Coaching newbies...

Discussion in 'Coaching Forum' started by Winex West Can, Oct 9, 2002.

  1. Winex West Can

    Winex West Can Regular Member

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    Hi there,
    I've recently volunteered to be a helper/assistant coach for a junior development program. We had our first evening on Monday and there were two sessions. The first early session is for kids aged 8 to 12 and strictly all of the kids are beginners with hardly any experience in badminton at all. This session is easy to plan. The second later session is for kids aged 13 to 19 and most of the kids who showed up has had played before, some of them probably has been coached or are still being coached. The problem with this session is that we have quite a diverse group of players from beginners to the intermediate (coached) and in between we have players who had played for fun and have no idea of the proper strokes/techniques required.

    How would you about planning for the session? You don't really want to teach the basic as the advanced players will get bored. My initial take was to split the group into three; beginners, casual, & intermediate with the intermediate be given drills, and games. The casual will have to be treated different from the beginners in that you have to get them to unlearn the bad stuff and the beginners with a program similar to the early session.

    Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated and welcomed.
     
  2. Kc_uk

    Kc_uk Regular Member

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    Hi,

    I would think beginners and casuals would fall under the same category here, intermediates would be another group and finally you would have your most experienced bunch.

    I've experience similar problem when i passed my badminton leaders award. I was attending a session where my coach was in the process of teaching a class whose age range was from 11-18. He was always accompanied by an assistant who was coach standard.

    What happened is that everyone warms up together as a group. Once the warm up is over, the coach utilises the most experienced players into teaching the new kids how to hold their rackets, how to hit the shuttle properly, introduction to different strokes, backhands, forehands, all the basic shots in the game.

    This way the most experienced players get a chance to actually coach themselves. Helps them build confidence, share their skills and gain some responsiblities. But this is always done under the watchful eye of the assistant coach.

    In the meantime the coach has some time to concentrate on a few of the intermediate players, possibly teaching them footwork, court positioning for doubles, tactics and strategy etc. All intermediates would take part in the same training.

    With the intermediates set with their own training program the coach sets up the program for the most experienced, mainly focussing on individuals, usually they would play games and the coach would watch, take note and give advice on what they needed work on and so forth.

    The assistant by this time would be watching over the young newbies play little games. All experienced players would be playing their own games at this point and no longer assisting the newbies.

    So you have three groups be taught at the same time but on different levels. The only time you would have any group mix with the other is when the coach decides to use the more experienced player to assist in teaching the newcomers.

    This worked well for us, usually we had in the region of 10-15 newcomers, 7 intermediates and 2-3 experienced players. Maximum of 25 players made up of kids and young adults. We also had 4 courts to play on so plenty of space.


    I hope this helps. ;)
     
    #2 Kc_uk, Oct 9, 2002
    Last edited: Oct 9, 2002
  3. Normand

    Normand Regular Member

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    13-19 age group

    Hi

    For the age group 13-19, we base our teaching on routines, but we insist that the players put's in sufisant effort so that either the beginner or intermediate player will be able to increase his playing abilities. These routines, warm-up and cardio-excercise covers approx 40% the other 60% is playing games (that the coach will organise as for everybody can play with different players and level).


    Normand
     
  4. JChen99

    JChen99 Regular Member

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    Help!!!

    OK... I'm with the same situation as WWC... the only difference is that I'm in charge of only a small group of kids (5)
    It's quite a BAD number to work with... if you get my drift. I'm hoping that maybe someone has had experience doing this? PLEASE HELP! ANY HELP WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATE IT! Thanks! :D
     
  5. Kelvin

    Kelvin Regular Member

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    Beginners should be working on the fundamentals, always!

    If they can not hit the shuttle, there is no point to play.

    Your more experienced players should be running more complicated drills, and then later have everyone play games at the end of the night.

    When the beginners see how wonderful their shots are because they have better technique, they will understand that they can now improve their skills even further.

    But that's just my take on things :p as I have to go through similar situations quite frequently.

