Badminton England - Training Weekend 2007

Words: Charles Hall
Pictures: Andy Hamnett, Claire Shepherd

Towards the end of the 2006/07 season, Dave Rowe organised a coaching weekend to be held at the National Badminton Club in Milton Keynes. 8 Icarus members signed up, all eager to improve their skills. The coaching weekend recently took place, and all who took part enjoyed it immensely. To get the low down on what went on, read on...

For those who took the on-site accomodation option there was an opportunity to get in some early practise on Friday evening, but the coaching really got underway on Saturday morning. It started with 15 minutes or so of warm-up activities, which for some were an early opportunity to set the pace! This was followed by a chance for the coaches to assess everyone's skills by observing a series of half-court singles matches. Played simultaneously by the whole group, each game lasted around 3 minutes with the winner moving up a court while the loser would go down a court. Thank goodness for that warm-up, as 6 or 7 of these games in quick succession is surprisingly strenuous.

Throughout the day we practised a number of strokes, mainly in pairs with one feeding shuttles to the other to practise the same shot over and over before reversing roles. We were also coached on court positioning and movement, racquet grip, and general doubles tactics. The excellent lunch provided on both days helped recharge energy levels for the afternoon sessions.

On Sunday a good warm-up helped some aching limbs get ready for what was to come, which was a combination of building on day one and tackling other aspects of the game. By 4.30pm its fair to say the group was flagging a little (well after 12 hours practise who wouldn't be?), but we all came away with a great sense of having benefited from the coaching we'd received. This was always delivered with good humour, and the variety of the drills & practise techniques made for a fun weekend. Half-court doubles, with each pair having to share a raquet provided a great deal of amusement in particular.

There's already talk of making the pilgramage to Milton Keynes an annual club event, so don't miss out in 2008!

From left to right: Barry, James, Dawn, Dave, Bill,
Pat, Robin (honorary Stevenage B team member), Charles, Claire

Our Coaches

Steve Higgins and Robin Middleton (pictured above and left) were our coaches. Steve was a former England player, while Robin (click here for profile) is currently ranked in the top 5 mens doubles players in the country. Both were able to impart a great deal of knowledge to all the Icarus players.

Links

National Badminton Club :- http://www.nbc.uk.com/