Experienced coach and trainer Martin Andrew has coached players from various countries and trained players and coaches around the world. With a long history in our sport, Martin shared his knowledge and experiences with coaches from our region during the BWF Coach Level 3 Course held last year.
Martin has been a badminton coach since he was 18, has coached national teams in Australia, New Zealand and England, and has also contributed to the training of young players. For a few years now, he has shared his knowledge and experiences with coaches around the world through BWF courses.
“Thinking about my badminton beginnings reminds me of my grandparents. In my family they practiced badminton and tennis when I was young. I have been working full time in badminton since I was about 26 years old. I enjoy working with young players, I enjoy working with coaches. The last two years I have been giving BWF courses and that is what I do now, I am giving BWF courses for coaches level 1, 2 and 3. Enjoying every moment that coaches manage to develop new things thanks to these courses.”
During the BWF Coach Level 3 Pilot Course held in our region last November, many coaches expressed feeling challenged to improve considerably, not only because of the new concepts seen in the course, but also because of the new realities that they could get to know through the exhibitors.
“The objective of the BWF level 3 course is to improve the understanding of coaches for the different situations they face in their roles, whether in terms of understanding how people act, how people communicate, etc. We have developed topics that are not regularly seen in coaching courses. We have started the course by identifying development systems in each country, including talent identification. And finally coaches have understood that there are new tools that they can use with their athletes. ”
This course was the third pilot course of Coach Level 3 course that BWF has organized in different parts of the world. After being in Asia and Europe, the coaches of our region were able to enjoy this course, not only learning, but also showing their enthusiasm for continuing to develop professionally in the world of badminton.
“The coaches have been very receptive in this course and with the different experiences they have been able to enrich the course. Some are experienced coaches, others are younger. Some have been players, others have not. So we can do an analysis between them comparing to previous courses and this group has been one that wants to learn more and more and there has been a lot of completely new information for them and other information that they already knew. It has been very interesting for me to be able to work with them.”
When asked about ways to encourage coaches to get involved in new trainings, Martin said he is convinced that the only way to grow and improve is with challenges and uncomfortable situations that lead us to react positively and continue looking for options that lead us to go ahead, not settle for what we know, but explore further.
“It is necessary to consider the training, re-education and challenges that we can offer as important opportunities for the new experiences that will come. If we do not challenge the coaches, they will return comfortable, as if nothing had happened. We improve if we constantly challenge ourselves to improve. Always looking for better ways to achieve something. The concept of this course really encourages them to do that, to look for better ways of doing things. Lots of information that encourages them to reflect on how they can implement any strategy in their training environment. It’s how we become better at what we do.”
Photo Credit: BPAC | Martin Andrew
