BADMINTON Basics to Brilliance Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD)

Update August 2006

BADMINTON England’s LTAD Model has been designed to give a consistent and systematic guide to developing our junior talent and to increase the numbers of people enjoying our sport at all levels well into later life. The Model has been designed through a broad consultation process involving a wide variety of experts from within and outside BADMINTON England. The Model is a working document, based upon research and good practice from coaches, administrators and specialists around the World. In order to ensure that the document is the most ideal and informative resources as possible for all those involved in junior badminton, BADMINTON England welcomes any feedback on the subject.

Now that we have reached the first milestone in producing badminton’s LTAD Model, we have begun the process of reviewing our current programmes in line with the guidelines. To create the most appropriate environment for our junior players it is paramount that BADMINTON England’s guidelines for junior pathways, coach education, competitions and World Futures programmes fall in line with LTAD.

Coach Education

LTAD principles have been included in our Level One and Two Coaching Awards which will be mapped to the United Kingdom Coaching Certificate (UKCC) which will be available in 2007. The BIG programme is also gathering momentum, with Phase 1 (3-7 years) available now and Phase 2 (5-8 years) available January 2007.

Having worked with the other racket sports to establish the generic multi-racket skills course, the first tutor training has already been held with coaches from all four racket sports and leading sport university lecturers. The process if administration of the course is currently under development with Sports Coach UK.

Junior Pathway/Tournaments /Competitions

BADMINTON England has worked to align its junior competition structure to the player pathway outlined in the LTAD model, which also works within the Youth Sport Trust National School Sport Competition Framework.

Elite Play

LTAD principles have been incorporated in the World Futures programmes.

LTAD Resources

Visit the BADMINTON England online shop to purchase the LTAD Model, a concise LTAD document, Mental Skills Guide as well as resources to help develop ancillary capacities such as the Fitness Testing Procedures pack and the Nutritional Guides for Badminton Performance.

Stages of Long Term Athlete Development

FUNdamentals (Male 3 – 9, Females 3 – 8)

Phase One (3 – 6 years)

Aims Learn all the basic fundamental movements in a generic and fun environment

Phase Two (Males 6 – 9, Females 6 – 8)

Aims Develop generic movement skills in a structured and fun way

Physical skills introduced with a fun approach to keep children interested and engender an enjoyment for sport and physical activity

Develop hand-eye-foot co-ordination skills

Badminton’s FUNdamentals stage has been split into 2 stages to incorporate the work that all juniors should perform when learning to move correctly. Phase One activity should start using very basic activities such as squat, lunge, twist / rotate, run / walk, bend, push and pull. Phase Two activities are a progression from the exercises in Phase One and should still have a generic movement theme although they may start to have a badminton slant. Skills such as hitting/striking objects, split drops and lunging may form part of sessions.

Learning to Play (Males 9 – 12, Females 8 – 11)

Aims Continue the generic skills activities learnt in the FUNdamentals stage

Introduce more badminton skills and movements

Juniors in this stage should look to develop their fundamental movement skills through more complex ABC’S activities and also improve their basic badminton skills. Players should also be taught the value of an appropriate warm-up and cool-down, stretching, basic nutrition and tactical issues such as singles and level doubles formations and ‘taking the shuttle early.’

Training to Train (Males 12 – 16, Females 11 – 15)

Aims Fitness development

Further development of badminton specific movements

Players should look to increase their range of shots, use of deception and shorten hitting actions. Coaches should look to establish fitness and technical programmes that are tailored to an individual’s strengths and weaknesses.

A drop in a player’s co-ordination may be observed during the growth spurt as they try to re-establish control of their ‘new’ bodies. During this time, coaches should monitor injury as well as a player’s flexibility as both are susceptible to great change during this period.

Players have the opportunity to continue their involvement through junior club and county badminton, SLUK Level 1 Award in Sports Leadership (replacing JSLA), Young Volunteers, officiating qualifications and through PE routes.

Training to Compete (Males 16 -18, Females 15 – 17)

Aims Optimise fitness preparation

Further develop badminton skills. Physical, technical, tactical, decision-making and psychological preparations should all be individualised to meet the needs of the player.

Players should increase their event specific preparations, range of shots and shorten hitting actions further as well as introduce new tactical concepts such as self-analysis, planning and opponent’s game analysis.

Players have the opportunity to continue their involvement through junior club and county badminton, SLUK Level 1 Award in Community Sports Leadership (replacing CSLA), Young Volunteers, BADMINTON England Level One Assistant Coach Award, officiating qualifications, Step into Sport and through PE routes.

Training to Win (Males 18-22, Females 17 – 22)

Aims Maximise event specific preparations

Gain experience in international senior competitions to bridge the gap between junior and senior demands

Players should look to develop consistent shot production at high pace, maintain or improve physical capacities and continue tactical development, especially the ability to recognise key patterns of play.

Peak Performance (Males 21+, Females 20+)

Maximise performance by fine-tuning the capacities that were laid down in previous stages.