Out club got a new coach recently. This coach at first seemed nice enough until he coached my "section" of my club's team training yesterday. My section is the "medium" group where we're not the best but not the worst. This new coach made us do a drill for over an hour non stop without getting a drink of water. When he questioned whether I was tired or not, I obviously said "yes" and his reply was "keep going". Obviously as time progressed, I grew more tired, my shots got worse and I made a half drop half smash shot to my partner. And the coach walks up to me and says, "What kind of crappy shot was that? There's no angle or power at all" and he went on criticising my shots without correcting me or telling me how to hit it properly. After a while, my "section" grew tired and decided to get a drink of water. We're all walking to our bags and he calls us back saying that only he can tell us when to get a drink of water. Fair enough, but still, over an hour of drills and not a drop of water seems ridiculous and cruel in my opinion. So then he takes me, and two other students for a game of doubles. We're dead tired so our shots were not very accurate. He then starts telling all of us how we make too many mistakes and how we're not good enough. The next thing you know, two of his serves don't make it past the net and two of his returns were out. One of the students go, "Yes! I got a point off of _(the caoch)_____" and the coach says, "What? it's not like you can beat me" in a serious and arrogant way. It wasn't even close to joking or sarcasm. During a rally, there was a shot that the coach was supposed to receive. After the bird hit the floor, I looked at him wondering whether it was my shot or his and he says, "That was my shot but I was watching your horrible footwork". It's as if he was mocking us. What really bugs me is the attitude that he has towards his students. He speaks to us in a way that pretty much says, "look, you suck, how did you get chosen to be on the team??" I'm trying my best and putting me and the other students down like that without even actual coaching or correction isn't helping me or the other students at all. After the training, I saw him talking with the head coach about how crappy we were and how we weren't up to par. I should stop here because the more I think about it, the angrier I'm getting. I myself am taking a coaching course and I believe that this is NOT the way to coach a student. Criticisms and put downs drive the student away from the sport rather than make them improve. I might actually consider not going to team training the this certain coach coaches my group. I liked the other male coach that our club has. He was kind AND he was our friend. He stands up for us and takes a lot of criticism for us when we dont behave or don't listen to him. He's a tough coach with high expectations but encourages us along the way with words like, "Good shot, nice try, common, you can do it". He corrects us and tells us the proper way to hit a shot. I believe that this is the proper way to coach. I've spoken with another person in my "section" after training and she thought about this recently new coach the same way I did. What should I do? should I inform the head coach about what happened? Advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
If there is a head coach, why don't you gather several other players and complain to him? Not allowing the players to drink (water) is simply ridiculous. If you really want to make a big deal out of it, this guy could probably get sued for inhumane treatment. I can't tell for sure what age your group is in, but if this is happening at your school, get your parents to complain to the principal or the athletics director. If this is happening at a local sports program, file a complain with the director. If this guy is getting paid to coach, he better watch what he is doing out there on the court or he'll risk losing the job. -Rick
From what you have said this sounds like very poor coaching. I wouldn't expect anyone to work constantly for an hour, in fact I would insist they took on water and had a break as part of good practice.
an extreme training scenario but if you can endure and excel in spite of the odds you will find that you may actually jump to the next level quicker. whether this coach's methods and behaviour are satisfactory or not, you will either force yourself to keep going or you can decide to quit or complain. but always remember, you must always train harder than you would a normal match. only then would you be fully prepared for a real tough match. and when you are in a match, you're not going to get much sympathy from an opponent. think of your coach then and if you are successful - thank him for being a cold heartless bastard.
the coach's method seems to be quite crude. the fact that you aren't allowed to get water after a long amount of training is very absurd, this is actually quite dangerous. My opinion is this: get a group of people and complain to the head coach. There's nothing wrong with speaking out. If he won't do anything about it (which i don't see why he shouldn't), then i suggest you stop training under him. but if you can endure and excel in spite of the odds you will find that you may actually jump to the next level quicker. as for this, there has to be some limit. what the coach is doing is past that limit. if this were his objective (to get you guys to the next level), i would have to say he's failing. You may be pushing yourself, but pushing yourself too hard that you're not getting anywhere but wearing yourself out. But i agree with badrad, you do need to push yourself in order to get to the next level..just that what the coach is doing is too much.
