A lot of people are quite sceptical, when they ask me what my job is and i tell them, that I am a badminton coach. Badminton isn’t really a big thing in my homecountry Germany (not yet, but helping to change that is one of my big goals). Many people here don’t even know what badminton is and those who know are usually confused about working as a coach in such an “unpopular” sport. Especially when they hear that I could have started a “normal job” as a teacher after my studies. I love teaching, but I also realized that I want to have more badminton in my daily life, so I found my own way to do both.
But like most coaches, my story also started as an ambitious player. I always dreamed of making it to the Olympics, compete with the best in the world and represent my country on the highest level. I spent countless hours in the training and on tournaments, went all in on badminton and gave it all I got – but didn’t make it. At least not to the level I was dreaming of but would I consider my story as a failure? Not at all!
In the end I had a lot of great successes during my junior years, made it to the national center, I was part of the national team and going all in on my dream gave me so many incredible memories and experiences by doing something i deeply love, day in and day out. So would i make the same decision again? 100%! Would I do everything the same way? Probably not, I learned quite a bit along the road that I want to share with other passionate badminton players or young athletes who want to follow their dreams.
During my own career I had a few coaches that had a tremendous impact, not only on my badminton, but also on my personality, mindset and life in general and I am so grateful for that. I guess this is also one of the reasons, why I decided to become a coach myself and already started my coach education quite early.
After ending my professional career at the national center in 2016 I went through the highest badminton coaching course in Germany, the so called A-Trainer. 2019 I also finished the BWF Level 3 coaching course as well as my masters studies in sports and mathematics for teaching. At the moment I work for the bavarian and the german federation as tutor for their coach education, and I train elite youth athletes at a regional center.
But even if my years as a professional player at the national trainingcenter are over and I am moving more towards the coaching side, I am just not ready to hang up my racket yet. That’s the reason why i use every free minute to keep me in shape so I can still play at a high level as long as possible.
Besides national and international tournaments I also compete with my team in the highest german league, the 1. Bundesliga.
I know there are a already many people that understand, why I am so passionate about Badminton, and I am sure there are even more waiting to be convinced that there is no better sport in the world. With this page I want to share my experiences, insights and thoughts with all those people from a players and coaches perspective and also hope to give some inspiration about following your dreams and finding your own way to happiness.
Tobi
