Sport Psychology in Badminton

Discussion in 'Techniques / Training' started by macazteeg, Mar 29, 2009.

  1. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    Perhaps my suggestion for your 9 yr old would be to not equate a loss as failure. In any game, there's only one winner but that doesn't mean the loser must be a failure. Reframe the loss as a learning experience and use it as a stepping stone to improving.
     
  2. gunner93

    gunner93 Regular Member

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    Thanks Loh for the tips on... "one point at the time." Sometimes we are so caught up with so many things, we forget the basics.

    At first I thought the boy had low tolerence for pressure and cannot handle disappointments. As he is an intovert and taciturn, its difficult to read the workings of his mind. Later I realised he had the desire to win. He knew it was wrong behaviour to throw games away but I dont know how much he understands it. Perhaps we have put too much attention on him and he was overwhelmed by all the expectations. I think he is the type who dont thrive on limelights and prefers to stay low. Maybe he plays better as an underdog which I will have to be more sensitive of. Like the saying... "different strokes for different folks..." Our story here...

    http://www.juniorshuttlers.blogspot.com/2012/12/dialling-down-pace.html
     
  3. StefanDO

    StefanDO Regular Member

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    I agree with the previous suggestions for your son. I'd especially like to stress what visor wrote: It's very important how your son approaches such situations. Obviously, at the moment, he regards such situations as tests, and if he fails, he thinks there is nothing good about it. But such situations are different from e.g. vocabulary tests at school: For vocabulary tests, you have to learn in advance, you don't learn anything at the time of being tested. In competitions, you learn while you are being tested. To play against better opponents is - apart from technique - the key for most rapid improvement!
    I remember for example Marc Zwiebler (Germany's No. 1 single player) saying that he primarily trains in Asia, because opponents are better there. If it was all about winning, he could have stayed in Germany, but at the next international tournament, he would have failed a lot more than if he had played against better opponents in the mean time.
    I had a similar experience: When I was playing badminton at one university, I thought I was quite good after about 2 1/2 years. Then I started playing at another university, and I got confronted with players who were at a much higher level. It was very frustrating, but I didn't give up, and within 1 year I improved more than I did the first 2 1/2 years at the first university. In conclusion, you must be grateful to get the opportunity to play against better opponents! If they were not available, you would improve only very slowly.

    Maybe you can tell your son about these examples. See if his approach improves. If not, dealing with frustration may be a more general problem for him. Then we can try some other techniques, but first try it this way...
     
  4. gunner93

    gunner93 Regular Member

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    Thks Loh, Visor & Stefan,

    At first I thought the boy has low tolerance to handle pressure. Its difficult to read whats going on in his mind since he is an introvert. I talked alot about this to him. But later I begin to realise he has the desire to win because he has asked me why he always lose in the early rounds of the tournaments. Perhaps he was overwhelmed by all the expectations on him to win. Maybe he performs better if he stayed out of the limelight - like an underdog. Perhaps he needs to approach his games in his own quiet ways instead of like EPL coaches shouting instructions across the field to his players how to move and play. :crying:
     
  5. StefanDO

    StefanDO Regular Member

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    I guess the best way to find out is to ask him how he would feel most comfortable during tournaments - with a coach next to court, giving instructions between the rallyes, or being on his own (even some professional players prefer not to have a coach next to court, take a look at Juliane Schenk for example). And again with respect to approach: Maybe he feels more comfortable if he doesn't regard tournaments as events he has to win but rather as events to learn a lot from. Success will come naturally with progress. Thinking of the aim but at the same time neglecting the way to get to the aim - that's not of much help. So it may also help him not to think about what he wants to accomplish but rather to concentrate on the rallye he is playing at that very moment. If he wins the rallye, it shows he could put previously learned knowledge into practice. If he loses the rallye, he at the same time learns how to improve, which is the base to but the newly learned knowledge into practice later. Even if he's not aware of it and even if it's frustrating, it will help him to improve. But in order to improve, he must face the situation. If he gives up (like deliberately hitting into the net etc.), he doesn't allow himself to improve.
     
  6. pBmMalaysia

    pBmMalaysia Regular Member

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    Motivations and fun, thats the magic to bring young kids up

    to excel in badminton!

    Your son needs to understand there is a lot of difference

    when it comes to their ages for playing badminton.

    First, they learn the technique for the various skill suitable for them,

    then more skills and complex drills until such time

    when they are able to understand tactical and strategy play of the game

    then thats the time they should start to win.

    Right now, he has to learn all the skills needed for badminton

    so that one day he can use them to win points!

    So if he plays in any competition,

    he must know its not their winning that counts,

    its their performance!
     
    #166 pBmMalaysia, Jan 4, 2013
    Last edited: Jan 4, 2013
  7. gunner93

    gunner93 Regular Member

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    Here here, cant agree more than this. Thanks bro.
     
  8. limsy

    limsy Regular Member

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    just saw this thread
    haha!
    will spend some time on this when i am free
     
  9. gunner93

    gunner93 Regular Member

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    Update on Aaron's progress here after all your good comments.

    Last month in a local tournament MSSWPKL, he made it to quarters final and was playing against a player I considered too good for him. He lost the first set 13 - 21 and half way in the second set, he started to feel hopeless and broke down again! He was crying while playing. It ended 9 - 21. The coach just could not do anything except to console him.

    In early April, he participated in another tournament by Times Badminton Academy in Kepong, KL. This time he played brilliantly to reach semi-finals. I was apprehensive but this time he didnt break. He fought all the way and lost by just 1 point 29 - 30. His victor went on to win in the finals. I was relieved but had it been a stronger player, would he break like before? Of course I didnt dwell on the negatives with him but just heap all the positives on him. I rewarded him with a Wilson racquet as promised.

