Li Feng was born in China and was a member of the Chinese
National Squad. She also one of the best players ever to
play for NZ before a knee injury cut short her career.
She played in an Open grade mens tournament that contained a
young Geoff Bellingham (Who was at his peak No.1 in NZ) and made
the semifinals. She had a rare grace of movement on court
and could do the splits in a shot and recover to an upright
position without using her hands in time to get the next shot.
She went on to coach the National team up until the end of 2007.
She is one of the most technically proficient coaches in NZ.
We catch up with her to gain more of an
insight into how badminton works in the host nation of the 29th
Olympiad at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Badminton as a Sport
Badminton in China is very professional.
The structure
in China is quite different to NZ. It is not the top sport
in China:
Soccer,
Basketball and Table Tennis are extremely popular badminton is
probably around no.3 or so.
There are
three levels - National, Provincial, City and also Towns or
Villages in which badminton is played.
The path for
high performance is quite separate from social play.
(Doubles Player Fu Haifeng)
High Performance
(Picture:
World Cup Winning Uber Cup Team 2008 - China Won Both Thomas and
Uber Cups)
The top
players are picked from schools but many of them may not have
played badminton at all. At age 7 to 12 they are picked
based on height, body shape, ability, coordination,
determination, etc.
These would
be selected from schools and put into city training camps.
These could consist of as many as 180 people of which only say 5
may make the grade.
These 5 then
go onto the Province Squad training camps. The final
Provincial squad may consist of only 16 players.
Once in a
Provincial squad players may be selected for National Junior
Squad (Under 18), National Reserve Senior Squad or National
Senior Squad. Squad sizes would be around 10 for singles
and 16 for doubles (doubles & mixed).
The National
squad would have 3 coaches each with expertise in a specific
area. There is of course also a very high standard of players in
the squad to play against and with. In China traditionally
the focus or emphasis has been on the physical and technical
side of coaching rather than mental or tactical with
the view of
dominating with technique and shots. (This does not mean
of course that tactical or mental aspects are not good but focus
is on technique and fitness). However recently more the
tactical side has been given increasing attention also.
Competitions
(Two pictures of Lin Dan China and World No.1
)
For
Provincial and City squads there are inter city and inter
provincial matches and one national junior tournament played per
year. They do not play a lot of tournaments.
The
junior squads are broken down into age groups U18, U16 and U14
no under 12s.
For those not
selected in the squads the rest of the badminton in China is
really very social. Although recently there have been more
clubs emerging in China traditionally players would just
play in local city halls. Often social players won't play
any organised competition until high school as there is very
little organised primary school badminton.
Very young
players may play with their parents socially but not as a
competition. To play
socially in China would cost around $30 per hour to play on a
mat or $15 to play on a regular floor.
Payment
Top players
in China are paid - As a rough guide only they would be paid
something like the following in NZ dollars.
Note Approximate
Gauge of Payments Only - Per Month:
National
Squad - Top Level e.g. Top World Ranking - $2000
National
Squad Normal Level - $1000
National
Reserve Squad - $200
National
Junior Squad - $100
Training
The training in China is very intense for the
chosen athletes. Once selected in a training squad they
are put through a series of health checks and tests to check
their suitability for playing badminton.
Typical training regimes would be for Senior
and Junior squads of 5 to 6 hours per day for 5 days per week,
half day on Saturday and rest on Sunday. Total of 27 to 32
hours per week
A typical training routine for a day would
be:
Morning Training
5:30am to 7am: Running, Shot
work, Gym
1pm to 3:30pm: On Court Work
6pm to 8pm:
Shots & Movement On Court"
I myself was initially a runner at school and
got picked for a provincial squad when 12 years old but I had
never ever played badminton. I would train extra hours
feeding leading players, doing extra runs so my training was
around 8 hours a day.
Promotion
The government controls badminton in China
and ensures that the Provincial teams feed into the National
teams. Many years ago sponsors would provide
all the gear to lower squads but now some players have to pay a
bit. So they may be given two rackets and three shirts but
have to buy some rackets and shirts as well.
Badminton In China
the view of
dominating with technique and shots. (This does not mean
of course that tactical or mental aspects are not good but focus
is on technique and fitness). However recently more the
tactical side has been given increasing attention also.
Payment