Best Age to Learn Badminton

As Early As Possible!

 

How old is your kid now?

From a coaching perspective, if your kid is younger than 8 years old or so, emphasis should be placed on increasing/maintaining her interest in the sport. Don't be overly concerned about form and technique as long as she is not injuring herself. At this stage in her childhood, she should be having fun and enjoying the game more than anything else.

If she is in the 8-13 ranges, she is ready for a bit more technique and refinement. Also, you can start introducing an element of challenge into the game. Because your child is a girl, however, there are two things you have to watch out for. The first and most important thing is, for a lot of girls in this age group, it is very common for them to withdraw from sports once puberty kicks in. Blame it on hormones. Blame it on peer perssure. Blame it on whatever you want. The fact is, it is common for girls to drop out of sports at this age. You have to keep encouraging her and make sure that she doesn't develop any misconceptions that women and sports don't mix.

Another issue of concern is that during puberty, the kids' bodies are rapidly growing. During this period, you don't want to subject them to training that is too intense. Their developing bodies cannot cope with all the growth as well as all the repairs that it has to handle. Too high an intensity will easily lead to injuries. On top of that, teenagers tend to think their bodies are invincible, and they'll keep pushing themselves despite the pain and what-not. It is absolutely something you have to watch out for.

-Rick

 

Spot on,

The one thing is that if they are very young get them one of those smaller rackets and some plusballs to play with first and it will bolster their hand eye co-ordination whilst making it fun because the balls are very light and stay in the air for long periods and they are brightly coloured so they should be able to hold the attention of younger kids that find hitting a faster shuttle a bit daunting and lose interest quickly.

 

what Traum says is more or less exactly wat they taught me at coaching school the younger kids under 10 have to thk badminton is fun it has to be made fun not a mention of future plans later on techinques and proper movement and shot play are introduced and later still hard fitness work but you can't go much wrong as long as the child enjoying themselves and the sport

Hopefully they carry on enjoy it and get better and if success starts to come consider raising the importance of training

 

I know a 10 year old who is going at it, very good for his age and I believe top 5 or so in the age group for which there are already established competitions.

I actually fear he might burn out with the amount of training he does

Myself and another coach keep our session fun and take out the competitive element but the other sessions with other long esablished coaches push him and he is a perfectionist, the main downer is he is very hard on himself and this sometimes manifests itself in temper tantrums on the court and occasional teary outbursts

 

I had the chance to discuss this with Morten Frost a few years ago. His opinion was that the ideal age for starting badminton is around 8 years old.

I know many youngsters that start between 6 and 8, the main problem is having a competent instructor following them so they don't get wrong habits which may very difficult to get rid off later...

If your daughter is gifted and most important has fun playing badminton, well I think there's no problem with her starting some badminton training.
I don't know anything about the best place for her to train in Hong Kong however...

 

younger is better, but there is a steep curve in strength around 12-16 years old because of puberty, your muscles get stronger and you can hit it harder, but if you start young you will have the skill by the time you have the strength

 

Im 15 right now....almost sixteen in a couple of months....i play badminton at school...im serious bout it...but i really want to get more serious...u know like nationals...but im REALLY far from the standards...do u guys think its too late to start training?

 

its never too late...don't be discouraged when you see other players ur age that have been training since they were 7, tho...

 

thanks...so u think its still worth a shot?

 

i think u should go 4 it . since your older, you should be able to pick up and learn the skills much faster than the younger kids. what takes them a yr to learn, you can probably do it in a month or so, with enough practice of course and if ur willing to put enough effort and time as well.

 

yeah! since im in exactly the same situation as u...

 

One Player, if you think your kid is talented and you want her to train under a professional coach, I can provide you some contacts who were ex-Hong Kong women singles champions.

 

Han Jian started when he was 17 and proceeded to reach to the top and eventually became a world champian...believe me...its never too late

 

it says in his book that he started at 17....but there were no specifics...but i prefer to to say that he started without prior experience

 

I think he was 16 when he took up badminton. However, I suspect he was not a novice even then but rather he was not playing at a serious level, until 16.

 

Han Jian???...chinese player i suppose??..when did he compete??...so he won the wc for singles?...WOW...im encouraged!!..LOL

 

You must read his book "Basic Skills of Badminton" and find out more about his accomplishments both as a world-class player and coach!