Possible to make it big?

Discussion in 'General Forum' started by tam1991, Aug 6, 2012.

  1. tam1991

    tam1991 New Member

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    I know you may probably get this question a lot, so I apologize in advance but I'm wondering at my age (20) is it still possible to make it big for someone who's talented but never trained much? Without sounding cocky or too arrogant, but I'd say I'm fairly good, the day I picked up a racket I found it natural and got into the rhythm pretty quick. I picked up the sport in school and played during PE lessons, I was beating people without even realizing the proper rules and one of my mates who played for his town I'd give good games to. I had an opportunity to take it further when an elder (who also played for his county) approached me asking if I wanted to train with him, hopefully to make it to county level and I said I'd give it a try, which I did for a month but then I stopped due to A-Levels - and that point of my life, I still never took badminton seriously, education was my priority so I still never had much training. Again, sorry if it seems like I'm bragging but I just wanna give a rough indication of what level I'm at. I still play, but socially with friends or my uni society most of whom I still beat.

    Some of you probably may be thinking I'm just getting over-hyped because of the olympics, but watching the games and interviews from some olympians made me realise maybe if I trained properly at a younger age with the talent I had, I'd be even better (obviously not olympic level like them, even though that naturally is a dream to aim for). I also understand it's one thing beating players at uni and one thing beating players at pro level. I believe I have the talent and naturalness, but is time on my side if I started taking it seriously and train?
     
  2. OhSearsTower

    OhSearsTower Regular Member

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    congratulations for being very talented :p

    i dont get what your target ist, i also dont see you training hard
    also you didnt play against really good opponents as i think its a very humbling experience


    i would suggest you to play regularely (2x a week) with good intensity and have fun with badminton

    no matter how talented you are, you must orient your whole life to badminton if you wanna be at the top, i dont see you doing that
    there is not much reward for beeing a good national player anyway (compared to the effort it would require)


    join a badminton club and you will see that your victories over university players are worth a ****
     
    #2 OhSearsTower, Aug 6, 2012
    Last edited: Aug 6, 2012
  3. tam1991

    tam1991 New Member

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    Yeah that's what I mean, I haven't been training hard which is what I regret, and so I want to do it properly now.

    My target, I'm not fully sure on one of the reasons which is why I'm asking, I guess I want to be on national level but I'm not sure if my age will let me. And I do understand it's not just about talent and belief, commitment is just as important and that's what I want to do, commit to training properly I just hope it's not too late.
     
  4. Avenger

    Avenger Regular Member

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    well, some people are late when entering the world of sports, and they still did it

    the main question is: which one do you want, become a sports player, or graduating from univ and finding a job?
    for me, except you can win the tournament, it might be hard to earn a living from sports (this is true for any sports, not only badminton)
    graduating from univ, getting steady income might be more stable than as pro

    ask question to yourself: do you really like badminton? (it feels like you don't really like badminton based on your post.. sorry if I'm wrong)are you ready to become a person without bachelor degree and dedicate yourself as a pro?
    if yes, go for it
    if not, treat badminton as leisure sport

    remember this is a big decision
     
  5. tam1991

    tam1991 New Member

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    I'm already into my 3rd year at university nearly at the end of it (this is the last year), so I definitely want to graduate from uni, might aswell finish off what I started. I've heard of sportsmen that play pro while already having a different degree whether it be badminton or football - but I understand that's extremely hard to do/balance, and it's hard to make it big alone in a sport even if that's all you're focusing on.
    And I do like badminton, whenever someone asks me what my hobbies are my first thoughts are badminton and football. I enjoy it, hence why I still play socially and even joined the university society for it. But up until now, I just enjoyed it for fun, but I now I want to enjoy it on a more serious stage.

    I guess if it came down to the choice of completing my degree or leaving that and just concentrate on badminton, then I would have to choose completing my degree because of how far I am at university already.
     
  6. demolidor

    demolidor Regular Member

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    You could set a goal of playing in the National Championships. You don't need to be a full-time badminton player to reach such a level but at this point you need countless of [quality] training hours. Any idea where you can accomplish that part yet?
     