    There will be a couple of tournaments in May & June after his school exams. We continue to work on his emotions and guide him mentally. He still remains a target by his coaches to play for state next year because of his talent. More updates later or follow us from our blog.

    www.juniorshuttlers.blogspot.com

     
  10. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    This brings up an interesting topic, although it may be difficult for a teenager to attempt, but it will surely improve with time andpractice and can be used in daily life. I’m still attempting it when I play badminton or piano.

    It is “wushin”.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushin

    The concept in martial arts literally meaning being in astate of no-mindedness. One good example of this is Bruce Lee. Watch how he moves: there’s no thinking, only instinctive reaction. In sports, this is also known as being “in the zone”. A state of mind where one is free of judgment and fear, and doesn’t require thinking or concentration of techniques or strategies. The mind can perceive effortlessly the whole playing field, the opponents’ positions, the ball/puck and the body can react and perform without hesitation as if the athlete is one with the flow of the sport. In psychology this is known as being “in the flow”, a state of total immersion, total concentration.


    When one is in this state of mind, there is no fear, no regrets of mistakes. There is no pain or suffering. There is only performance purely based on instinctive reaction and muscle memory.



    ..
     
    #170 visor, May 2, 2013
    Last edited: May 2, 2013
  11. gunner93

    gunner93 Regular Member

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    That's Capital, Visor. Thanks!

    Reminds me of Mr Anderson aka Neo in Matrix dodging bullets from the Agents. LOL!
     
  12. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    Ok, but you should try throwing balls at your boy first before using bullets. :p
     
  13. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    coaching.com/articles/MentalToughnessAndTheZonhttp://www.sportspsychologycoaching.com/articles/MentalToughnessAndTheZone.htmle.htmlhttp://www.aaronosman.com/the-mid-achieving-peak-
    Continuing further with wushin/mushin

    http://www.aaronosman.com/the-mind-of-no-mind-achieving-peak-performance/
     
    #173 visor, May 3, 2013
    Last edited: May 3, 2013
  14. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    http://www.thesportjournal.org/article/entering-zone-guide-coaches

    And being in the zone. Interesting bit about "error parking".

    Perhaps that's whysome players after a mistake, even though they don't have any noticeable sweat, they walk to the side of the court to wipe and fling off sweat from their face. :)
     
    #174 visor, May 3, 2013
    Last edited: May 3, 2013
  15. pcll99

    pcll99 Regular Member

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  16. pcll99

    pcll99 Regular Member

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    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muga-mushin

    Muga-mushin (無我無心[SUP]?[/SUP]) is a compound term of muga and mushin. Muga literally means no-self[SUP][2][/SUP] (derived from the Sanskrit anātman) and Mushin no-mind[SUP][3][/SUP] (also from the Sanskrit a-citta). What is negated is the empirical body-mind as an ontological independent state of existence. Muga and mushin point to the same thing, the state of egolessness, but from different perspectives. Muga refers to the negation of the physical state, mushin to the mental state of empirical existence.

    To understand better mushin one needs to understand acitta, or simply its Sanskrit-root citta. Citta is not easily rendered into English. As is the case with so many other Sanskrit terms, there does not seem to be a precise equivalent for it in English. Previous translations have proposed a variety of renderings, such as 'mind-stuff', 'thinking-principle', and similar compound words. In many instances, citta seems to convey consciousness, mind, intellect or psychic mass that orders and illuminates sensations coming from without—can serve as a mirror for objects, without the senses interposing between it and its object. Thus the non-initiate is incapable of gaining freedom, because his mind, instead of being stable (still, non-fluctuating) is constantly violated by the activity of the senses, by the subconscious, and by the 'thrust for life'.

    [h=2]Reductionistic steps in the evolution of muga-mushin concept and application[/h]
    • 7. Samkhya – Mystical Tradition[SUP][4][/SUP]
    • 6. Yoga – First Level of Reduction.[SUP][1][/SUP] Note that the words 'mārga'/'dō' and 'yoga' are interchangeable.
    • 5. Buddhism – Second Level of Reduction[SUP][5][/SUP]
    • 4. Chan/Zen – Third Level of Reduction[SUP][6][/SUP]
    • 3. Budō/Bujutsu – Fourth Level of Reduction[SUP][7][/SUP] – cultivation muga-mushin (revealed as heijō-shin).
    • 2. Modern Kendo – Fifth Level of Reduction[SUP][8][/SUP]
    • 1. Olympic sports – Sixth Level of Reduction[SUP][9][/SUP] – Combat sports as well as non-combat (baseball, basketball, swimming etc.)[SUP][10][/SUP]
     
  17. visor

    visor Regular Member

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  18. pcll99

    pcll99 Regular Member

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  19. gunner93

    gunner93 Regular Member

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    Always new stuff to learn. Many thanks.

    After some worthy sparring sessions, I ask the boys to recall what was the best shot they did during their match. Then I asked how they felt when they executed that shot. Then I let them re-visualize and savor that sensation while its still fresh in their minds. I dont know if there is any term in psychology or if its related to wushin or mushin, but I want to simply leave a positive imprint at the end of their training so as they approach the next with the same euphoric feeling and confidence.
     
    #179 gunner93, May 6, 2013
    Last edited: May 6, 2013
  20. opikbidin

    opikbidin Regular Member

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    just think the need to bump this thread, as there are so much link and advises usefull for mental and psychology of badminton and sports in general
     

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