Badminton Takes Pride In Journey To 2012
Badminton Takes Pride In Journey To 2012
by Rebecca Lee 12.12.08
As the clock ticks towards London 2012, athletes’ preparation and training is paramount in developing the best foundations for success on the world’s biggest sporting stage.
Working in partnership, BADMINTON England and the English Institute of Sport (EIS), will begin a programme commencing 15th December, designed to ensure athletes maximise the opportunity of world class coaching and support services available to them at the National Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes.
The PRIDE Programme (Personal Responsibility in Developing Excellence) will be launched with Olympians Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms, who has since retired but will be mentoring athletes to help with their development, and will be followed by a series of workshops delivered by EIS staff over the week of the 15th December. Workshops will involve a broad range of support services including Strength & Conditioning, Physiotherapy, Performance Lifestyle, Psychology, Performance Nutrition and Performance Analysis.
Peter Jeffrey, Under 24 GB Development Coach, knows all to well the challenges of being an elite athlete, having represented England at the 1999 and 2001 World Championships as well as reaching the worlds top 12 in Mixed doubles. As a player he used to access EIS services. Jeffrey, along with other coaches, has worked with the EIS team in the East Region to help put the PRIDE Programme together.
“The PRIDE programme is about motivating the athletes to be proactive with regards to their own projects. A self driven athlete will be more successful than those who are continually told what to do. There is no doubt that to achieve at the highest level in Badminton you must maximise your potential in every area. Therefore PRIDE is designed to further educate athletes as to the expertise that is available to them in each of these areas.”
Delivering workshops to around 25 athletes over the week, on both development and podium programmes, is hoped to be the start of an ongoing initiative to create a professional world class philosophy and atmosphere across every aspect of the Badminton programme.
“We are aiming to get players to think about taking a more professional approach to every aspect of their training, planning, preparation and competition programme” explains Dawn Airton, EIS Athletes Support Manager. “The qualification process for London 2012 has already begun so the countdown timer to the London Olympics is already ticking.
“It’s not just about one week of workshops. We hope that we can deliver an ongoing programme, in partnership with the coaching staff, to create an environment in which these concepts become part of their daily lives and routines” she adds.
The workshops will be delivered during the afternoons throughout the week, followed by individual appointments for athletes to liaise with EIS practitioners on a one-to-one basis to ask questions and discuss the best ways forward for them individually.
The workshops include: Andy Allford, EIS Strength & Conditioning Coach, will deliver a workshop about the components that determine your speed on court, with Charlotte Manson, EIS Physiotherapist, demonstrating the proactive role of both physiotherapists and S&C coach in working with athletes to improve performance and reduce the risk of injury. Bronwen Lundy, EIS Performance Nutritionist will talk to athletes about eating during tournaments, Dawn Airton, EIS Performance Lifestyle Advisor will work alongside Gail Emms to explore whether athletes need to have an elite lifestyle in order to be an elite athlete, Simon Drane, EIS Psychologist, will talk about the ability to bounce back from errors on court and Hannah Behan, BADMINTON England’s Performance Analyst will talk to athletes alongside Coach Andy Wood about using live on court feedback as well as a session on how to maximise performance analysis.