    Meaning working on technique and running drills for myself hehe. :D

    -Kelvin
     
  6. bluejeff

    bluejeff Regular Member

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    Don't forget the most important thing to all beginners :)

    That is, Badminton is FUN!!

    Since they are all beginners, developing their interests to Badminton is the most important issue than skills. If they think Badminton is a hard sport to play, they probably will give it up. So, I think the FUN factor is really important.

    Once they are sure that they really want to learn to play well in badminton, then we can focus on the skills & training parts. :)
     
  7. bluejeff

    bluejeff Regular Member

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    I forgot to say, no matter what they do, try not to blame them :)(I know it's hard :p)

    Since they are new, they will make lots of mistakes. Also, people tend to dislike the fundamentals the most because they think it's boring (unless they really want to learn :)), so when they don't want to do.... just leave it there. Pushing too hard on beginners will make them scared and wanna leave. (I saw this case before)
     
  8. JChen99

    JChen99 Regular Member

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    Yep... that was what i had in mind... FUN first... but I still needed to make sure they have learned things in the course... after all, I believe they've all paid around 70-80 bux for 10 hrs of badminton... BETTER not make their $$ goto waste!

    As for not blaming them... I've figured out ways to talk to em while avoidin any blame phrases... haha... the skills you develop coaching JRs at the HS... more patience... better convincin technique(aka BS XD) AND most of all... TOLERANCE for... the stupid things they do sometimes :p (I mean... sometimes... the things they do may be stupid... but if it's FUN and also works on SOME aspects of the game... GO WIF IT! :D)
     
  9. JChen99

    JChen99 Regular Member

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    The kids I'm coaching are 9-12... so wut kinda things can I do at the be beginning... to keep them occupied and still learn things? Also... there's a slight problem wif 5 kids in the group (not the best number of kids to work wif) I think I gotta jump in wif them. Is that a good idea? or is that a nono cuz I gotta keep some sorta distance from them... being coach(teacher) n all? (cuz personally I can be realli kiddish when I'm amongst kids so I can fit in pretty well wif the kids... dispite my age :p)
     
  10. Kelvin

    Kelvin Regular Member

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    VERY GOOD IDEA!!

    lol

    I cant stress it enough, if you do not take a hands on approach, and just stand there and order the kids around they wont like it too much, they have to be able to see what you're talking about as well as your actions.

    Fun is the most important thing, sorry forgot to mention that above.
    For younger children, it is important to make sure they stay moving during their drills etc, albeit more simplistic ones...

    Depending on the group size, you can split them up into two sides, and do short rally kings-court style drills, wherein you are playing half court, and people must sprint from the rear of the court, towards an oncoming shuttle, and win the rally via whatever shot it may be that they hit.

    I remember when I was young, I suckered one of my coaches in, and performed a very nice hairpin drop on her... she thought she would rule the court that day... she thought wrong :D

    In any event... using encouraging words is important as well... this is coming from someone who is rather impatient.

    Never use the words "NO dont do that!"

    I remember hearing that from someone, and ughh... what a confidence killer.

    When you boost one's confidence, and morale, they will try harder, and put forth a more sincere effort.

    That's all I have to say about that.
    -Kelvin
     
  11. JChen99

    JChen99 Regular Member

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    I find this to be quite a bit of challenge too... because there's ONLY 5 kids as of now(maybe 1 or 2 more by the time it starts... but I doubt it). And I really have no idea wut to do with such a small group at the beginner level. Any suggestions?
     
  12. bluejeff

    bluejeff Regular Member

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    Perhaps do a 4-2(including you) games?

    4 kids play doubles
    2 (you and a kid) play singles.

    Then, those 5 kids do rotations, so all of them after 10 games, will play 1 doubles and 1 singles each, and you will have 5 singles! :D
     
  13. JChen99

    JChen99 Regular Member

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    This would be good suggestion for the game part. However... I cant have them play 2 hrs of games right? or can I?... :D

    I was actually thinking more of something that's fun but also works on an aspect of the game(badminton) at the same time? :confused:
     
  14. Kelvin

    Kelvin Regular Member

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    One important thing for you being a leader/coach, is to have tons of plastic shuttles :D

    the way you can run things depending on what you are doing with the kids for drills, is have all of them lined up on one side of the net practicing technique ie serving.

    you can turn this later into drills for the forehand by having them all lined up one behind the other while you feed shuttles out to them and then have them sprint to the back of the court.

