Everyone wants to train athletes who listen, who focus, who want to win – because at first glance, that’s what people see on the world stage.
But those players and coaches who make it there have earned their place. It didn’t happen by coincidence. It came through resilience, passion, and a lifelong hunger to learn.
Most coaches, especially at the beginning, won’t be working with top players. You won’t be running one-to-one sessions with elite juniors straight away, because parents usually look for experienced coaches with a proven record or higher qualifications.
So, if you can’t train great athletes right from the start, what is coaching really for? Is it just about earning money, or avoiding a 9–5 job? It can be – and for some, it might work for a while – but that path burns out faster than you think.
Purpose over entitlement is key.
That’s why it’s so important to be clear from the beginning about what you want to achieve with your UKCC Level 1 or Level 2 coaching qualification. By the time you reach Level 2, life as a coach might not look the way you expect it to.
This article is here to give insight and meaning to what a coaching qualification truly represents. To help upcoming coaches understand what outcomes they should aim for.
Coaching can be a beautiful journey, one filled with responsibility and joy. It’s not about chasing trophies or podium places with children. It’s about building people, passion, and purpose through the sport you love.
Understanding Why You Coach
Before you step onto court as a coach, ask yourself why you want to do it. Your reason will shape the kind of coach you become, and how long you’ll last in the game. I recommend you to write your purpose down to a piece of paper, put it away safe and check it every year. You will see how your coaching journey will change through time.
A good reason to coach is to share your love of the sport. Maybe badminton gave you something (confidence, community, discipline) and you want to give that back. Maybe you enjoy helping others improve, or seeing people discover the game for the first time. Coaching for these reasons will keep you learning, even on tough days, because your motivation comes from growth and connection, not from results.
My reason for coaching is to show appreciation for the small achievements in life to the next generation. To show them the beauty of offline life and help them become resilient adults who can make the right decisions quickly. That is why I wake up every morning, keep my body fit and ready to train, complete my daily and occasional tasks, and plan the impossible. To create strong players and adults around me.
A bad reason to coach is to chase quick recognition, or to make a name for yourself through your players. If your main goal is to produce champions so you can be known as the coach who made them, you’ll struggle when progress is slow. And progress in coaching is always slow. Real development takes time, patience, and humility.
When I tried this way, I felt like I was wasting my time. I didn’t feel fulfilled by the activities I was doing. People weren’t learning as much, and I thought the problem was that I didn’t have better players. Instead of realising that I simply wasn’t ready for them.
I kept jumping back and forth in time, comparing their situation to my own experience as a junior. I wanted to recreate the same environment I had, but it didn’t match their purpose. As a result, disengagement and disappointment became a constant feeling on my side, if not both sides.
Then I let it go and started to follow what they needed. That’s when badminton coaching success truly started.
Coaching Is a Service, Not a Stage
Coaching is not about standing in front of athletes telling them what to do. It’s about serving them, understanding what they need and guiding them toward it.
Early on, you’ll spend most of your time with beginners or community players, not elite athletes. And that’s not a lesser job. It’s a foundational one.
Many coaches, even at the top level, don’t actually know how to teach the basics properly. Their focus is often on mentality, tactics, or competition management, and that’s valuable, but without strong foundations those things have nowhere to stand.
Learning how to teach correct grips, movement, and timing in a clear and effective way will make you stand out as a new coach. It’s one of the most important skills you can build.
If you think about coaching as a business, this makes perfect sense too. Most players on the planet are at beginner or intermediate level, so if you have a deep understanding of the basics, you’ll have a huge audience to work with and a steady stream of players who need your help.
Coaching is service, not showmanship. When you help players understand and enjoy the game at their level, you build more than a client base. You build trust, respect, and a real coaching legacy. You can create environments, where showmanship, laughter and enjoyment is the focus, but my experience is that it will only work with players on the top of leisure levels or over, not with beginners.
Respect the Process, Respect the People
Badminton coaching in the UK, like anywhere else, is built on patience. Building trust with players, parents, and within the badminton community takes time. You don’t earn respect because of your certificate. You earn it through consistency, professionalism, and care.
There will be moments when your sessions feel quiet, when progress feels slow, and when your dream of “coaching top players” seems far away. But every hour you spend improving your craft, every mistake you learn from, every player who leaves your session smiling – those are the real steps toward becoming a coach who matters.
The joy of coaching isn’t just in winning matches. It’s in being part of someone’s development, helping them become more confident, more capable, and more in love with the sport.
