Article for the 2011 Junior Canadian National Championships
Here is a brief article that I wrote for the 2011 Junior Canadian National Championships held at the Richmond Oval, Richmond, British Columbia this past week. Congratulations to all the winners and a special thanks to those who made the event a success! As the programs for the tournament were only distributed to the athletes, I've attached my article below for those who may want to take a look at it. Enjoy!
ShoutOuts to My Opponents: The art of 'Yelling' in Badminton
ShoutOuts to My Opponents: The art of 'Yelling' in Badminton
This article, though it is meant to educate, contains a personal perspective based on my own experiences. However, I have seen first hand the evolution of 'yelling' in badminton, as I feel partially responsible for bringing it to Canada *laugh*. Though I can't credit myself to be the first person to do it, I may be the first person to offer fellow Canadians a little background on this victory yelling after rallies, as it is being increasingly popular, especially with the younger players. I anticipate that this Jr. Nationals will be the loudest ever, but at least we can seek to understand it.
My first experience with 'yelling' was at the 2009 Korea Open, playing Men's Doubles with William Milroy and being coached by the legendary Kim Dong Moon (2-time Olympic Champion for South Korea). We were up against a team from Chinese Taipei in the first round. Though we tried our best, we lost anyway, but all I kept hearing from Kim in the match was “More pumping up!” At first I thought he meant I needed to move faster or move more, but after the match, he explained to us that both sides were really quiet. He wanted us to yell more, to try to energize ourselves. In other words, he wanted us to 'pump ourselves up'. It seemed a little odd to have your coach tell you to yell more, but he explained it further to us by telling us that we needed to encourage ourselves more to show the other team that we were still fighting back. The best way of doing that was to yell, but of course in a controlled manner.
Let's fast forward to March 2011, where I had the fortune of training in Korea for 6 weeks. Yelling was so common over there that they would even yell in practice. Though there was slightly less yelling at the older level, high school players in practice games would be yelling constantly. If they won a rally or lost a rally, it didn't matter. Jon Vandervet and I faced a young high school team who would yell about 3 times each player before the start of every rally. Sure we thought it was a little ridiculous, but even though our skills were better than theirs, they were playing every rally with their full intensity, doing whatever they could to try to win. The yelling, though it seemed over the top at first, seemed to be energizing the whole gym, as players on other courts were doing the same thing to their practice opponents. It seemed odd, as all this yelling would definitely be awkward in a North American setting, but then it hit me: Players DO NOT take it personally when their opponents yell. As soon as we all realized it, it made training easier, if anything it facilitated it by firing ourselves up to do the best we could. There was no psychological game about it, and it was not a yelling contest. Everyone solely wished to do their personal best, to bring their best to each practice, and at the end of the day, everyone is on the same team as they push each other further and further. I never once saw someone give up in practice because they faced a much tougher opponent, and I never once saw someone fooling around because their opponent was weaker. Everyone gave their best and it brought out the best in everyone.
Yelling seemed to play a big role in badminton in Korea, but it extended to other sports there as well. I had the fortune to see some other sports and yelling was no different. I am also certain that yelling extends to other Asian countries as well, including Japan and China, and since it is continually spreading through International badminton, I see it everywhere I compete. It is easy to dismiss it as unsportsmanlike at first glance, but take it into the context of the player trying to win their mach. Most of the time, the player is playing with an unfavourable crowd and it can be pretty tough when everybody is cheering for his or her opponent(s). If nobody is cheering for that player, at least be mindful and let the player cheer for him/herself. Personally, I know it's tough when everyone is out cheering against you, but to all the players competing at the Jr. Nationals, there should always be one voice on your side: your own voice. So cheer yourselves on, and I hope everyone has a little better understanding of why badminton players yell after rallies...
Let's fast forward to March 2011, where I had the fortune of training in Korea for 6 weeks. Yelling was so common over there that they would even yell in practice. Though there was slightly less yelling at the older level, high school players in practice games would be yelling constantly. If they won a rally or lost a rally, it didn't matter. Jon Vandervet and I faced a young high school team who would yell about 3 times each player before the start of every rally. Sure we thought it was a little ridiculous, but even though our skills were better than theirs, they were playing every rally with their full intensity, doing whatever they could to try to win. The yelling, though it seemed over the top at first, seemed to be energizing the whole gym, as players on other courts were doing the same thing to their practice opponents. It seemed odd, as all this yelling would definitely be awkward in a North American setting, but then it hit me: Players DO NOT take it personally when their opponents yell. As soon as we all realized it, it made training easier, if anything it facilitated it by firing ourselves up to do the best we could. There was no psychological game about it, and it was not a yelling contest. Everyone solely wished to do their personal best, to bring their best to each practice, and at the end of the day, everyone is on the same team as they push each other further and further. I never once saw someone give up in practice because they faced a much tougher opponent, and I never once saw someone fooling around because their opponent was weaker. Everyone gave their best and it brought out the best in everyone.
Yelling seemed to play a big role in badminton in Korea, but it extended to other sports there as well. I had the fortune to see some other sports and yelling was no different. I am also certain that yelling extends to other Asian countries as well, including Japan and China, and since it is continually spreading through International badminton, I see it everywhere I compete. It is easy to dismiss it as unsportsmanlike at first glance, but take it into the context of the player trying to win their mach. Most of the time, the player is playing with an unfavourable crowd and it can be pretty tough when everybody is cheering for his or her opponent(s). If nobody is cheering for that player, at least be mindful and let the player cheer for him/herself. Personally, I know it's tough when everyone is out cheering against you, but to all the players competing at the Jr. Nationals, there should always be one voice on your side: your own voice. So cheer yourselves on, and I hope everyone has a little better understanding of why badminton players yell after rallies...
KEY POINTS TO REMEMBER:
- Do NOT, I repeat do NOT take yelling from the opponent(s) personally. Should they be yelling too extravagantly, that will lead to their downfall, which brings us to:
- Do not make it a yelling contest. Each yell is individual to each player, so if your yell is not as loud as your opponent's, nobody cares... and you definitely shouldn't either.
- Yelling should be used as encouragement, so I wouldn't recommend yelling when frustrated. Instead of yelling when you are frustrated, signaling to your opponent that you are stressed, try a smaller encouragement 'yell' or two before you start the next rally.
- Ignore the crowd. If there is any form of heckling, ignore it. Do NOT take it personally. Continue to cheer yourself on. There may be cases when people who do not understand yelling and they try to heckle you.
- Keep track of your yelling. If you feel that your yelling is getting progressively louder and louder, make sure you control the yelling and not the other way around. Yelling should often be done the same way every time, otherwise you may have entered into a yelling contest.
- If you aren't comfortable with yelling yourself, then you don't have to yell. Just understand what to do if your opponent(s) yell i.e. do NOT take it personally.
- Lastly, keep the yelling to badminton. Don't scream at your family or friends =)
I hope you've enjoyed the article. Keep track of my badminton journey on my blog (http://towbsss.blogspot.com) and best of luck to everyone competing this week!
Toby Ng
Badminton Canada – National Team Member
Toby Ng
Badminton Canada – National Team Member
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