Children Should Be Introduced To Badminton Early – Coach

Children as young as five or six years should be introduced to badminton to get them to love the sport, says Jamaica’s badminton coach, Richard Wong.

“At seven or eight, they are learning the basics, proper footwork, proper grips and strokes,” he explained, noting that players in China start training at age five.

“Between eight and nine years, they should start deciding if the sport is for them or not. Basically, by the time they are 12 or 14 years, they should be determining specific choices about their future in the sport and what stream they want to go into,” he told JIS News.

Mr. Wong recently participated in a two-month training programme, held in China under a Jamaica-China Technical Assistance Project in Sports Cooperation Programme.

The three-year programme, which was initiated in 2017 with the signing of an agreement between the two countries, involved athletes, coaches and managers from seven disciplines, including badminton, synchronised swimming, women’s football, swimming, women’s basketball and volleyball and gymnastics. This is the final year of the Programme involving 135 Jamaican sports representatives.

Mr. Wong, who was the head coach of the badminton team, of 24 players, five coaches and three team managers, said that the training sessions “were very good and it exposed the players to a lot of things that they were not accustomed to”.

“Basically, it has given me an insight into what we should be doing here in Jamaica… . Even just the basic structure of the training, the intensity, how often, the number of hours that they train, that would make a difference in how we approach things here,” he said.

He said that the training in China started with the basics, since there were a dozen players from both the B and A divisions involved in the programme.

However, he noted that certain basics, such as the changing or learning the grips were beneficial to some high-level players. He said that although they had acceptable grips, the Chinese coach introduced a minor variation to the grip that helped improve their shots.

“We learnt a few new skills. The players were exposed to drills that helped them develop their reaction time and their quickness and their agility. Some of the physical training sessions helped them with their strength and endurance,” he said, adding that sessions were five days per week and a voluntary session on Saturday mornings, so that the players could “brush up” on certain techniques.

Despite having a mixed team of players, he said that the sessions were modified for all levels.

“In essence, the whole training programme was applicable to all the players regardless of how basic or how advanced, since the Chinese coaches were able to adapt the training plans to suit the two levels of players,” he said.

Mr. Wong said he was impressed with the Chinese training regime and noted the differences in the training methods between Jamaica and China.

“I had heard of their training regime before but to actually see it in progress was quite impressive, and it helped me to realise the level of training that they (Chinese) do, compared to what we do here in Jamaica,” he said, noting that he would always question the reasons for what they did.

“We learnt a few new strokes that are different from the strokes that we practise here,” Mr. Wong said, noting that the Chinese technique was different from what Jamaican players are accustomed to.

The level 2 badminton coach mentioned that he will be implementing some of the new badminton stroke techniques he learned in China into his training sessions. However, he pointed out some of the barriers, such as the quality of some court surfaces and their unavailability, that could hinder effective training.

Apart from the technical aspects of the training, Mr. Wong said he was also impressed with the discipline of the Chinese athletes at the training camps.

“The China experience was definitely an eye opener. It was beneficial not only for the players but also the coaches to see the level of discipline, the level of training, the standard that they have there, and it’s not hard to see why China is one of the best countries in the world,” he said.

In her contribution to the 2024/25 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives in June, Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hon. Olivia Grange thanked the Government of the People’s Republic of China for its friendship and support.

“We look forward to the improvements in the skill and technique of our athletes,” she said.

She noted that the three-year Programme under which 400 Jamaican sports representatives were to receive training was interrupted after the first two successful years by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In 2023, plans were made to execute the final year of the project in 2024.

“In this the final year of the programme, we are sending badminton, women’s basketball, women’s football, women’s volleyball, gymnastics and swimming teams for 60 days of rigorous training across China,” Minister Grange said.