The second day of the BWF/BEC Coach Education Level 1 Course is already on in Caldas de Rainha, Portugal. Here is what participants did and their first reflections on their learning journey.
Caldas de Rainha in Portugal welcomed yesterday participants to yet another BWF/BEC Coach Education Level 1 Course. It has been busy from the get-go and after the introductory sessions, participants are already putting into practice all they have learnt on their first day.
Giving back through knowledge and experience
The course has got off to a great start and a wide variety of topics have already been discussed and introduced. First, it was time to get to know each other and their own backgrounds through icebreaking activities involving introductory games. Expert Martijn vaan Dooremalen is confident that everyone will get satisfactory results from the course after learning more about the participants.
- I think the group of coaches in the L1 course is quite young but also quite experienced already, so I think we will get a lot of good results, vaan Dooremalen stated.
Participants started with the design and delivery of their own training simulations, with feedback from the rest of the class provided afterwards. Vaan Dooremalen is in charge of delivering the course, and he is just as motivated to teach as the participants are to learn.
- I have worked in badminton for many years in the Netherlands and have had really good experiences all over the world, so I think it is time now for me to give something back through my knowledge and my experience.
Different points of views
The first day also had participants coming in contact with the court where they considered various subjects such as which are the main strokes in badminton and which ones are easier to start teaching, and also the most important factors of physical condition and performance—warm up and cool down, coordination, quickness, dynamic balance, and other aspects.
- For me, some things I have found interesting are the different points of views, and all the information about technical skills, as well as the organisation and structure of the training session, Ukrainian participant Anna Kriuchkova said.
Course participants are taught about the relevance of detecting some of the mentioned factors through video analyses. The reflection and close examination of all aspects involved in coaching is relevant, but sharing knowledge among participants is also an essential part of their learning experience.
- The most important is the sharing of knowledge and experiences from other countries which has provided me with a new and diverse perspective to do it different and better. We can get a wider perspective even from the simple things and smaller details, Portuguese participant Miguel Rocha explained.
Today on their second day, participants are ready to delve into the different ways of setting up their planning and establishing goals. With still a lot to learn in the upcoming sessions, Russian player Natalia Andreevna Perminova, who represented her country at the 2016 Summer Olympics, is already glad about the takeaways she will get from the course.
- I would like to get as much as possible. I want more experience, because I think I do not have enough experience, although I have a lot as a player. Everything is very interesting, and I am getting a lot of input. I can get a lot form this course.