Camilo Borst is a rising Badmington player representing Germany internationally. I connected with him to ask some of the mindset that helps him compete at such a high level at a young age. Here’s what he had to share.
Attitude Is Key
Just like any sport, badminton is competitive. A match which can be won by both players is decided by attitude. When I step on court, I go all out for the win. No matter how far behind I am. As long you fight, victory is possible. I was able to turn many matches in my favour because of my attitude.
Being Nervous Is Normal
I used to struggle a lot with being nervous on court at competition. I am still nervous, but now I can control it. What helped me control my nervousness was realizing that everyone at competition is nervous. That being nervous is normal. Realizing that made me much calmer.
Don’t Be Afraid To Lose
I see often players lose matches because they are afraid to lose. When you are afraid of losing, you can not play at your best because your focus is not on winning, but on not losing.
Setting Goals Helps Your Focus
I used to not be really motivated during training. Training can get quickly repetitive as you need to repeat movements until perfection. I was bored and distracted during training, in fact I hated training at that time. I had no real focus I just wanted to win tournaments. Then I started setting small goals in my training which motivated me. Once you have a target in your head focusing in training is much easier.
Don’t Sacrifice Your Happiness For Success
I used to train in an elite sport school, but I hated training there. I simply did not like the coaches and training programme, I never really enjoyed it. I certainly noticed my improvement, but I was unhappy at that time. My coaches were unhappy about me in training as I never committed to it.
I asked myself if I am unhappy what point is there in training to be successful? Is the success worth being unhappy all the time? Soon after I got kicked out of school because my coaches did not think that I could be a successful player. After I changed to a normal school, I was starting to be much happier in training, as I could train with whoever I want and HOW I want. I started having fun in training and this led to me being more committed during training and being happy overall. I started winning tournaments again and performing better. My current coach is very happy about my dedication in training.