For a coach to do the same thing for so long is out of order, drills are fine but you need to explain the aims of the exercise and what the students should be aiming for (D.E.B.S.) Demonstration of the shot, Explanation of the shot (what its purpose is and when it is used etc), Breakdown of the shot (stage by stage actioning of the motion) and Shadowing the shot without shuttles so each person has a rough idea of what is going on and what the motions are. Once a coach has you doing drills he/she should then be going round and individually correcting any errors ie. footwork, point of imppact etc. The most importaint thing is to keep the interest of the group, doing the same thing for a timespan is ok but as a rule it should be about 15-20 mins before moving on to something else or breaking up the routine with games or some kind of practical application of what you have learned in a conditioned game. Get the group together and go to see the head coach and put your concerns across, this may be better done with an adult present just to give your concerns more presence and also so they are not brushed aside from the head coach, remember he would have hired the guy based on either a recomendation or his reputation. There is also the possablility that he may have been pushing you in your first session to see how far you can go but from what you describe it is excessive.
I think your coach's coaching methods are definitely very poor if his intention is to toughen you up. There is a difference between slave-driving an athlete and challenging an athlete. And the fact that he would not allow you to get water during a practice is very dangerous indeed. One of my best friends has died because of dehydration since he was not allowed to get water during his training (not for badminton). Perhaps that is an extreme point, but as a coach myself, his attitude does not make players work harder. His attitude makes players feel bad about themselves, and then end up disliking the wonderful sport of badminton. Granted I do not know what age group is being coached, if you are there on your own accord and not being paid, but I do not think that this kind of attitude from the coach is acceptable at all. On the flip-side, perhaps your coach had a very bad day or night. His attitude may be due to personal reasons and he was taking out his frustrations on your group. Either way, if these problems persist, I would suggest that a group of you talk to the head coach about the situation.
Even worse, as a coach you should devote your time to the group when you teach it, if your cat has just died you leave it at the door when you go into the hall (not the cat, your personal baggage) and do not take anyting out on the people that you teach, you do nothing for yourself and alienate your group!
I would talk to that coach personally to clarify his intentions first, in case there was a misunderstanding. Explain how you feel to the coach and don't be affraid or intimidated to do so. See what he has to say about his actions. You can always go to the head coach later if things can't be worked out. It's always better try to solve problems without involving others. You'd be surprised how much a difference it can make if things can be settle without any outside parties.
bloody hell jelly bean. if that was me i would have walked out even if he said no. people like that need a knocking back a pace or two. i would talk to the head coach. I had a Coach who was a woman and she was very nice and a very good player.
Difficult case. He could be looking for some 'fighting spirit'. Different characters can respond to different types of motivation. I am surprised about the water issue though. It is known that dehydration affects performance. I wonder what the rationale for witholding water was. I wonder if this incident was in North America.
Cheung, I dont understand your reasoning about it possibly being in Northern America. Is is the possibility of a lawsuit or is is coaching practice related? Or is the wording about the coaching structure with there being a coach and a head coach?
I'd like to say thanks for the advice and replies. Cheung : I cannot disclose the club or the coach but to answer your question, yes, it is in North America, to be more specific, Canada. Here's an update, my father was talking about it with the coaching in a "as a matter of fact" way and the coach's explanation was to basically "prepare us for tougher competition", he didn't see us train hard enough with eachother in the drills and that he didn't realise we didn't have water.... *shrugs*. I'm not as angry anymore and I don't hate him. He didn't coach my group today. But I'll definitely keep an eye out in the future. Thanks again for all the help By the way, I'm not going to sue him even though I could but way too much complication and our club has too many "rumours" and issues already. This is just a minor case compared to what we have gone through/going through right now.
My coach is somewhat similar to yours. Except a lot kinder... After doing drills for a pretty good time, he asks us if we're tired. We all respond yes and he says to keep going. Then after one more set, he lets us drink water. I don't know why your new coach is doing what he's doing. Not even Junior National players do that. I sat down sometimes just watching them train, doing drills, and the coach doesn't make them do drills for more than an hour without any water. It's more like after they do some sets of drills. I would complain to the head coach about your new coach's coaching methods. I can understand the playing a game after your train part, but the rest and how arrogant he is? Nope, if he was pretty sarcastic about it and was playing around, then that's different.
My logic is that sports people in N America can be quite motivated at times- almost single minded in pushing people to test their limits. Hence partly explaining the actions of the coach. Not for litigation purposes. I was not trying to fish around for the name of the club either That does not solve any problems.
try these: http://www.badmintonforum.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12263&highlight=drink http://www.badmintonforum.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11134&highlight=drink http://www.badmintonforum.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9873&highlight=drink http://www.badmintonforum.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7052&highlight=drink http://www.badmintonforum.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6668&highlight=drink
Hi Jellybean After such a long training he didn't even allow you to drink water i would suggest you report him to HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP.
we will be arriving in hongkong by may 13 and we would like to ask if it is possible that we undergo an extensive badminton training and some tune up games with your club because right after our trip to hongkong is our tournament back in manila...plsemail me at dbachelor777@yahoo.com...tnx in advance ad more power
