Transition for Junior players to Senior level is very hard! – Steve’s Badminton Blog and Website

Over the weekend, an article on the local news was published on TheStar quoting Tan Boon Heong that junior players transitioning to becoming senior players is very hard. That is so true. Let’s discuss.

This is especially true as there are so many factors which comes into play, as I am finding out with Fred. Getting the skills to play badminton is the easy part. Putting all those skills together in a competitive match is extremely difficult. It is more of a mental aspect than a physical one.

We often simplify the mental aspect and call it nerves. It is much more than that. A player needs composure and calmness, clarity of thought, courage and many more traits. It is so difficult to cover everything because everyone reacts differently to situations where they are put under extreme stress. Let me instead talk about what can go wrong instead, which makes it a bit easier to quantify.

1. Mind goes blank

The player is not able think clearly and is unable to remember tactical shots during the game. When training, the player may have practiced combinations such as a spinning net shot to force a lift and following it up with a smash. But during the match, the player loses the plot and forgets this is the tactical play he needs to do. The game plan then falls apart, and he loses.

2. Quality of Shots gets worse

The player is not able control his shots. His lobs uncharacteristically goes out. His sideways shots always fly too far to the sides. His net shots always goes too high. When the player attacks, his shots goes into the net.

3. Movement around the court is slower

The player’s footwork becomes clumsy, and it is as though the player has forgotten his footwork. His reach becomes poorer and his speed is much slower than usual. And the player looses his balance more frequently.

These are the 3 common symptoms which affect players. These affect young players more than it affects adults players not because of their youth, but it is because they have not yet learnt to overcome this. The adult players who stick around are those who have learnt to conquer this mental challenge. There are many causes of these symptoms when a player is unable to control his mental state, but the symptoms always are the same.

From a biological stand point, the causes of these symptoms are blood pressure getting too high and heart rate going too high. When this happens, the brain suffers from a lack of oxygen, which causes brain fog. The muscles are stressed amd it becomes hard to control the strength and speed of response. Hands tremble, legs feel weak. This leads to all 3 symptoms above.

When the players are young, they do not know better, and to them even competitions are just playing against a new friend on a different court. Junior events are also much lower key, and it feels like any other day of badminton. Some call it youthful exuberance, and they are not wrong.

But as the players grow up, the tournaments become more grand, and the setting is much more intimidating. The stakes becomes higher too. In youth tournament, it is all about fun. Nobody talks about the prizes. Talking about winning is a joke for everyone to laugh at. At the senior level, there is a lot at stake. For a lot of players, it is almost like life or death. Failure could mean the end of their careers. This takes the fun out of badminton, and it makes players start to over think and get extremely nervous.

This leads to the players getting fearful of losing. It makes their blood pressure shoot up as they stay up late, unable to sleep due to the stress. The causes their heart rate to shoot up as the fear kicks in right before the match and during the match.

Ultimately, it leads to the symptoms I mentioned above, and it causes the players to lose. This is because the player starts to develop a fear of losing, which causes them to lose. They lost the joy of playing badminton as they grew, and when it becomes something so fearful, many players are unable to cope.

I do not have an answer to this problem. Every player behaves differently when it comes to stimulus. It is down to the coaches to help the players better manage this. It is also down to the parents to help the young players overcome time.

Malaysia is very good at the youth level, as we have a vibrant youth tournament ecosystem. There are so many opportunities for the young players to test themselves. There are plenty of good coaches around too. But, at the senior level, we are a sad case. Not many youth players manage to transition.

Could it be because the transition is not well managed and it is monopolised by BAM? I do not have the answer to that.

That’s it for this entry.

Until the next entry, eat well, get plenty of rest and keep the badminton going!