SECOND OPINION

Second opinion 

In a lot of sectors in the society it is very normal to get a second opinion, you do it when your doctor advise you to get an operation or tells you to take some medication.  It is your life and YOU have to make the right decision based on the advice you get and with one advice you don’t really have a choice. In my mind it is the same when you want to do top sport, to many players only listen to the opinion of one coach and to many coaches want that there sporters only listen to them. This is a very unhealthy situation, it is your sport cariere and you have to be in charge about what you want to do with it. This doesn't mean that you have to know more than you coach but it is important that you get all the information you need to be able to fill in the way you want to get to your coal you have in mind.

In many situations you can not choose you coach, it already starts in the club where it is not you who choose the coach you want but the club is doing that. In the club, you can still get out and get your private coach if you would want that and you can supplement your training without any problems. When you get to the national team you can also have no saying in the coach you would like to work with and the federation can dictate you only to use the coach they appoint and forbite you to work with anybody else. The federation tells you what is good for you and you have no other choice than to listen otherwise you can not participate in International tournaments. This is also where things can go wrong, because the federation has not the same interest has the sporter may have. This is not a theoretical problem there have been many conflicts between athletes and their federations, and it has always been about a conflict of interest. 

You have an athlete have only one chance to do things right and the way you want to do it, if it doesn't work out the federation takes a new athlete and start all over again because the federation stay long after you have stopped. Sport federations are working has extreme dictatorship organisations they don’t like it when other people ask questions or even doubt their opinion and because they have to exclusive power they also behave very arrogant. 

Athletes have to think about themselves and not about their federation, this doesn't mean that you should not listen to the coach of the federation it only means that you have to make sure that things are still going the way you would like them to go. So getting a second opinion is a way to get confirmation about what you and the federation are doing to get to your coals.

I have had athletes before who have asked me to make a technical rapport and training advice but they always had to do it in secret and behind the back of the federation, it is not only something that we see in Badminton because I have also been coaching in other sports and there we have seen the same problems. 

I believe it is a very healthy thing to ask for a second opinion and I would say that the federation should stimulate it to do so because it is a win/win situation. If you are working with a group of athletes everyday you will get “work blind” and it is very good when someone from outside steps in and give their opinion about it, it will open your eyes again and may change or get the focus back again for the coaches of this group. For athletes I would say that they should do a second opinion week every year with an external coach, just to talk about doubts they may have and look at things from another angle. I just hope that athletes who are consulting me today don’t have to do this in secret in the future.