Cai Zi Min is the ex-head coach of the national teams of Thailand and Nigeria. He is currently the head coach of the Orange County Badminton Club, which produces over 60% of US champion badminton players. As a player, he was 2nd in China. And for whatever reason, he's ventured up to snowy little Winnipeg to coach the Manitoba Canada Winter Games Team in a three day camp. He's an absolutely fantastic coach, if anyone ever has the chance to work with him, do it. He likes to work and correct technique one on one. Has anyone else had him? Have anything to say about him? Here's a few things I learned from him today: General - 70% of rallies are about 15 seconds, so shadow footwork should be practiced in very quick, short bursts of 20-30 seconds - 80% of all unforced errors involve hitting the net On Deception He really stressed the importance of deceptive strokes, especially with use of slicing. However, beyond just slicing to opposite sides of the court, you have to use your body. For example, if you hit a crosscourt slice drop (the slice coming at the end of your form and thus being almost imperceptible), your shoulders should be facing the corner you did not hit to. This will throw off your opponent more than the shot itself. On Footwork Coach Cai follows the Chinese footwork methodology which is basically, shuffle when you have time/need to jump, and run when you're behind. So if you've hit a clear from the back, you should run back to the centre, but you should shuffle back from a drop or smash. This allows you to change direction most quickly and get to the next shot. Similarly, you should run back from a lift but shuffle back from a net shot. When shuffling, you don't return exactly to the centre, but close to it. For most of you, this is probably already innate/common knowledge. It was all new to me, though, since my club coach teaches exclusively running and my provincial coach teaches exclusively shuffle, and I was unsure how to blend the two. Now I know! If I learn more interesting things tomorrow, I shall post them as well.
