Coach’s playbook: Lee Bent and Steve Bish on badminton

The grassroots badminton scene remains heavily reliant on its volunteer coaches and officials, so if you’re looking to take your interest to the next level, the sport is always ready to welcome new coaches.

It’s a role that can be challenging but rewarding, and to find out more we spoke to Badminton England’s coach education manager Lee Bent, and experienced coach and tutor Steve Bish. As Steve says, “We want coaches to be engaging and make our sport attractive and fun.” Read on for how they recommend doing just that…

“The big thing that we focus on now is being able to respond and coach the person or the people in front of you to the needs that they’ve got,” says Steve. “Badminton is fundamentally an individual sport, so the ability to adapt your coaching session and adapt the way that you communicate and work with players to suit their individual needs is right at the forefront.”

“When we talk about inclusive coaching, it’s about being adaptable, and it’s about asking the questions to the participant around what they can and can’t do,” adds Lee.

“One common issue is coaches trying to correct too many things at once by giving too many coaching points and changes in a single go. That can overwhelm players,” says Steve. 

“On the flip side, you have coaches who simply organise a session but don’t actually coach. They set up activities and get players doing things, but don’t interact or give meaningful feedback. So you end up with both extremes: over-coaching and under-coaching.

“And this isn’t just badminton, it’s something we see across all sports. Some coaches see their job as just setting things up and organising. But real coaching starts after the session begins, when players are doing the work. That’s when coaches should be actively involved: giving feedback, asking questions, and communicating. Thinking that organising is the same as coaching, that’s a common misunderstanding we see time and again.

“A few years ago, we developed a coach characteristic model, which defined five critical coaching roles from grassroots through to high performance,” explains Lee. “What that research showed us is that beyond the technical and tactical knowledge, the core skills, knowledge, and attributes needed are actually very similar across all levels. The difference lies in how they’re applied.

“At the elite end, coaching becomes more like a mentorship. It’s about engaging with the individual, building a strong relationship, and making the coaching experience highly personalised. The coach works closely with the athlete to determine what’s right for them.

“Whereas at the grassroots level, while it’s still important to be fun and engaging at all levels, it’s even more crucial here. The focus is often on helping players develop basic people skills, building confidence, and delivering enjoyable experiences. At this level you can start with more structured or ‘closed’ formats, gradually progressing toward more open, game-based play. Meanwhile, elite coaching is more likely to start from the opposite end, using open, game-based scenarios to refine specific skills in a more advanced way.”

“A common pitfall is a lack of adaptability,” adds Steve. “Some coaches don’t adjust their sessions on the fly based on what the players in front of them actually need. More experienced coaches will adapt and tweak their practice as they go. Less experienced ones tend to stick rigidly to the plan, even when it’s not working. But ideally, we should always be adjusting and responding to the players.”

“The number one thing is for new players to feel like they’ve been to a badminton session,” says Steve. “That they’ve experienced some success, they’ve been able to rally, they’ve been able to play our sport. 

“Then you can fit in some manageable amounts of coaching alongside that. Maybe just two or three things to focus on, like a little bit on grip, or hitting, or shapes and actions. Nothing too technical or specific, but trying to get that enjoyment of the sport.”

“At a grassroots level, coaching is about allowing players to experience and feel success,” adds Lee. “It’s the same with all sports, but we really encourage coaches to do that because then the likelihood of them coming back massively increases.”

“About 99% of officials in badminton are volunteers,” says Steve. “They give up a huge amount of their time, whether they’re line judges, umpires, or tournament organisers, at both local and national levels. The vast majority of this work is done on a voluntary basis. 

“Even at the international level, many umpires and line judges are taking annual leave from their jobs to support the sport. There’s a huge in-kind contribution from these individuals, people who are deeply committed and passionate about making badminton happen.

“And our coach membership is still 70% volunteers. So even our coaching structure within the country is very volunteer-heavy,” adds Lee. 

“Why do the role? Well, you don’t work in sport for the money,” says Lee. “For me, I’ve always enjoyed the fact that we’re helping to develop people who are, in turn, giving others a lifelong love of sport. That’s what I really enjoy about my role. 

“I love sport, it’s a big part of my life. I’ve got two young kids, and I want to pass that on. I want them to have good role models, and to develop that same love of sport. That’s the part of the role I find most rewarding.”

“I’ve been involved in the sport so long that I’ve now reached a stage where people that I’ve coached are now coaching people that are playing at a very high level, or actually now reached a stage where I’ve tutored people that have become tutors that are teaching coaches,” adds Steve. 

“One of the great things over the years for me has been when I’ve seen people that have played at a really good level that I’ve coached, and they bring on their own players as coaches that have then gone on to play at a very high level. It’s passing skills from generation to generation, that’s good to see.” 

“We have programmes like No Strings Badminton, where you don’t need a coaching qualification to get involved,” says Lee. “It’s a great entry point for people thinking, ‘Is coaching for me?’.

“No Strings is essentially a turn-up, pay-and-play session, and the coordinator’s role is to help rotate players and keep things running smoothly. It’s a great way to build confidence, especially with people skills like interacting, engaging, and just getting comfortable in that environment.”