Badminton Beat

Our 60th episode is the last for a while, we've had fun doing it and hope you've enjoyed listening to our ramblings.  Maybe we'll return again some other time but until then...keep coaching, keep playing and keep enjoying our favourite sport!    

Rachel revisits The Beat with her post-All-England Open follow-up to Episode 58 and Kaz chimes in with his "2-pence" on some of the matches and how they're being covered.

On the eve of the All-England Open, Badminton Beat hosts a 2-parter with "Roving Reporter" Rachel Honderich. First, a chat with her before departing for London, catching up on some training pointers, a bit of All-England history and her use of fitness monitors/watches for badminton. Part two (Episode 59) will take place later in the week after Rachel and partner Kristen Tsai have played their first match at the All-England Open.

Back for her 3rd visit to Badminton Beat, Michelle Li's latest visit is taken from an on-line chat we had prior to Ontario re-opening gyms (and Badminton courts) for regular training again. Michelle has joined the Granite Club and is now training with fellow Olympian (and BB roving reporter) Rachel Honderich. We caught up with Michelle to get her "take" on training, returning to the courts and what it's like to play Tai Tzu Ying and Pusarla V. Sindhu. Plus lots more.

Happy 2022! Coaches Mike & Kaz take a quick look at the World Championships and also discuss the changes that Danish player, HK Vittinghus would like to see made to the badminton scene...as well as some of our own.

Kaz and Mike are back with a review of some things that have been going on in the Badminton world this fall as well as a few ideas to try out next time you hit the courts.

The 2020 Paralympics just wrapped up in Tokyo with Para Badminton making it's debut in the Games. So with the increased interest, Badminton Beat caught up with Canadian Coach Ram Nayyar to help explain the details and various categories of Para Badminton.

Coaches Mike & Kaz catch up with Canadian Olympian Rachel Honderich for the last of her 3-part Tokyo Olympic "Rachel Reports". Rachel talks about her & doubles partner, Kristen Tsai's matches, their strategies and other things relating to her Olympic experience as well as what lies ahead.

We're back with the Rachel Report Vol. 2: We caught up with Rachel, now in the Olympic Village the evening of the opening ceremonies which she and Kirsten decided to miss in order to prepare for their first Olympic match the following day.

The Rachel Report #1: Mike and Kaz chat with Canadian Olympian Rachel Honderich in Hakodate, Japan where she and the rest of the Canadian Olympic Badminton Team are training before their matches begin in Tokyo on July 24. Canadians can watch matches on-line on the CBC Gem website at: gem.cbc.ca. As we mentioned in our talk, we don't yet have information regarding full-matches being televised on the CBC TV. YouTube also has a channel dedicated to the Olympics which should be streaming matches.

The Olympics are just around the corner and Canada is sending its largest Badminton Team ever to the Games. So on July 3, we took this opportunity to catch up with singles sensation Brian Yang about making the team, being the youngest male singles player in the Olympic men's singles draw and some of the things that led up to his being selected. Coach Kaz also stopped by to give his "2 cents" on a few badminton events that have taken place since our last podcast..

Mike, Kaz and Rachel discuss the lead-up to the Olympics, a few Badminton shows on Prime Video and Netflix and the narrowly defeated proposal for new scoring.

Mike and Kaz emerge from winter hibernation with a long-overdue Episode 48. Lots of things to chat about: New Scoring, European and Pan-Am Championships, The Olympics, "desert-island" drills/training, Kaz complains a bit...and more.

Happy New Year, Team!  Badminton Beat is Back!  And so is badminton...well, not in Canada but it IS back in Thailand which is where "Roving Reporter" Rachel Honderich is this week. Coach Kaz and I chat with her leading up to her and partner, Kristen Tsai's match later this week at the Thai Open (their first international match in 10 months). We find out about the very different tournament set-up and training arrangements necessary to host and play an international tournament during the pandemic.

Badminton Beat is taking a break for now...thanks everyone for listening and keep safe.

Ayaka & Jens (amongst others) retire, Coach Kaz "buys the farm" (perhaps to practice his Air Badminton skills) and we all wait patiently for the fall season to begin and some big-events, including Thomas & Uber Cups to (hopefully) take place. These are just a few of the things discussed in this month's BB Podcast.

While most of us are heading back to the courts, Super Dan and Danish doubles maestro Carsten Mogensen go in the opposite direction and announce their retirements...so definitely some discussion around those two. We also touch on a few coaching strategies, what the post-CoVid (or mid-CoVid) return to the courts is looking like and Kaz faces a rapid-fire questionnaire with suspicion.

The Badminton Beat crew check in on several coaches who are at various stages of re-opening their badminton courts after (or leading up to) the lifting of CoVid 19 lockdown restrictions: Andrew Dabeka in Switzerland, Ram Nayyar at the Vancouver Lawn and Tennis Club (in Vancouver) and Stephane Cadieux at the Boulevard Club in Toronto.

Continuing the Badminton Journey...while staying at home, Kaz and Mike discuss their actions and distractions during these isolating times. And as always, a few things to consider to keep your shuttle-sanity.

The Badminton courts are closed, the gyms are shut down...but you can still get your Badminton "fix" by listening to Episode 41 of The Beat with Mike, Kaz & Rachel.

BadBeat reporter/player Rachel Honderich gives a run-down of her and partner, Kristen Tsai's doubles match as well as other things going on at the 2020 Yonex All-England Open.

