Junior Performance Pathway Overview

Badminton Scotland set ourselves ambitious goals and seek to develop a system and athlete pathway that enables us to consistently produce athletes with the ability to challenge for medals at World, Olympic, European and Commonwealth level. We do this through combining best practice and innovation with our own unique strategic approach.

To achieve this, we continue to develop a clear and aligned strategy that aims at maximising an athletes’ potential from an early age. Consistent success for us means offering talented athletes with appropriate support through quality coaching, education and learning to aid their progression throughout the pathway.

Our three main principles to support athlete development are:

  1. Providing a quality training framework and programme
  2. Instilling the values, standards and behaviours to succeed in life and sport
  3. Offering support and learning opportunities within our training environments

We strive to develop a strong pathway, through having an integrated approach where clubs, other identified pathway sessions and BS Regional Training Squads work alongside each other to develop a large base of junior performance athletes. Furthermore, a small number of selected junior performance athletes will be invited to attend Junior National Squad training. These programmes specifically cater for athletes deemed capable of achieving international standards with the potential to achieve the overarching goals of the programme in the future. All contributors will work towards this by aligning with the principles of our What It Takes To Win Model.

To read more about each section, please continue below, where you can find additional resources detailing each segment of our Performance Pathway.

Badminton Scotland Regional Performance Squads

The BS Regional Performance Squads (RPS) are the first step on the BS Junior Performance Pathway. These squads are aimed at athletes who are interested in becoming competitive badminton players, providing them with additional training opportunities alongside their club commitments.

We aim to have these squads within each BS Group area, enabling athletes to have additional training opportunities within their region. These squads are broken into three sections ‘Base’, ‘Develop’ and ‘Advance’, with each stage of the programme catering to the needs of athletes at various ages and stages of development.

These squads mainly run on Monday and Wednesday evenings within each BS Group area however, in some circumstances we may have to book alternative days depending on venue availability and geographical circumstances.

Athletes within these squads must align themselves with the values of the programme, including meeting various commitment and behavioural criteria to be selected and maintain a place within the programme (Performance factors considered when selecting athletes can be found within each squads policies and procedures documentation below).

Base

Base training programme introduces athletes to the Junior Performance Pathway, teaching athletes important values, standards and behaviours that will enable them to develop into better athletes and better people. Base is aimed at athletes aged approximately 8-14 with a particular focus on younger athletes.

This programme will develop the technical skillset of athletes as this is the foundation that they will build their game on in their later years. Alongside this, they will develop their tactical awareness as this will allow the athlete to develop their skills holistically. The mental aspect of the game is a lower priority at this stage of development; however, athletes should learn basic competencies such as learning to learn.

It is an expectation that athletes will undertake 6 hours of on-court training and 1 hour off-court training per week; as well as compete in a minimum of 6 Competitions A or B grade each year.

Trials for the Base programme occur in March and  September, with athlete reviews being provided to members in February and August each year.

Develop

Develop is the next step on the BS Junior Performance Pathway. This programme aims to build on the technical and tactical foundations of the Base programme, providing increased expectations and an introduction to tournament outcome criteria. This programme is suitable for athletes aged 10-16.

The technical skillset of athletes will be developed in two forms. Firstly, some of the more challenging technical skills will be learned such as shots next to the body and shots behind the body. Secondly, athletes will now be challenged to perform skills already learned within more open, pressurised environments, encouraging them to adapt techniques to the most appropriate situations.

Athletes will improve their tactical awareness, through having to make small adjustments and decisions, enabling them to develop key principles of techniques whilst having the adaptability to use skills in the appropriate context. The mental aspect should now be developed through learning how to set goals with the coaches providing support and input.

it is an expectation that athletes will undertake 8 hours of on-court training and 2 hours off-court training per week; as well as compete in a minimum of 6 A grade competitions/Junior National Championships each year.

Trials for the Develop programme occur in March and  September, with athlete reviews being provided to members in February and August each year.

Advance

The aim of ‘Advance’ is to build on the laid foundation of ‘Base’ and ‘Develop’ by providing disturbances that enable athletes to reflect and develop in more challenging circumstances. As well as developing both the physical and mental aspects with increased importance. This programme is suitable for athletes aged 13-22.

Technical and tactical growth will be prioritised in Advance. This will help athletes recognise common patterns of play which they can draw upon to make informed decisions within rallies. Consistency at this stage also becomes increasingly important in the application of skills as the athletes look to refine their shot quality and accuracy. The speed of play in these later Junior years increases significantly, becoming more important for athletes to improve the physical aspect of their game. The mental demands will add more stress on the athletes. This will lead to some intentionally stressful situations in training, providing opportunities to deal with frustration, negative thoughts and adversity. Lastly, the performance focus should increase with athletes now being expected to focus on tournament results criteria, as well as continuing to develop their game.

it is an expectation that athletes will undertake 10 hours of on-court training and 3 hours off-court training per week; as well as compete in 6 A grade competitions/Junior National Championships each year.

Trials for the Advance programme occur in March and  September, with athlete reviews being provided to members in February and August each year.

Junior National Squad

Our “Junior National Squad” is for RPS and SDS athletes who are amongst the best in Scotland for their respective age group. The programme will offer additional support complimenting the Regional Performance Squad (RPS) that the athlete will remain an integral part of.

This is a National programme which will provide guidance through workshops, additional training and competition exposure, helping athletes understand the demands and expectations of performance badminton.

Additional opportunities within this programme include:

  1. Regular centralised training sessions (every athlete)
  2. National/International training camp(s) and/or tournament(s) (Selected athletes only)
  3. Annual goal setting (every athlete)
  4. Various workshops (every athlete)

This programme compliments the work that takes place within the RPS and SDS programmes, depending on the developmental stage of the athlete. Athletes who are a part of our Develop RPS will see a large focus on developing their technical skillset and tactical awareness through performing skills already learned within more open, pressurised environments and learning how to use these skills and techniques effectively within practices, having to make small adjustments and decisions, enabling athletes to develop key principles of techniques whilst having the adaptability to use skills in the appropriate context.

Athletes who are members of the RPS Advance or SDS programme, will see a large focus on both technical and tactical growth through creating disturbances which encourage reflection, developing their technical and tactical perspectives. This will help athletes recognise common patterns of play which they can draw upon to make informed decisions within rallies.

It is an expectation that athletes will undertake 10-14 hours of on-court training and 2-3 hours off-court training per week; as well as compete in 8 competitions including  A grade competitions, Junior National Championships, English events (ideally Gold/Star) and International events each year.

Trials for the Junior National Squad occur in March and  September, with athlete reviews being provided to members in February and August each year.

Last Updated: 13th October 2023