  7. OhSearsTower

    OhSearsTower Regular Member

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    i started even with 25
    but i dont consider myself very talented..rather average..however im very very competitive
    so i know that my clock is ticking (27 now) and that my body wont be in peakshape in 10 years..but i do everything i can (without disregarding other important aspects of my life) to improve myself
    i know that i wont be a national player anymore in this life

    so i set my goals realistically..try to beat clubmember x...try to win league opponent y (who may have won over me in previous games)
    that pushes me really hard even tho my level of play is a joke compared to national level

    but i dont think i would be happier if i compete at national level, there would still be so many players who are better, so the fight on the court would be the same regardless the level of play

    to win matches against ppl who were better than you a months ago for example and to be able to play the game that way that you think you made the best out of yourself (considering talent and time for training) is what makes the most fun..at least for me

    there is no either pro or nothing, there is enough inbetween for everyone


    maybe my personal attitude can help you find your satisfaction



    edit: i think you should join a club, if the club has some decent players (most do) you will find out very soon that you have enough work to do to beat normal good league players and your pro thoughts may disappear very quickly..
     
    #7 OhSearsTower, Aug 6, 2012
    Last edited: Aug 6, 2012
  8. tam1991

    tam1991 New Member

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    Yeah there's a few places I've looked into, near my university and back at home.
     
  9. |_Footwork_|

    |_Footwork_| Regular Member

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    you're over 20, have never played seriously and are thinking bout becoming pro-level-player?
    i got bad news for you...

    it is definetly possible for a talented 20-year old to become a very good badminton player, very good in the sense of being able to compete at a fairly high national league level, say 3rd highest division or so in the UK probably (don't know exactly bout the niveau in the UK...)!
    that'll take you approx. 5 years of time.

    to become pro? no!
     
  10. Footwork_816

    Footwork_816 Regular Member

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    Nothing gets you pumped up to play pro badminton like the olympics :D
     
  11. CanucksDynasty

    CanucksDynasty Regular Member

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  12. Borbor

    Borbor Regular Member

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    Read the book "talent is over-rated."At your stage, you are at least 8000 hours of quality practice behind the pace of elite players in hour age group. Thats the bad news.The good news is, in every sports tournament, especially in pro sports, no one cares about your talent level or your past training regime or your past successes. All people want to know is, can you play ball.
     
  13. Staiger1

    Staiger1 Regular Member

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    With talent ,alot of hard work, practice ,determination, motivation and abit of luck . Your answer is Yes. You can still finish your degree while you train. I would say 8 years minimum , but the good news is that the standard of badminton in England is not very high so getting into the national is not as hard as in many asian countries. If you are that talented , why are you not playing and training with the university squad.
     
  14. amleto

    amleto Regular Member

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    He's lost out on ~ten years 'free coaching' that potentially his parents might have paid for when he was a minor. Now he would have to train full time and pay for everything by himself.

    Realistically, the task is a nigh-on impossibility unless he gets someone to throw money at him.
     
  15. Staiger1

    Staiger1 Regular Member

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    Is free coaching with the university team and they are decent coaches as well, and that is about 5 days a week if you are willing to go that often (before lectures and after lectures on some days)......there are also fitness /cardio as well on Monday ..It is just academia and badminton .......if you wanted to stay on top at both of these , social life is hindered ........

    to be fair , most of us in the team dont take badminton as serious as we should , but there are two players in the team who are willing to sacrifice their social life and became the coaches' pets , and they have improved alot since last September and became our number 1 pair in MD , fair play to them ...............(even they do make the rest of us look lazy by skipping a few training sessions )

    and one of them will probably replace our current 1st team captain in September...........

    so to cut the long story short , if you are willing to take badminton seriously and made it into the squad , and making a few sacrifice in between , you will rapidly raise your game and who knows what could happen afterward (i.e.nationally ranked players etc)
     
  16. fauci

    fauci Regular Member

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    make sure you could feed yourself and would not end up empty-handed otherwise

    go for it!
     
  17. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    Some good points raised here. Starting training at 20years old, county level is definitely achievable. Good county level definitely achievable. National level probably achievable given the right resources.

    So it's a question of resources I.e. money to pay for training - paying for coaching, travel expenses, shuttlecocks, court time.


    Time for training may not be a problem in the UK as I heard a lot of graduates are finding it difficult to get a job.

    As pointed out, even with talent, a lot of time needs to be put in. Let's take 8000hours, assume training time of 15 hours per week, 50 weeks of the year. That would put a time frame of 11 years. Could a talented person reach national level with 6 years of that training? Possibly so.
     
  18. amleto

    amleto Regular Member

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    6 years of part-time training is pushing it quite a lot tbh. ENG National level isn't that bad!
     
  19. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    Whoops, did I make a faux pas? :p

    But training needs to be defined. Is that just on court work? how about extra social badminton sessions, competitions, watching tournaments/video analysis etc. That has a cumulative effect.
     
  20. Staiger1

    Staiger1 Regular Member

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    If you got the raw talent , dedication and motivation , and the right coaching , training , it is possible for him to be a national player. 6 years is a long time . this guy has already had some badminton experience
     

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