I was just pondering what makes up the success of producing a world class badminton player. Starting at a young age with proper training is just one factor but what else contributes. Geographically where one starts makes a difference as the standard of play will for one be higher with more players involved. Many other sports like hockey, football, basketball, volleyball,baseball, golf and a lot of other sports grab a lot of talented athletes here in North America. Smaller countries like Indonesia ,Malaysia,Denmark and Korea have fewer sports to eat up their pool of talent. China seems to be more multi-sport oriented as well but also has the population and does sports talent testing to find children from a young age who show potential athletic abilities and then separates them into sport specialty schools. Indonesia and Malaysia have badminton academies that mirror the same approach as China. The coaching and money that is invested in the sport by these countries also makes a difference. These factors help but I believe there is more to their success than that. For example what about these players in-country competition. How can players improve unless there is someone better to push them and of course that has to be on a continuous basis. Tournaments out of country help but that of course requires more funds and only the select few benefit. Here in Canada alot of the best players live far apart from each other and only compete against each other maybe twice or three times a year. I am sure this is the same case for the U.S. players as well. The dedicated few from Canada and the US live abroad to train in more advanced play standard countries but I am sure at great cost on their own. The only time we in Canada or the US get a break is when players from other countries come here to study or try to make a go of it as coaches. We get a taste of some speed and world class play but without competition for these people their skills start to slip as well. What is it that allows the other countries to maintain their high standards? There is always a steady stream of up and coming players who want to do whatever it takes to replace them. Training to the point of injury all for a shot at making the squad. The coaches are competitive wanting recognition as well as the rewards that come with producing a champion. National pride also motivates these countries and their athletes as sometimes badminton is their international identity. Some of these countries if they can’t win go to the other countries to find coaches that will somehow give them the edge they are missing. Where does that leave the rest of us. Here in Canada and I am sure in the US as well there is still the problem of finding access to coaches, players/training partners and proper training facilities. We also still face the stereotype of being simply a recreational sport as opposed to a serious athletic endeavour. Despite all this we continue to love this sport and strive to better ourselves. . This is why just being talented isn’t enough to make you all that you can be. Clearly though we can see where the path lies in order to produce players that can compete with the best.