Understanding how someone learns is key
Children need repetition, whether they like it or not. This is the best way to learn and the only way to gain enough experience to learn the flight pattern and make a good shot.
Don’t be afraid to let them play with the wrong technique. Instead, run practices often, without a game, where they are challenged to open up their skills and try things in different ways. They are learning in different pace and ways and that’s normal.
Like, most ways of holding the racket on the grip can be useful. What they need to understand is that every situation has its own grip, and they cannot solve everything with only one approach. So they have to change the hold of racket quite often. Children do not like changes, so they must find enjoyment doing it, not for the purpose of winning, but the purpose of enjoying themselves.
A coach must listen and observe the child, and figure out how to help them in the best possible way to build a character that learns and adapts to new ideas quickly. That’s what we aim for – but it usually takes years to achieve.
Is that a failure? I don’t think so. That’s progress, exactly as it’s meant to be.
But coaching isn’t always about smiling faces and progress. There’s a side that every new coach eventually meets – the side where patience, structure and leadership are tested. Managing young players is not only about teaching them badminton, but also about guiding their behaviour and showing them how to respect the space, the people, and the process.
The Dark Side of Fun
This is something most entry-level junior coaches need to understand early on. Some children have a very strange idea of what counts as fun. It is not just now, it was like that back then. Some children are like that.
For them, fun can sometimes mean damaging equipment, no matter who owns it, whether it’s the coach or the school. They treat coaches as if they were school teachers, forgetting that they DON’T HAVE to be there – they choose to be there.
You’ll see them breaking the focus of others, running around, fighting with rackets, and forcing you to act like a police officer instead of a coach. That is also a source of fun for them, to see you like that.
When I see children, who wants to play but do not want to follow the process, I get in touch with parents, asking them to hire a court for their children, let them play as this is what they need. They don’t need a coach. And this is what I recommend you to do not want to teach everybody, only the ones who open to learn.
But anyway, most children will behave appropriate under an experienced coach. Experienced coaches already know how to create order, give clear feedback, and contact parents when necessary. They set clear expectations about how a child should learn, and what will happen if they don’t align with that.
Badminton England promotes to have Policies for your club, which you can personalize to fit your environment, and the people in the region. Make it available for parents and regularly educate them in word or in writing if necessary.
Clear instructions are key. A clear tone and appropriate volume are a MUST. Discipline builds an environment where everyone can enjoy themselves.
If you allow some of them to go rough, they will, and they will create a toxic atmosphere where no one wants to be.
Without losing anyone, act instantly.
Cut it short and show leadership through action. Tell them clearly that if they do not change, they will be out. You are a badminton coach, not a childminder. Remind them why they are there, while you are also reminding yourself why you started. Creating order for children is part of the job. Some will only learn discipline from you, not badminton.
Same applies for adults, but in a different tone. Remind them that you are not just here for money, you also have a passion in coaching. Boundaries have to be clear for all, so you better do it at the beginning, on the first session.
Having a mentor can help you become more confident in being firm, daring to act, and solving problems with maturity and speed. You might be able to cope without them, but I warn you that learning will be slow and seasoned with negative emotions.
Final Thoughts
Becoming a coach in 2026, or in any year, is more than teaching badminton. It’s about people. About learning how they learn, guiding them with patience, and finding your own growth through their progress.
You will meet challenges. Some days will test your limits, and some sessions will make you question your purpose. But remember, you are not alone. Every great coach has stood where you are now – uncertain, tired, doubting, yet still showing up. That’s where the real strength is built.
Purpose over entitlement is key. You don’t deserve success simply because you hold a qualification. You earn it by showing up for others, by serving them, and by improving yourself daily.
Coaching is not about producing champions. It’s about helping people become their best selves, in sport and in life. It’s about showing that discipline and fun can live together, that learning takes time, and that respect must always go both ways.
You will create order when it’s needed, and you will create joy when it’s possible. Some days you’ll be a teacher, some days a mentor, some days just a steady presence. But every day you will matter to someone.
That’s what makes a coach. Not a title. Not a piece of paper. But the quiet, consistent work of someone who chooses to serve the game – and everyone in it – the right way.
How do you know you’re doing it right?
They smile. They enjoy themselves. And most importantly, they come back for more.
Opportunities
If you would like to become a junior coach, and you already live in the UK, around Warrington and have some spare hours a week, we might be able to give you hours based on qualification and experience. Get in touch here for more
If you get to this far, I am also happy to start a coach conversation where we all can talk about our daily challenges as a coach, as every one of us struggling some days. No matter the level or the experience. Get in touch here for more