The fourth and final face-to-face course of the ADVANCE Badminton Coaching Education took place at the Olympic Training Centre in Saarbrücken, Germany.
“World Class” was the focus of the course for the 16 ADVANCE coaches, who had the opportunity to use the same facilities as 2022 European champions Isabel Lohau, Marvin Seidel, and Mark Lamsfuss. Being immersed in these world-class surroundings and environment further deepened the understanding and the requirements of being a truly “World Class” coach and athlete.
The 16 ADVANCE coaches completed six and half intense days from 24 until 30 June 2023. Current national coach of Spain and strength training expert, Diemo Ruhnow, gave an insight to strength training and performance testing related to badminton on the first couple of days of the course. The former national coach of Germany highlighted the importance of keeping the players free of injuries by doing well-organised strength training and keeping track of the strength development through performance tests.
“As a badminton coach, the most important part is that players are on court. If a player is injured, it is of course not good for the player, but it also means that the player loses court time. On top of that, it will also add a lot of extra work to support staff. So, keeping the players healthy is the key objective of the strength training,” was one of many valuable statements from Diemo Ruhnow.
Hannes Käsbauer, Head of National Training Centre in Saarbrücken, and Jacob Oehlenschlæger, Senior Manager at Badminton Europe, were the two tutors making sure that the ADVANCE coaches got an insight into many topics related to performance at the highest level —peak performance psychology, annual tournament and training planning, and match analysis were just a few of the many topics also covered through theoretical and practical sessions.
The 16 ADVANCE coaches also got the opportunity to train junior players from around Saarbrücken. The coaches tested their coaching skills developed during the ten-month ADVANCE Badminton Coaching Education in three training sessions over three days. After each session, the coaches discussed and received feedback on their training session from the tutors.
“The ADVANCE coaches have done a great job over the last ten months. Seeing them on court with the junior players was just great. This is what badminton coaching is all about! It has been an objective of the ADVANCE European Badminton Coaching Education to have an applied and practical approach to the courses. It means that the theoretical background information must be tried and tested during the courses in a practical context. I believe this approach to education makes the ADVANCE European Badminton Coaching education very special,” was proudly stated by Jacob Oehlenschlæger, who besides being one of the tutors at the education is also the project leader of the ADVANCE project.
The 16 ADVANCE coaches will have to complete the final assignment within the next months before being certified ADVANCE coaches.