Stephan The Man » Training Journal

Changes

Stephan — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 14:56:16 +0000

Since its the begining of a new year change is in the air. We all make promises to ourselves, new year resolutions, all in order to improve something that needs fixing. Well the badminton court is timeless and is willing to be worked on at any time of year.

The theme of this article will be “change”. My favorite quote that has been given to me and that I use all the time when I coach is: “Small changes can make a big difference”.

Small changes can apply in many different ways in your game. For example, being able to “hold” the shuttle while playing at the net is a crucial aspect of the game. If you can hold the shuttle for just a fraction of a second longer, it can make the difference between your opponent having a jump start on your shot OR your opponent being paralyzed long enough for your shot to get by him. This is a major difference!!

Technique is not the only thing you can change. Tactics is a crucial element of the game and even with the best technique in the world, if you play with bad bad tactics…..you are toast! The good thing is, sound tactics are NOT complicated. “Small changes can make a big difference”

Lets take changing speeds of the game. If you are playing a player who likes to play a million miles per hour, slowing the game down could be a good option (unless you are superior to him at playing fast). Playing high lifts, slow drops and not engaging in his flat play could make him very impatient and lead to many mistakes. Or you could face an opposite situation where the player is slow and you need to speed up.

As you can see these are not revolutionary idea’s and are accessible to everyone. As long as you keep an open mind, you will be able to see and feel the game in new ways.

Badminton Life Training Diary: Stephan Shows Us Sprints For Badminton

Stephan — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 19:35:04 +0000

Badminton Life Training Diary – July 30, 2009

Stephan — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 05:34:45 +0000

Badminton Life Training Diary – July 28, 2009

Stephan — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 21:57:53 +0000

Happy Easter!!!!

Stephan — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 08:30:22 +0000

Well its Easter weekend and most people are enjoying the holiday. However in badminton there are no holidays…at least not for me:) So I have been training quite hard this week and through the weekend. Unfortunatly I pulled a muscle during my match last week in Finland and have been forced to do much lower intensity stuff. But no matter what the circumstance you can always improve on something! So I have been working on my backhand net technique along with trying to improve my attacks from the backline. My off court stuff has been mainly squats and long slow bike sessions. I plan on doing some more weights and a bike ride today and tomorrow will be a very intense interval training on the treadmill. If there is one thing I can recomend in anyones training is variety. The more variety you can do the better it is for your improvement and for your mental health:)
My goal is to prepare for the Canadian International coming up in a few weeks. There will be some tough guys to beat there, such as, Lee Tsuen Seng (Malaysia), Rajiv Ouseph (England),Carl Baxter (England),Brice Leverdez (France),Kevin Cordon (Guatemala) and of course some home grown boys like Andrew Dabeka, David Snider, Joseph Rogers and myself of course:)
Hope you all rest well, party well and eat as much chocolat eggs as your hearts desire!

Nursing My Training Back To Health

Stephan — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:16:20 +0000

I am now taking baby steps in order to get my fitness back. I think after being a little more alive than a vegetable these past 5 days I have lost some strength and conditioning….or so it feels. So I plan on doing shorter sessions and not too hard so I don’t put make myself sick again. Easy jogging or biking, light weights and on court training that is more rhythm and control based instead of power and speed. I think if I keep this up I be back to do some hard matches next week…..I better..since I have the Polish Open next week!

Weekend Training Foiled

Stephan — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 11:10:39 +0000

As I am coming back from the Swiss Open 2009 I catch an absolutely wicked cold. This means that my training for the whole weekend is not possible. First my flight back from Basel,Switzerland, was delayed 4 hours and arrived back in my apartement in Copenhagen at 2.30am. For sure my friday morning training at the IBA (International Badminton Academy) is not going to happen. Then the fever really broke out yesterday which means I have to take it easy for the next couple of days. This is bad timing since I have a team match on Monday. However perhaps the rest will do me some good and I will be mentally fresh for the challenge.
I look forward to watching a whole bunch of movies…most likely starting with Old School:)

Training With Junior Korean Team

Stephan — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 14:44:11 +0000

This morning the IBA was invited to train with the Korean Junior team in Karlslunde,Denmark. There were 16 young Koreans (8 boys and 8 girls). I was able to play against two of their top juniors. I have a great respect for the way Koreans play badminton. Very disciplined in their technique and training. They play very patiently and wait for their openings. They hit the shuttle very clean and are fearsome when it comes to their flat play. I won both of my matches and enjoyed being able to play against different styles. On one hand its nice to play against patient players since they won’t blow you away in the first 3 shots. However along with their patience comes great quality and eventualy that is how they win their points. In my matches today I proved to be more patient with higher quality:) Lets wait and see when they get older!

The picture is of me and Shon Seung Mo (2004 Men’s Singles Olympic Silver Medalist) who was the coach for the Korean Team.