Greetings! So it occurred to me tonight that, without paying for private coaching, there are no adult's beginners courses in my area. I see plenty of people going to play at local venues, but are definitely beginners - bad grips, short clears, bad net shots, wonky serves, the works. I got to thinking, if I were in their shoes as an adult beginner, where would I go to learn? Does BC think there's a market for adult beginners? I'm thinking of a timed course (10 weeks or so) to cover the essential shots.
Hi Charlie, We meet again, There is already a program called Essentials, by Badminton England that does exactly such that, I am one of the coaches and will be doing two more Essentials courses in Leicester in the next few months See if there is one in your area. Link for more information. http://www.nostringsbadminton.co.uk...ctionTitle=ESSENTIALS+by+No+Strings+Badminton I am also a No Strings Badminton co-ordinator and run a successful session for many years. Kindest regards, -Ajay- Quote of the Day Use soft words and hard arguments.
Apparently one of the centres I use offers that course, but I've never seen it run. Maybe it'll be as simple as talking with the manager.
It needs a certain of people to make sure they get good numbers before it runs, hence why it may not have taken place. Kindest regards, -Ajay- Quote of the Day Use soft words and hard arguments.
That's true, but maybe the person running the no strings session also doesn't want to run it. I've not seen it advertised or even mentioned over the last year.
Yes it depends on the organiser plus you need funds to run a session, if the organiser is not too bothered to put some work into it, it won't happen. Thankfully I am passionate and hence all my courses are always full I do everything myself with the help of certain partners I know. Kindest regards, -Ajay- Quote of the Day Use soft words and hard arguments.
I think there is potentially a large market for those who are between beginner and league/club standard. Indeed, it is a market that many clubs will have to expand into if they want to survive. League/club numbers have declined steadily in recent year. Traditionally, juniors provided influx, but the drop-off gets larger every year. 2 Worcester league clubs have gone bust this season. Thankfully, a few clubs have started regular feeder groups. Once they are established, they are self running/financing and will supplement the influx of juniors into the original group. The challenge is providing sustained investment (as much time as money) to get them off the ground. Essentials and other introductory courses are an excellent way to attract people who would be interested, but they need to be followed up to gain the full benefit.
Its sad to hear its the same in other counties L&L, in Leicestershire the numbers have dropped too. It's a combination of various things, some clubs not willing to change and be more open or move with the times. It also stems from having good programs that can be delivered and it does come down to money. The Governing body have had their budgets cut drastically and less money gets filtered down to help with such programs. They are trying to plug the gaps now with their new strategy but that will take time. Until which individual counties will need to think of ways to get other programs running. That's what I am trying to do. However one person cannot do it all and we have to work collectively. Kindest regards, -Ajay- Quote of the Day Never go to bed mad. Stay up and fight.
Local Authorities around here (Beds & Bucks plus no doubt other counties as well) used to run Evening Classes designed for exactly this, unfortunatly spending cuts seemed to have put paid to them. Might be worth seeing if they are still run around your area
A question of costs. You need to budget for costs of court hire. Can you get them subsidised? I guess that's the main cost at the beginning.
Although money cannot be ignored, I'd say it's peoples' time which is the limiting factor. Worcs has money to support projects, it is realistic for beginners to play with plastics & most people will pay about £4-5/session. One of my previous clubs had 2 guys who ran the feeder group, but we also had a rota. Essentially, everyone at the club was required to come down to a certain number of the sessions per season. That guaranteed 4 regular club members which provided a solid base to get the feeder group off the ground.
True also, having people to run the sessions can be difficult too. However that's where the Local Authority and Badminton Association should work together to ensure more people are trained up, there is always funding streams people can apply for. As others have said, keep your variables down. Just changing the string is good enough, keep the tension the same, see how you get on. For that tension, it should last for what you require on average. Kindest regards, -Ajay- Quote of the Day Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired.
The clue is in my post, read it carefully.... Leicester Kindest regards, -Ajay- Quote of the Day Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired.
I monitor the social clubs in Worcester to find promising players. I play in the Worcester Badminton League (www.badmintonworcester.org.uk/league), and sometimes find players good enough for the Worcester leagues there.
