PETALING JAYA: National singles coaching director Kenneth Jonassen has adjusted his training approach after the shuttlers found it difficult to adapt to a European-style system introduced during his first year with the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM).
The Dane, who took charge amid high expectations, acknowledged that players such as Leong Jun Hao and Justin Hoh struggled with a method that emphasised self-driven goal-setting and mental challenges, prompting a return to a more familiar Asian-based training framework while he continues to seek the right balance.
“Quite early on, I made changes to a few things. People may think we are still following the European training style, but actually we are not,” Jonassen said.
“In fact, we went back to a very Asia-based training approach four to five months ago because we felt it was not beneficial and the players were not ready to do those kinds of sessions.
“So I changed quite fast as I started to understand how players here think and react.
“The Asian approach is actually not very different, and now I understand that we will eventually reach the same goal, just in a slightly different manner,” added Jonassen.
Jonassen said he might combine Asian and European styles in the future to bring out the best in his shuttlers.
“Eventually, we are going to try again with a combination of different elements, as we now have a better mutual understanding,” said Jonassen.
“I think it will be more ideal to combine more elements moving forward.”
With the more familiar Asian training approach in place, Jun Hao and Justin will be keen to improve their performances this year.
Jun Hao is getting ready to compete in the Malaysian Open which starts Tuesday at Axiata Arena, Bukit Jalil.
Justin’s first tournament of the year will be the Indonesian Masters from Jan 20-25 in Jakarta.
