I'm 17 and i want to start taking badminton lessons (hope its not too late) Besides VRC and ClearOne (the only places i know of), where can i take lessons within richmond and vancouver ? In your opinion, where would you recommend? thx !
I think those places you mentioned have higher quality coaching and have the pricing to commensurate the qualities. The other place would be hollyburn in West Van... another exclusive club. Unless you're willing to devote yourself fully to competition and have the money to match your desires, there's not many alternatives in the lower mainland. I believe Cambie Community Center offers some coaching in Richmond (presumably your area of residence).
I'm taking the adult intermediate lessons at ClearOne right now and I must say it's very good. Darryl Yung himself comes around and gives you personal advice as he goes from court to court within the group. The best $88 I've every spent. The seemingly small change he made to my grip has increased my accuracy by two fold. My smashes are now powerful without any "brute" power at all. This is only my second lesson tonight too! Money spent at places like these is a wise choice any day.
Wow, dude! You're training at C1 now?! Man, I can see you kicking ass in the near future in VRC and other places! Now VRC membership is the next step, buddy! How'd you even get into the program? The waiting list is at least 1 and a half year long for Darryl's time!!!
It is? I doubt there's a list for the ones I'm registered for. It's just your plain jane adult intermediate lessons. You can just walk in and register. I know I did. You're probably thinking of the Elite programs. That probably does have a 1 year waiting period as Darryl himself chooses the students at his discretion. But seriously, the lessons have been great. It just tidies up little things here and there. He said my form overalls actually pretty good for someone with no training before. My smashes form is textbook now, so it's time to work on more consistency and power. You should take it. You're probably adult advanced cappy! Look into it. Take it with me when I'm done my intermediate lessons.
Yeah... that's something to consider. Give me a shout once you're ready to go into the next program. We could go in and check it out together!
Ah! Just remembered that the one and half year waiting list I was refering to is for Darryl's private lessons. The Super Elite program you mentioned, I heard, pretty much anybody can go in... as long as they can keep up with the rest of the group. So Darryl could choose you if you are super fit and have decent techniques... relatively speaking, of course. Geez! Dude, I can't fathom the damage you can do with the newly refined techniques plus your current speed and fitness. So when did you decide to sign up for group instruction? It's definitely a step in the right direction! I guess bighook's instructions paid dividends for you, eh?
I decided to sign up about a month ago. I knew my summer was going to be really busy trying to finish up my thesis, so I thought more quality badminton time was going to have to make up for the lower quantity of baddie moments. The efficiency's what I've really gained from this. I noticed I'm using less and less effort to make more and more powerful shots. So when I really punch it, it's really zooming. I also have more energy to save for moving around the court so I get there early. So even though we've hi-jacked kaka23's thread here I'd say kaka23, just do it, go out there and get the coaching!
i just went to check out both vrc and clearone today...vrc looks very nice and systematic. There were SO may ppl there that there was a line up for the courts. As for clearone, i'll have to say honestly that it didn't look so impressive to me...well since i heard from u guys that clearone is such a good place for training, i didn't expect it to look more like a big storage room =P...and i think the courts there are not regular size, are they? they look so small to me. Its really dark in there, and not many people were playing (two courts were used only). Of course i'm just judging it by appearance...but now i'm kinda confused as to where i should get trainings...besides the instructor u guyz talked about (darryl) does not teach teen beginner or intermediate...its toby, tim, vincent or ryan. Do u still recommend clearone over VRC? oh and i see that vrc is actually cheaper than clearone...kinda interesting. any advice ?
kaka23: don't let the gym interior fool you into making a bad decision. it's not how the gym looks, but the quality of the program and coaching that will make the difference in your skills.
Amen to that! Darryl has many excellent players training under him, and some of those players helped coach/train in beginner, intermediate and even advance classes. You only get Darryl's full attention once you're in the elite program competing provincially and nationally.
Don't get hung up on just private lessons! Group lessons are as good! I have 2 sons in Super Elite. Toby is my older one and check out his stats on C1 web site. I can say, both VRC and C1 offer good junior training programs. Toby and his 2 years younger brother Derrick start their group lessons at VRC when they were 8 and 6. They started with (obviously) Beginners Group lessons with VRC coaches and guess who is helping out in the training group?........Its VRC's top Junior National player ......none other than........Darryl Young..... 12 years later......Darryl....the head coach.....Toby...assistant coaches....no need to say more. The assistant coaches teaches the basic and establish a good foundation for the kids to advance in the future (If they are interested in becoming high level or elite (national level) junior player). My boys often come home after training complained that they were being tortured.....but they love it.......They won their fair share of tournaments..but definitely...not all. Its the dedication, hard work and the amount of training you have done for the tournament...and not how good you are when you win in the tournament. If you can't make up your mind, try taking both...VRC and C1 so that you can compare. I've seen many badminton kids grow up for the last 12 years and including mine. Some advanced, some disappeared. Different kids fit in different programs and I've seen kids change their training clubs or centres many many times. We all want the best (for self and for our kids), don't we all........... For me...I'm obviously bias ....My boys came to me and asked me whether they can change their coach about 6 or 7 years ago and I said yes.......need not for me to say more....... ClearOne private lessons cost are more than VRC is because C1 is a centre and not a club. You need to "book" a court for your private lessons and the court cost is also included. VRC is a club, and do not have a count booking fee. In other words....our (I'm a full time member) VRC membership fees "pay" part of the "court use" for private and group lessons because they take away 3 or 4 courts of my playing time during different days of the week.:crying: :crying: :crying: (BTW - we need the VRC juniors to become VRC senior member to support the membership....in a way, we are investing for the future for the club, for the kids so that more people can enjoy and benefit from the best sport in the world.) If you are a junior - ie U19 - don't miss the 2nd annual ClearOne Thanksgiving Junior B Tournament. If you are older then U19, we have Open for you and your friend to play! Tournament details - visit www.lmba.ca and download an entry form...see you there.
