I'm going to start individual training under Ong Beng Teong next month, twice a week with a friend. I'm not sure if I'm making the correct choice... The coaches in my current academy are getting lazy... sometimes we just go there and play without any training. No doubt I should quit that academy... but starting individual lessons twice a week under Ong Beng Teong? Really not sure if I can improve from it. I've heard some people say Ong Beng Teong trains people very well, anyone here knows about that? Or am I just making a big expensive mistake?
Expensive? Some mediocre coaches in Hong Kong charge HK$350-HK$400 an hour. I think you have nothing to lose. If you don't improve after a while, you can always cut your loss. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Remember to tell him what YOU WANT from the training. If you go and do not put the effort (physical and mental), you'll be wasting your time. Try to ask some questions as well. You can get many from BF and try to get his opinion as well. Write down the training tips he gives you in a notebook immediately after the lesson. If you forgot what he said, don't be shy of asking again (after all, that's why you are paying him!!). Why should you write down some of the things he said anyway? Because humans tend to make the same mistakes all the time. Writing things down is a way of reinforcing the knowledge. When you read them back later, you might think 'Oh yes, now I remember.....'. It's always the small details that get forgotten. I did this with my coach. Right from the very beginning, I noted down the footwork placements, positioning on court. It was another surprise to him, when I brought my DV cam out in another lesson. I learnt a lot that way...much of it is in BF For some examples: Moving from base/forecourt backhand area position to the forehand rearcourt area and Singles gameplay; how to keep your advantage..?
Ong Beng Teong should not be a bad choice! I would suspect if he can see the effort and desire you put into the game, you will be able to get a lot more value from him. Good luck and remember to tell us how things go
Thanks for your encouragement guys. I was really unsure when I made the decision to start training under him. I'll be starting in about 1 1/2 weeks time. I'll be sure to update you people about it...
hey Joanne....... just wonder in what stage u r in.... r u represent state ? or national junior? Ong Beng Teong should be a good coach to guide you...... but i think the most important thing is you have the interest and goals to train regardless what coach you are following........ Coach can only guide you but you are the one who can determine what you can achieve........ so dun worry... , just follow and see how it goes and then decide what to do next...... All the best to you.. hope to see u play in the future............................
Beng Teong is a good coach . . . His group always came in to train after ours was finished... Some of us used to stay behind to help out sometimes Practice makes perfect . . . Where is he coaching now? I should drop by and visit him... Is that lady coach (I've forgotten her name) still assisting him?
Lol I'm not that great at badminton! Just an average player... hopefully he will be able to help me to improve my game. The lady? Audrey? He is coaching in a DU hall, SKTS hall, and also TTDI hall.
That's right! Audrey! Thanks for the reminder I'll make sure to look her up when I get back to PJ... Thanks Joanne
Please excuse my ignorance everyone but who is Ong Beng Teong? It seems that most of the HK'ers know who this is so I would assume and ex-country player or Internationalist. Cheung picked up on the main points, sometimes when being coached you don't always want to spend the time doing drills or hitting birds, you want to enhance your knowledge to find out why you are doing things in a specific way and this also helps with your tactical desicions when you play. Do not be scared to ask questions no matter how silly they seem, if this person is an ex-international player then they are at a much higher playing level than many on this site and see things from a different viewpoint, a mere mortal like me can ask a question and it could be something they have never even thought about themselvs because they just react rather than think about what they are doing.
I've always wondered what happened to him. He played really great with Cheah in some memorable matches against Ricky and Rexy, but then totally disappeared from the scene. Then Cheah turned up with Yap Kim Hock, but never seemed to approach his level when he was playing with Ong. Yap was just too short (not to mention his not-too-agreeable looks) and not as threatening as Ong. One thing that I noticed is that Cheah and Ong always seemed to disagree on tactics or execution. Cheah always looked like a sourpuss and very stingy with smiles. Did they break up over a fight? Joanne, could you ask him when he's in a good mood?
Cheah and Ong played Ricky & Rexy? Really? I don't remember... er... are you possibly referring to Cheah's former partner (b4 Yap Kim Hock) Soo Beng Kiang? Soo did kinda look as if he was in a bad mood most of the time... and there're a lot of stories as to why they broke up as a pair... Ong Beng Tiong was Cheah Soon Kit's partner b4 Soo Beng Kiang came along... this was quite a while ago
Yes, you're right. It was Soo and Cheah who played against Ricky and Rexy. If I remember it right, they played against each other in the 1993 AE semi-final. A great match! I've seen a lot of men's doubles matches and that one ranks among the most entertaining ones. So, when did Ong play with Cheah? I stopped following intl badminton between 1984 and 1993, so there's a very long gap in my knowledge. Could you tell me more about those juicy break-up stories? And how about the Sigit and Candra split-up?
Juicy break-up stories? What juicy break-up stories? There are many, and I am going to make up a couple. One is Soo was doubly rewarded, financially, for being part of the 1992 winning team that won the Thomas cup. This pissed Cheah off, because he was rewarded only once. The other story, yes the other story..... it is too unprintable to put in words here as I am mindful of the fact that there are ladies out there.
Thanks a lot Taneepak, Making me more curious like that. Pretty interesting stuff about Soo and Cheah. But you can hardly blame Soo that he got twice the bonus. Did he stop playing altogether after the split with Cheah? I've heard that Candra and Sigit fought since they started playing together because Candra thought that Sigit didn't train enough and Candra wanted to play a more attacking game. This seems a bit strange to me because it's Candra who does most of the lifting in most of the matches that I've seen. They must have broken up after their loss at the 2003 WC final against the Danes. A very poor decision, I believe, because the Danes were playing really well and it was no shame to lose from them. Anyway, Sigit and Candra found new partners and now Indonesia has 2 mediocre teams instead of a great champion's team.
Interesting stuff on that thread. It pretty much confirms the info that I got from a journalist at the Sudirman Cup in Eindhoven last year. In that tournament, Candra and Sigit didn't talk to each other anymore and they played very poorly, like they didn't care at all about their matches. I can only hope that they'll reconsider their partnership after some disastrous results with their new partners. Maybe they're getting too old and it's time for a new generation to stand up.