    Honestlly there are endless possibilities...

    One other neat footwork drill that will get all the kids running around, is again split the group in half, one group on the other side of the net, and the other on your side, and have one person put the shuttle into play, and each person takes one shot, and runs to the back of the court, and alternate through the line up... each person that makes a mistake has to do push-ups :p
    yes I know that's mean... hahaha

    Footwork/speed drills, you can have the kids sashay from the baseline of the court touching the line, up to the net, and tap the net, and rush back again while sashaying... kids get a huge work out from this... heck even a lot of adults I know do as well lol

    one thing I used to do as a rotational thing, is to have a doubles rally going, but for each point, or mistake that one makes, you receive a "strike" against you... once you have 5 strikes against you, you must leave the court, and do push ups while another player comes on... the secret is not to worry about your partner, and only look after your half of the court ;)

    Sorry, my thoughts and ideas are all over the place here.. pm me if you want a more concise list of things you can do... I've done a lot of drills, and gone through a lot of drills etc.

    -Kelvin
     
  15. JChen99

    JChen99 Regular Member

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    hey guys, just thought I'd give an update :D

    It's been 4 weeks with the group (it turned out to be a agroup of 4 actually but one of the kids have missed half of the sessions) and this upcoming week would be their last. The weakest player (who's also the youngest) could barely hit the bird when he started, but now he can hit 90% of the shots fed to him! W00t!

    I found the routine that kinda worked was as the following:
    1. warm up - prolly about 20 minutes where you just let them ralley and hit around for a big
    2. skill of the day - taught them 3 things so far (cuz one of the lessons was cut short due to tai-kwan-do (spelling?) grip/forehand serve/clear/netshot/backhand serve(this upcoming sunday). I mean, they cant execute end to end clears, but they CAN hit the bird :p This I do individually for about 15-20 minutes each and during that time I have the other 3 kids play 1v2s or singles if there's only 3 kids there at that day (however sometimes they feel bored when it goes on for a while, so I have to stop and do something else fun wif them once in a while)
    3. games - After skills taught I'd get them to play a few games (sometimes modified games) so they can either work on their skills or just have fun
    4. challenge - a few of them believe they can beat me :rolleyes: but so far they havn't been able to (figures lol) but I'm wodering if I should let them beat me this upcoming sunday. After all it is their last time wif me... n most of em realli want to beat me pretty badly :D

    I'll be starting wif another group of 4 after this week. Wondering if there's any suggestions/critiques for this plan I have? :D Thanks guys!
     
  16. lalanthier

    lalanthier Regular Member

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    In our club we have those three catagories.

    What my coaches do is they take the intermediate players. When they warm up, they warm up with the beginners or without (not always, because it doesn't end up being a warm up for the intermediate players). Then the intermediate group (about 6 or so) go off into one court.

    The casual, beginner players take the other two courts. The intermediate group then does tons of drills - everything from lines, to footwork, to serves etc. Meanwhile, the coach goes over to the other courts and watches the other kids play, and offers advice as they play their game according to their most frequent mistakes etc. (this way they can apply what they've learned right away and those that are winning realize why they might be winning).

    After the drills, the intermediate players stay on that one court and play singles or doubles. Those that are waiting (usually at least one or two) either sit around, do sit ups etc. or get paired up with a beginner and play another doubles game against another doubles team. This way, the intermediates rotate playing each other while still offering challenge to the beginners so they can learn.

    Of course, the coach sometimes takes one or two kids, plays with them, or coaches them. Then after say one game, they go around watching everyone again. They even take the beginners and teach them shots while the intermediate players do their drills.

