Am i past my sell by date?

Discussion in 'Techniques / Training' started by blundey, Jul 8, 2008.

  1. blundey

    blundey Regular Member

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    Basically im 24 years old. Been playing badminton for 1 year now. I have progressed very well in MY opinion and can give everyone at my social clubs a run for there money.

    Im still an advanced beginner though, i wouldnt say im an intermediate player, as ive seen some very good players who are not pro's.

    My question is this. Am i to OLD to take badminton seriously? The reason i ask is that ive just had a weekend camp with a guy called Paul Trueman who coached me. Ive now been offered coaching for 25£ per hour. But im not sure if its worth my while. I would love to get better at the sport and learn more, but will i ever be able to compete? Do i have any targets.

    The reason i ask this, is because all the good player down there over the weekend all started at age 8-10years old.... me starting at 24 is surely to late to be able to compete to any respectable standard....

    Or am I wrong?

    Any opinion welcome here..because as much as i love the sport....i dont want to waste money if i have no targets other than getting better quickly.
     
  2. coachgary

    coachgary Regular Member

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    £25.00 per hour for 121 I would presume is fairly standard. However in my opinion it would be better to find a coaching session where the ratio is 1 coach to 4 or 6 players. This would divide the cost between you all, and you would get more out of the session.
     
  3. Sasho

    Sasho Regular Member

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    24 -- what did you graduated?
    Or you are still a student?
     
  4. blundey

    blundey Regular Member

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    graduated in IT. Not been a student for a long time :) why do u ask?
     
  5. blundey

    blundey Regular Member

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    Its hard to find coaches around here as it is. If i was to get 4 or 6 more people i wouldnt get all the attention :p
     
  6. Sasho

    Sasho Regular Member

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    It is great!

    I love badminton!
    I've been training between 11 and 14, but stopped because of... some problems I had... I've been playing in the secondary school and now I play in a club 2 times a week. And I am happy.

    I am 22 and next year I am graduating Insurance and Finances at university (hope so) -- I really like my future profession and think it is interesting...

    And I don't feel like I've missed something :)

    And what is wrong with you being recreational player?
     
  7. blundey

    blundey Regular Member

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    I want to be the best i can be, and then put that skill to good use. There is no point in my getting reallly good and then playing beginners and not having a challenge or goal.
     
  8. alexkho

    alexkho Regular Member

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    never give up never surrender :) i am 27 even i am not that good in badminton .. i still want to compete .. in all kind of competition .. even if i lose i will learn more .... so never give up ... never surrender to age .....
     
  9. blundey

    blundey Regular Member

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    Im just trying to be realistic. Because im starting at the age of 23, will i ever amount to much regardless of coaching...is basically my question...if i get really good,,, where can that lead me too?
     
  10. alexkho

    alexkho Regular Member

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    you can still play semi pro badminton . for me .. badminton is a game of passion ... i did not start early too .. at the age of 20, right now i still can't play good badminton due to i did not get proper coaching. how i wish i can train under a coach now.

    alot of open competition for you to try your skill.....
     
  11. Gollum

    Gollum Regular Member

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    No. You're never too old to take badminton seriously (unless a specific injury prevents you from playing).

    It depends what you consider a "respectable standard". You're almost certainly too late to become world champion. You're very probably too late to become national champion. You're not too late to become county champion.

    If I were you, I would not give up my day job in the hope of becoming a professional badminton player. But I would take the coaching!

    What really matters is whether you enjoy what you're doing.

    You can set any goal you like, and a coach can help you in choosing your goals.

    Why don't you try the coaching for a while, and then see whether you feel it's worth the money? You don't necessarily need coaching every week; you could save money by using several practice sessions between coaching sessions.

    Your motivation sounds quite brittle. You're worrying about £25; you're worrying about being a "failure". Relax a bit! Let yourself enjoy the game, and enjoy getting better.

    If you can't derive satisfaction from the process of improving, then you have no chance of competitive success. You'll give up too easily.
     
