in the next few years especially if I can get a coach. I don't know how much a coach will help since I feel as though my techniques are correct and all I need now is time. Would you consider a good time to apply for a sponsorship when I win a big tournament like the DC open? I'm thinking about Victor or Wilson as sponsors...
You've been playing for 20 months and you want to win a high level competition? seriously? You have no coach, but you think you're able to win without any real training, your technique won't be good enough, unless you've had a experienced coach, and not just the one look at your game, and assess it. What age are you ? Out of interest?
to be realistic, 20 month isn't a long time. but if given that you are young and you spend a lot of time and money (for coaching), it is possible to reach a top level within 4-5 years. it is ok to dream, but also understand the difference between achieving one's dream and daydreaming. it sounds like you have no idea how good you really are. and that you need to have a reality check by actually competing or comparing your own level with the top level A-players. may be post a video of your game here and we will be able to tell u how far you really are.
Lol I did say in the next few years...I have played with A level players. Do u know desmond? I believe he is a very popular player in the US. I've played against him and I watch a lot of pro badminton so I know what good is. Also, in my short amount of time I have been able to beat players with years of more experience than me and they aren't bad players either... If I had to rank myself at this very moment I would say high C but then again I did say in the next few years. I don't see a point in coaching...a lot of stuff can be found online, I can ask friends or people who are better than me, and observing pros can give you all the information you need. Like I said I believe all my techniques are correct I just need time to become more consistent and fluid. To basically become better at those movements. Regardless of technique no one will be able to play like a pro with my amount of play time. I'm 17...I started playing late I know but the US isn't really filled with a lot of good players compared to other countries number 1 and number 2 I believe I have enough drive and dedication to do this and thats all you really need: drive and dedication. As long as you have that you'll find a way to succeed regardless of the odds against you
Just so you guys have a time frame my goal is to win DC open by age of 25 and try representing the US in the Thomas cup by age 30...after age 30 I don't know if I will become slower/worse or not
Regarding the coaching aspect, all the top players have been coached before. If you are starting at 17 years old, what's the evidence you can reach that level using youtube? Have you filmed yourself playing for feedback? US does have some very good players...I don't think drive and dedication are sufficient.
But I'm not trying to beat lee chong wei or anything...I'm trying to win DC open and the level of play there is significantly less. Yes I have recorded myself but I didn't really see anything wrong with what I was doing...I'm copying what pros do footwork wise now I just need time to become more natural at it and the same goes for my shots. Idk...you guys don't think 8 years is a reasonable amount of time for me to be able to win DC open? I don't know why it sounds so impossible to you guys...I thought I had a good chance of doing it...
I don't know but I would think some sort of coaching would be needed to become good... I don't think any professionals become pros by just being self-taught... You might not notice flaws within your own game because you're seeing it out of your own eyes and not from the eyes of a coach... Take a look at tennis players for example, they all have coaches... I think Federer didn't have a full time coach eariler in his career but he has one now(pretty sure he must have had coaching previousily though) not trying to discourage you or anything but I think coaching is pretty important, it's good you feel like you have the drive and dedication but I don't think that alone is sufficient...
If you can't figure out your way around the badminton community (key tournaments, standings, hierarchy, etc), chances are your self-taught youtube techniques aren't as good as you think. When you're legitimately good, higher level players and coaches will be inviting you into their circle and chatting with you about standings and tournaments. My suggestion is to join whatever tournaments you can enter and see where you stand. I have a feeling that will open your eyes to how much more you need to learn before becoming even semi-competitive. When I was 17, I was captain of my high-school team and had formal training... I entered a provincial tournament and got destroyed first round, I think I got 2 points.
If it was that straightforward, many of us would be able to play like the pros. Insight is a good quality to have.
Since you are still 17, (assuming you stay 17 to the end of this year), you can play junior tournaments 1st. Well, that would probably mean you will be 18 by the end of next year so you only have 1 year to try out a junior tournament in the U19 category. Since you are speaking of the DC Open, I assume you live on the east coast. If you are nearby to Boston, there is a tournament being held there this weekend actually. If you have some time, I suggest you drop by. There are a lot of young kids playing in it too, but after the pool play, during semis, you will see the top players compete against each other. This tournament is the one that selects the Pan Am Championship team members and the TUC (Thomas/Uber Cup) players. It is held Dec. 2nd-4th at the Boston Badminton Gym. You can try to youtube up USA's (upcoming) top players and see how they play. Try looking up Phillip Chew, Sattawat Pongnairat (may have misspelled his last name), Howard Shu, Rena & Iris Wang.
Come on over to San Gabriel Valley Badminton Club 2 in Pomona, CA, if you can give Alistair Casey a good run for his money in singles and/or Tony G. in doubles, this Panda will sponsor you.
I don't think it's the amount of time people are criticizing. Within 8 years one can achieve a lot of things. But for one, I agree with others that you probably aren't as objective about your own technique and style as a coach would be. Furthermore, I think a competent coach will be able to design drills and practices that help you the most. Maybe you don't need to have a coach all the time, especially if you cannot afford one, but having one analysing your game once in a while, would most probably be very useful for your development.
Ok I see what you guys are saying...at the moment I don't have a license yet (will get it before 2011 is over) or a job so I can't hire a professional and can't go to tournaments outside of Maryland. What I plan on doing until I can afford a coach is getting a camera and recording myself every time I play. Maybe post some stuff online here to see if anyone else can pick out flaws. I'll look up some USA players and see how good they are and see how hard the competition is...as of right now all I know of is Desmond and Elliot Bohr who I thought were seen as really good players in the US. 2012 is when I plan on playing in most of the tournaments bc I will have a job and car by then and then I'll see if I gather any attention Lol I don't know Alistair Casey but I know Tony G, did a power point on his partner Howard Bach, hehe...I would get raped...