    I find this method very effective as everyone is involved. Those who are not playing are usually making jokes. Those who are beginners get to improve very quickly. However, one must admit that the intermediate players might not improve at the same speed, but usually the learning curve is after you've sufficiently gained the basic skills, you cool off...then when you start getting into the advance shots (ie slices etc) you improve very quickly again. I think once you get to the intermediate level, it really depends on whether the players themselves are willing to work the extra bit to get from intermediate to advanced.

    West Can, where do you volunteer? I've been looking for a place to volunteer coaching beginners.
     
  17. JRMTL

    JRMTL Regular Member

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    How to coach newbies

    Hi,

    first post here. I coach at University of Montreal, Canada. I coached juniors for 7 years and this is one of the most tough question to deal with coaching. Well, it is the same at senior level. You have advanced players who compete at national or international level and some less advanced players who compete only in a somewhat regional level.

    But, basically, one of the solutions might be the same: you do the same drill for beginners and intermediate players. But, beginners will focus on less advanced goals than intermediate players.

    Ex: 2 by 2 on half court

    Player A serves long
    Player B drops
    Player A hits the shuttle to the net
    Player B clears
    Player A drops
    Player B ...

    Beginner goals:
    1- have the right foot in front (for a right-handed player) when hitting the shuttle at the net
    2- have the right foot pointing towards the back wall when hitting the shuttle at the back of the court
    3- ...

    Intermediate goals:
    1- doing a shuffle after hitting a shuttle at the net
    2- hit the shuttle with the elbow high enough either at the back of the court or at the net
    3- hit the clear and serve very high
    4- ...

    Advanced goals:
    1- hold the racket before hitting at the net or at the back of the court (this goal has many subgoals)
    2- to vary the height of the clear and control it
    3- ...

    Those goals are only a tiny part of the goals that can be generated by this simple drill. You have to separate your goals into categories and say which goal you will practice with each level of players you have.

    But a basic rule: KISS -> Keep It Simple Sir !

    And you can vary this simple drill by putting 2 shots at the net, 2 clears in a row, choices between clear and drop, etc.

    And sometimes, you can change players between them at each 3 min. They turn around seeking another partner. It can be stimulating.

    Good Luck!
     
  18. JRMTL

    JRMTL Regular Member

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    I forgot...

    I forgot to mention 2 games with kids that were great:


    a) To learn to hit a shuttle at the back of the court:

    bring some tennis balls or smoother balls. Learn them how to pitch a ball with the arm rotation like a baseball player. Then, told them to take the racket and hit the shuttle with the same move. Success guarantied (sp?)!

    b) To learn how to serve, clear at the net or drive:

    bring some REALLY smooth balls. They stand at the back of the gym and they try to hit the ball as far as they can. Then, you show a trick with having the palm of the racket's hand open towards the ceil. Then, they rorate the forearm and finishes to hit with the palm towards the floor. So, you can do 2 contests:

    i) 2 by 2: kid who hits the ball the further... then you try with a shuttle
    ii) 2 by 2: one kid is a "goaler" and the other tries to hit a ball to make a goal. Do with smooth balls only.

    That's all folks!
     
  19. elinchick

    elinchick New Member

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    newbie coaching newbies

    Hi everyone, this is my first post here!
    I have to say that I like the approaches some of you have to teaching newbies. Very inspiring!!

    Im am due to coach badminton in a few weeks time and the problem is I am a newbie myself to badminton! The objective is to design 4 lesson plans and deliver one, showing a clear progression throughout the plans. Ive decided to aim the plans towards beginners (hoping I will be able to learn myself a few tricks along the way) and the class will consist of my fellow students which I know is a mix of abilities.

    The thing is I am not sure how I should progress the plans? Should I start the first lesson with basic racket handling, then move on to footwork, then learning the moves, then rules etc??:confused: Also has anyone got anymore useful and fun drills I could incoorporate?

    Any tips and suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
     
  20. elinchick

    elinchick New Member

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    Sorry

    Oh no, diddnt mean to start a new thread!! Was meant to post it somewhare else!
    I truly do appologise
     

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