Kiwis on learning trip

Press, 19 December 1989, Page 48

Kiwis on learning trip

PA Wellington The New Zealand badminton squad will enter the last phase of training for the Commonwealth Games buoyed by vital experience gained from a three-week tour of southern China. The team manager, Chris Bullen, said yesterday on the team’s return from China that a “hell of a lot” was learned. “We trained in the day with the Chinese players and played matches with them in the night.” In the opening stages of the tour, the New Zealanders were soundly beaten in the matches but by the last match on Thursday, had adapted so well they beat the Hunan provincial side, 7-5, a team they had lost to earlier. “It was the speed of the Chin-

ese players and their deceptive strokes which our players could not handle early on. “But it’s fair to say the results improved dramatically considering the players arrived in China after a heavy period of training with no emphasis on speedwork or competition training,” Mr Bullen said. The team played various matches in Guangzhou in South China against a city team, a provincial side and the national junior squad. He was reluctant to pick out the players who shone on the tour saying all took .the tour seriously, playing and training flat out. “Some good performances emerged and some doubles options were developed,” Mr Bullen said. He said two things stood out

about the Chinese approach to the game — the way they trained their young players and the way they put emphasis on speed and deception. “We won’t be able to play like them because their game is based on their physical stature.” The Chinese also put emphasis on weight training for players as young as 15 years of age which Mr Bullen disagreed with. “This is what helps makes them so fast on court but I can’t agree with having boys and girls as young as 15 training as much with weights as they do. “But they also know a lot about playing the game and develop accuracy and consistency with repetition exercises which last as long as 30 minutes.”