    #11 Gollum, Jul 8, 2008
    Last edited: Jul 8, 2008
  12. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    Exactly!! Max of three people to one coach for a 2hour session is my motto.

    Echoing Gollum - you enjoy the game, right? You want to get better, right? You'd like to get better faster and really see how good you can get, right?

    Oh so true:)

    I decided to get coaching after the age of 30 ;)

    Many of the things I learnt are in this very forum:) written down. Learning the proper footwork was a revelation, shifting balance, acceleration, timing, a proper cross court net shot:D destroying the opponent's rhythm....Damm, loved that time, wish I still could train now.

    I like to think I got to a good level but most of all, I got a tremendous feeling of satisfaction.

    One thing I have to differ with Gollum is that if you do get coaching, once a week is OK, same number of lessons but packed in half the time (i.e. twice per week) would be even better.

    I'd say at 24 years old, you can still get to county level. Very acheivable target but over a couple of years. See how it goes, you may even be faster!!
     
  13. KazeCloud

    KazeCloud Regular Member

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    Of course not. I started playing when I was 17, and I've improved a lot, sometimes with not much training but in Badminton Central.

    Don't listen to some people. I've heard somebody on BC said that even 17 was too old to start playing. Thats such a ridiculous statement.
     
  14. LazyBuddy

    LazyBuddy Regular Member

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    Winning every single game is not the whole part of enjoying a sport. Being competitive is fine, but losing a game here and there is very much acceptable, as long as you still have fun.

    Being 24 is definitely not too late. I know quite a few decent club level player, who started in their late 30s or even 40s. After a few years of training, they all become very competitive club level players. And most important, they all seem enjoy what they are doing, even though none of them ever crowned to be a city/regional champion or so.
     
  15. Gollum

    Gollum Regular Member

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    Oh, I agree with this. More coaching = better. :)

    But coaching will be worthwhile even if you only have it occasionally:
    • Occasionally is much better than never
    • Regularly is better than occasionally
    • Twice a week is somewhat better than once a week
     
  16. dazednconfused

    dazednconfused Regular Member

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    I was in the same situation as yourself a few years ago. Went back to college as a (semi) mature student at 23, joined the badminton club. Had only really played in PE class in school as a kid.

    Started to take it really seriously, cos I loved it (and i'm generally a competitve person). Won a good few lower - mid level competitions and was recently invited to train/play with one of the county teams (i'm 26 now). I had a certain amount of coaching (with the coach in the uni team), read a lot of stuff from selected posters in the techniques forum on here (thanks Gollum), watched a lot of videos.. and i'm beating many of those people who've played since age 10 or whenever.

    Playing with better players is very important. As is coaching for the technical part of it, especially to stop you from getting into bad habits.
    If there are like-minded people that you know who also want to improve to a high level it helps a lot. Helps to push you, keep you motivated etc. and for someone to do drills with when nobody else is interested.
     
  17. kooshball

    kooshball Regular Member

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    I'm 21, almost 22 now and I have been playing since I was maybe 10-11, following my dad to the courts every week. However I never had a real coach and no one really taught me the correct techniques so I would say I'm still an intermediate player after all these years of playing.

    I just recently started watching zhao jian hua's videos and they have helped me a lot especially for the footwork. I think you have a great opportunities to improve your game with a real coach, and I can't wait to find one for myself once I move to the bay area.
     
  18. Sasho

    Sasho Regular Member

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    That is what I wanted to say:)
     
  19. mkwanster

    mkwanster Regular Member

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    that makes me feel alot better, I didn't start training until 30 years old (last year)

     
  20. blundey

    blundey Regular Member

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    as above.




    Thanks guys for all your replys. I tihnk i will take this coaching one lesson as a time, speak with my coach and find out where I can take my skills and see if he thinks i have what it takes. Im very happy now with playing just normal clubs, but progression is slow.

    Once again thanks alot people, i will be trying a few test sessions, see how it goes and see if its for me.

    Kind regards

    Blundey
     

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