Hello guys, As a college student about to graduate - I've got some time. I was thinking of dedicating 3 months to doing an intensive camp. I've looked at Tactical Badminton, Banthongyord Badminton School (Intanon's academy) in Thailand, Peter Gades, Tafik's, etc. I was wondering if there were any other intensive camp style badminton academies that are highly recommended?
Wherever the best badminton training has. I literally do not care where, as long as there's no language barrier.
Haha... the problem is, that everybody who runs an academy will be convinced they do certain things better than others. I was lucky enough to be trained by different coaches, most from Germany, but also a former Chinese national player and a Vietnamese coach. My experience is limited, obviously, but it matches what I hear from other people. I'll just pretend it's the truth with the way I put it down, maybe that triggers some discussion... European coaches are more focused on technique and details of it. Asian coaches will just ignore when you ask for reasons. Now, that's blunt statements and having said it, I do value my former Chinese coach a lot. He did not teach me the basics (already knew), but he built on it... and he got me in good badminton shape. However, if you want to learn details about techniques and you like to ask "Why?" questions, a country like Denmark might be better. That probably depends on the specific people who will coach you, but I kinda need to generalize here... Maybe you've seen a video by Badminton Becky (@Borkya) about one of the training camps she organized? That shows mostly what a German (European?) coach would call Old School Badminton Training. To put my words into perspective, I'm not the best player (the better you get, the more you coach, the more people with more talent and better technique you see), I see myself more as a coach, competitions are fun for me. My technique is good enough, that even a Japanese guy who had a badminton scholarship at University (in Japan) asked me about the technique for some strokes. German as I am, I didn't only show and explain to him what to do, but also threw in some explanation.... Some of the techniques he asked about was taught by the Chinese coach though.
I see. Hmmm, well I never really thought about it like that. I was really thinking of going to these three camps but for different reasons - Tactical Badminton because I've heard great things about Andrew CHang, and we speak on WhatsApp regularly. He seems really caring and totally not a typical Asian coach of ignoring questions. - Taufik Arena simply because it's Taufik, Indonesia tends to produce good players, etc. - Intanon's school in Thailand - can't remember the name off the top of my head but same thing - intensive training with a pro, and it's cheap ($1200 USD for a month, free accommodation, and like likes of training (3 2 hour sessions daily?)) I'd say I'd want to stick to Asia, simply because COL is lower and I like exploring asian cultures more than European I guess. Also I can't find any information on any European coaches. I think it would be good to perhaps spend 1 month in different coach and country but idk how feasible that is for me. TLDR: 1. Likely will want asian coach that speaks English due to COL and interest in Asian culture and cuisine
That's some very important points. one question: Why even take a chance with someone that you don't know when you already have a good feeling about this? Starting off with a good relationship with the coach, trust in him and the situation is worth a lot.
I suggest you go to the place where you feel the coach is the best for you. I think most (good) coaches/tutorials that you can watch on Youtube are very similar in their techniques, and maybe at your current stage you would prefer training more to improve your level of play. The tactical part should improve as your skills levels advance. As for coaches, I see them like a teacher - some people tells you X is a great teacher and Y sucks, and you may have a different opinion. I had 4 different coaches from China, all national level coaches and were great communicators and detailed in their explanations. I also seen other Chinese national coaches that were not that good at explaining things, so to me, this mostly a personality issue.
Because I'd rather not invest 3 months of my time, and thousands of $ in coaching/travel fees based on a good feeling - would like some more objective information as well
Tactical. 1. Andrew and the teams is at the youngish side. It would be easy to connect with them. 2. *edited due to point interpreted out of context. 3. It wouldnt be difficult to set up games after training as there are a number of students there that you can spar with. There are even regular social players there that you can join. Majority of them are friendly. 4. Food and life after training wouldnt be an issue. You will be surrounded by lots of great local food. 5. Language wouldnt be an issue too as english is widely spoken.
My friend also went to Tactical years ago. He really enjoyed it. Peter Gade and Taufiks seem to me are for higher level players far away from you at the moment. Might hurt you to hear that but it’s the truth and no point in wasting your time and money on those. Having seen your previous videos, there are a lot of basic areas to improve on. What’s your objective? If you want to get to A grade in USA, you are going to have to be really detailed on learning and drilling basic technique. With strong basic foundations, it would be more difficult to pick holes in your game and your ceiling for improvement will be higher but it’s not so fun. Let’s see. Presuming you have adequate rest periods and three months of time, at your stage, I would probably space some weeks break in the middle for recovery. The mind may be willing but you probably have not experienced the humidity there. Acclimatisation may take a couple of weeks. I also would advise to stick mainly to one trusted coach and his assistants at your stage to get off that beginner stage. When you get to a experienced intermediate level, then look at the other coaches, maybe on another trip. If you are just looking to enjoy yourself and be able to play consistently with mediocre technique, then going around lots of different places and coaches will be lots of fun and adequate.
I guess my goal is to just get as good as I can at badminton. Even now, I have no problem doing shuttle drills, clearing for 15 minutes on end, shadowing my swing in my room 200x a day, etc. IDK. I just enjoy training and improving. No offense taken - I know I'm bad and need work lol. I'm Filipino so I'm used to humid climates - trust me lol. I guess my objective - be at least B level in every discipline if possible, and A in whatever my specialty is. I think I'll likely gravitate to wanting to be A level in doubles simply because in Korea (where I'll be probably spending a few years of my life) pretty much only plays doubles.
2. How do you know this one? And I guess I'll have to think of my weaknesses... overall technique is bad but I think I would want improvement on contact point and consistency, footwork (esp moving to the back), and smashes.
Lol I see. I think I've pretty much set on going to Tactical, so if I do go, it'll be starting in late may (assuming no quarantine then. If so, maybe early june).
LOL. I am not sure how being Filipino confers some physiological adaptation advantage to training in a humid environment. You’ll still need two weeks to adapt to the heat and humidity under training conditions if you come from a colder and less humid environment.
I mean that like I've lived in one of the most humid countries because I was born there... you're taking it too far lol
If you are planning on going soon, you'll also have to take into consideration the covid precautions. Entering china right now is basically impossible, and would require a 3 week quarantine (locked in a hotel room, not being allowed out for any reason except for a medical emergency) if you could even get a visa to begin with. Many Asian countries are the same (though quarantine time differs) so you'll have to add on that time and expense. And that could tip your opinion to go to one country vs another.
Yeah well aware. That's why I think Malaysia will be the best bet, 7 day quarantine, and their doing aggressive vaccines so hopefully by mid may early June (when I'm wanting to leave) there would be no quarantine.
Please dont take me wrongly. What i mean is, if given sufficient time, knowledge can be taught and transferred to you more effectively. I mean if anyone were to be there for a short week, it wouldnt be a fair assessment as it would be difficult to cramp everything within a short timeframe. Give yourself enough time to learn and enjoy the training program. You wont regret it. All the students seem to enjoy training there.
