As part of the BEC BASIS Membership Exchange Programme, 43 coaches from all over Europe had the opportunity to experience and learn first-hand from the Danish training culture.
Denmark, a small country in southern Scandinavia with only near 5 million inhabitants, is Europe’s strongest badminton nation. Is there a secret to their success and, if so, what is it? This is a question that runs through the mind of many European coaches and the reason for Badminton Europe’s BASIS Membership Exchange Programme organising their latest experience.
Learning through first-hand experience
The programme was conceived as a means for Members to exchange knowledge about a specific topic. This time, 43 coaches from 25 different European nations spent two days learning all about the Danish badminton culture both on a local level through clubs and the highest national level by visiting the Danish National Elite Training Centre, to get a better understanding of Denmark’s success.
Badminton Europe’s Development & High Performance Senior Manager Jacob Oehlenschlaeger is quite pleased with the activity and the response he’s received from the participants. “It’s been two intense days with a lot of information and great insights into the Danish Badminton Training Culture. I’m really pleased with the event, and the feedback I have received so far has only been positive. Many participants have even already asked when we will do a similar activity to this one again”.
The “magic” recipe: focus on the potential and enjoy it
On arrival day, the participant coaches attended a training session at Greve Strands Badmintonklub, the first of the two clubs that they’d be visiting to also have a Q&A with some of their leading coaches. The second day started at the House of Sport, a hub for Denmark’s elite athletes and the home ground of the Danish National Elite Training Centre.
The activities included observing the morning training session of top Danish badminton players followed by a presentation on the Danish Development System delivered by Talent Development Manager Lars Uhre, as well as a Q&A with Uhre and National Head Coach Kenneth Jonassen.
Uhre gave some points on what he thinks is behind Denmark’s prosperous system. “It’s a lot of factors — our history, the size of the country, the good clubs, the facilities, the huge amount of voluntary work in the clubs, and the good structure in the federation”, Uhre pointed out.
The participants dug into the now not-so-secret factors that make the Danish system so strong by interacting with these two key figures through Q&A sessions, and Uhre had a last piece of advice for the visiting coaches. “Focus on the potential, develop the players, and make sure that you and the players have fun along the way. You cannot do something for so many hours that is needed to become a top sportsman if you don’t have fun”, concluded Uhre.
A visit and Q&A at Solrød Strand Badmintonklub closed the thought-provoking experience but hopefully, the job doesn’t end here. The participants can now return to the players they coach and draw inspiration from the key elements of the Danish training culture, to implement new ideas into their own systems.
Oehlenschlaeger expressed his gratitude to all those that made this experience possible. “We would like to give a big thank you to Badminton Denmark, in particular to National Head Coach Kenneth Jonassen and Talent Development Manager Lars Uhre for their presentations and for making themselves available for questions. We are also deeply thankful to Greve Strands Badmintonklub and Solrød Strand Badmintonklub for opening their doors and giving an insight into the Danish club structure”.
