Work in, Results out

A middle-aged bloke's journey to the national rankings

By club founder Alex

Redhill and Reigate Badminton Club is the product of learning what badminton players need to improve, built from my own experience as an adult. It's not by accident, it's by design. 

Like many, I was introduced to badminton by my parents, overtaking them both with help from junior coaching when I was a young teenager, my 6ft+ height aged about 13 undoubtedly helping.

I entered the adult club scene as a teenager, representing a small village in Sussex, but under the old scoring system (only winning a point if you were serving), late finishes and lost sleep as a schoolboy wore me down and helped my lose interest before giving up aged 18. Five years later, working, and I had free time and freedom to fill it so I started up again, this time on my own terms and steering clear of league matches, focusing just on the social aspect - no pressure. Playing because I enjoyed it.

By age 28, I was married and settled in the Redhill area, again playing for a one court village club with a few quite handy players, after 8 or so years, half of which were playing back in local leagues (East Surrey league, as it was then and remains today) but one evening came that I was waiting on the side with 20 other people, 4 people on the single court and I realised - "I'm paying to sit here and chat, and I want to play more", so left Albury (which has since merged with Chaldon to become Chalbury BC) and moved to Chart, a four court club in Redhill. My court time increased significantly, and I got better, playing against more varied opponents and as a result, my court fitness improved.

A health scare and minor operation shook me out of eating bad food and got my diet on track, out went beer, fry-ups and sugar in coffee, in came meusli and bananas, dark chocolate and 5-a-day. I learned about nutrition, or rather, I realised that I actually had to put it into practice!

Work and family changes took me to the south west in 2018 so I left Chart BC and moved to Somerset, near the Wiltshire border, where the nearest club, Pheonix BC, was full of middle aged players wearing county shirts, but they were broadly similar to my skill level.  "This is a bit strange, if they are county level, can I be?" and I discovered the world of Masters Badminton - for players over 40.

Suddenly there were squad practice sessions I could attend if I wanted to try and enter the team, so while my club team-mates were Wiltshire players, my home postcode was in Somerset so that was 'my county' and off I went. The step up was immediate, suddenly everyone was doing structured warm-ups and drills, a few players were coaches to help improve technique and mentored me, still an improver aged 40. "Wow doing these drills really helps make me more consistent," I thought to myself, somehow forgetting that I'd done all this as a junior.

These halls were full of grey-haired old codgers all fitter, faster, stronger and better players than me. One of them was 70 and ran marathons. "Bloody hell, I've got work to do!". I was inspired to become a Foundation Coach in order to at least start learning the ropes of how I could improve my own skills, figuring it would allow me to access more knowledge. It continues to be a wise investment even to this day.

By the end of the season and several training sessions in, squad injuries were rife and I got my first call up, practically by default because nobody else was available. Look, I'll take it - a county cap and a realisation that I could continue improving but I had to put in the work. After a few matches and a realisation that the strange shape of Somerset meant my commute to 'home matches' would always be arduous, I switched to Wiltshire where I have enjoyed many county league and championship tournaments in 040s and 045s for several years. 

In the winter of 2019-2020 COVID came along and badminton ground to a halt, so Couch to 5K, the free NHS app, was downloaded to help me stay healthy and fight the boredom. I still remember my first run, I thought I was going to die on at least 3 occasions. By the fourth, I had realised that "Well, my heart is still working, my legs are still moving, and my lungs are still functional - so I can do this". By the time badminton started to return, I was fitter than ever before.  I still run today, trails usually, at least once a week.

Work and family trips took me around the UK, and for any trip over a few days, I'd do some research and take my badminton kit, playing whenever and wherever I got the chance, much to the frustration of my wife, a certified 'badminton widow'.

I moved back to Surrey in 2022, trying various clubs, but those with capacity were either inconveniently located, had no interest in coaching provision or if they were local, didn't have capacity, despite my reasonable playing pedigree.  I tripped over Badminton Insight on YouTube and devoured videos, booking court time at Donyngs and cajoling friends to help me do drills.

Eventually I found King Penguins in New Malden, where I have had several happy seasons, worked with several coaches, played with many county and regular tournament players of all ages. Tournaments open to all ages generally meant getting thrashed by teenagers a third of my age and twice my muscle mass. At one, when playing in a Bronze tournament in Kent getting soundly beaten by two lads in the top 20 nationally and said "We hope we're as fast as you when we are your age!" They were both 15.  No offence was taken, they played brilliantly and deserved the win. One of them now plays for England.

And while KP remains a brilliant club, as a remarkably friendly place with teams in many leagues, my desire for a local club which was convenient for me, remained. 

And not just a club for a small group of regulars, but a safe place for newcomers, with capacity to take players of all standards, which is not shy about coaching, and works to serve not only its long-time members but works to support the wider badminton community - creating opportunities for people that otherwise cannot access club or competitive badminton.

The rest, as they say, is history - and a lot of very hard work!  I hope you have read this to understand that I have gone through the journey I can now support other people on, and believe ALL players, with the right approach and access to the right support, can become fit, consistent and skilful - irrespective of age, background or ability.

• Badminton Experience: ~30 years 

• League Experience: ~20 seasons

• County Masters  caps: 50+

• Highest Senior National Ranking: 984 (Current ranking ~1800)

• Racquet: Victor Ryuga Thruster II @ 26lbs