Hi everyone, This weekend I will be coaching my first student. She is a personal friend of mine and is relatively new (and somewhat clumsy) to badminton. She's 18 years old and very determined to learn and improve. She has some experience, but basically I will need to start from the basics. Could someone please tell me what drills/exercises you've done that have shown to be effective? Currently I'm thinking of doing basic serving, forehand and backhand exercises and work on full court clears after that; that seems to be the biggest issue with most girls I see playing. Thank you for your time and wisdom
I have been coaching 3 kids (incl my own son) for the last 2 years and the most important thing to remember is to MAKE IT FUN ... Equip them with the necessary basics to hit and play from DAY ONE, your proposal is good ... suggest you mix it up like this: .... warm up, drill (stroke play), play #1, drill (correct the errors from play #1), play #2 (free play), drill (footwork) ... warm down .... (around 10-15 mins per section ) ... BTW, the plan I proposed are for kids from 9-11 years old ... she is 18, you may want to fine-tune a bit more ... NOTE: I am not a paid-coach or a certified coach, I am just a dad (who has been playing for more than 30+ years) teaching his son and some of his friends to have fun and enjoy badminton !!
I've been to a few clinics, and the ones I enjoy is when I'm being pushed (I started in August, having never had instruction before and didn't play for 14 years) the order I'd recommend is: 1) warmup 2) stretch 3) footwork / chinese footwork to get the heart pumping 4) if she has a grasp of the grip, you can go on to clears 5) backcourt to front court footwork (half court) 6) net shots 7) more footwork 8) cool down stretch If you spend even 10 mins per section of the above, that's close to an hour and a half. PLENTY for a beginner IMO. I really wish I got instruction when I was younger; my footwork is TERRIBLE and one simply just can't play the sport that way.
You should always remember to tell her why you are doing this exercise and if you correct her give a good reason why it is better. On a side note: If she is your girlfriend or something like that be careful. This can backfire
IF she IS your girlfriend, give her the toughest routine, maximize the repetitions, and with lesser time intervals for recovery. she'd be too tired to do the other things girls/teens do... yap, gossip, yap, complain, yap, bug u for compliments, and yap some more . best way to preserve your peace of mind lol jk.