What should you be thinking at 19-19 in the 3rd game? What is a really good "change-up" shot for doubles play? How should I prepare on the day of a big match?  All these questions and more are answered by our "Roving Reporter" Rachel Honderich on today's podcast as she prepares for the 2020 Yonex All-England Open.

Michelle Li, Canada's top-10 BWF-ranked women's singles player joins The Beat this month to go over all the things she's been up to since we last chatted way back in 2018. It's a great insight into the planning, thoughts and preparations she goes through before facing (and often defeating) some of her fellow world-class singles stars. Michelle also shares some of her plans as we head into the final 5 months leading up to the Tokyo Olympic Games. Mike and Kaz also go over some of the latest news, views and ideas out there in the Badminton World!

Coaching different age groups, news updates, drills and several other topics are covered this month by coaches Mike and Kaz in Episode 38.

In this first episode of 2020, Mike and Kaz take a look at what's been going on these last few months in the Badminton World, both on and off the court.  

Season 3 of The Beat kicks-off with coaches Mike and Kaz looking at "motivation" and some other sides of the "mental-game".

Coaches Mike & Kaz go over some "stand-out" matches from the last few major events and discuss plenty of other badminton topics including equipment, Air Badminton, rankings & injuries (their's and others).

Mike and Kaz follow up on Lee Chong Wei's official retirement with a short review and discussion of his career, then Canadian Team member Rachel Honderich stops by to chat about her time at the Sudirman Cup last month.

The 2019 Sudirman Cup, 2020 Olympic predictions and Air Badminton are just a few of the topics Mike and Kaz touch on during Ep 33.

Our second drill/training supplement, now officially known as...The Interval. Something to add to your training regimen.

Mike and Kaz dive into the Lin Dan archives, with Kaz looking at "The Squabble" match and asking if LD is the "GOAT"???

Mike interviews Canadian Chris Trenholme, Senior Technical Events Manager at Badminton World Federation to get a "behind-the-scenes" look at what's it like at our World Association's Headquarters.

This is the first in our series of short supplemental drill/training episodes for coaches and players looking for ideas to add to their practices.

Mike and Kaz take on a slightly new format this season, looking at specific matches from the internet. In Episode 30, we focus on the 1992 Thomas Cup finals between Indonesia and Malaysia, specifically Rashid Sidek vs Ardy Wiranata's 3-game singles battle posted on BWF-TV. We follow-up with an interview with Ardy where he tells us his thoughts on the match and what it was like to represent Indonesia in Thomas Cup.

The BB Podcast brings in 6 players/coaches to join Mike and Kaz in a "round-table" discussion of various badminton topics.

Mike does a quick recap on recent Badminton events including the 2018 Li-Ning BWF World Junior Championships and also has a short chat with Rachel Honderich.

News and reviews from Coaches Mike & Kaz...on the eve of the World Junior Badminton Championships, in Markham, Canada

Welcome to Season 2 of Badminton Beat! Mike and Kaz discuss a variety of topics including the coming 2018-19 season.

Mike and Kaz do a mid-summer review of recent badminton events, including a recap of the World Championships (up to the date of this podcast) for this, the "silver" (25th) episode.

Mike catches up with Tom Muir, longstanding Canadian Badminton player and the 2017 Danish Master's 60+ Men's Singles Champion. Tom reflects on his junior days, his coach Raphi Kanchanaraphi and what its like now to compete at the Masters level in the Canadian and International circuit.

Coach Kaz and Canadian Badminton Olympian Toby Ng chat about Toby's past, his views on playing the Olympics, training and much, more.

Mike and Kaz are back reviewing various topics from the badminton world including results from the recently held Thomas & Uber Cup competitions in Thailand. Coach Efendi Wijaya also stops by for chat about badminton in Canada, Indonesia and how he started up his club, E-Badminton.

Canadian National Team Member, Nyl Yakura talks about how he got into badminton, his most recent competitions as well as up-and-coming events overseas.  Some good insights into one of the more consistent and long-standing members of our men's team...just don't stencil your racquet incorrectly around him.

Mike and Kaz follow-up with Rachel Honderich about how things went for her and the rest of the Canadian Team at the XXI Commonwealth Games.

Mike and Kaz discuss the Commonwealth Games and coaching. Canadian Team player, Rachel Honderich calls in to give an update directly from The Games in the Gold Coast, Australia.

The coaches episode. We look back at several coaches who have made a big impact in Canada. As usual, Mike is joined by a few guest speakers.

The All-England Open Episode!  Kaz and Mike review the finals along with a few other badminton-related topics.

Mike and Kaz discuss the latest and greatest happenings in the badminton world including tournament results, trends and "desert-island" badminton choices.

Michelle Li, two-time Olympian, ranked 18th in the world and Canada's first ever Commonwealth Games Women's Singles Gold Medalist, chats with Mike about recent matches against the world's fellow top singles players.  Michelle also talks about her time competing in India's Premier Badminton League earlier this winter, improving Canadian badminton and what it's like trying to "make it big" as a Canadian badminton star.

Mike chats with Olympian and 6-time Canadian Men's Singles Badminton champ Andrew Dabeka about his playing career, the state of the game and coaching.

Mike and Kaz review the Canadian National Championship results as well as future plans for Badminton Beat. Remember to e-mail us at badbeatpod@gmail.com if you have any ideas or things you'd like to hear on the 'cast.