Bring It On - Part 2!

So a good friend of mine, who's a very inspiring person, reminded me of something I seem to have forgotten for a while. SHE reminded me of how writing can work in a therapeutic way, something I fully agree in, but judging by the time it's been since my last post here one should think I have completely forgotten (or that I don't need a therapeutic treatment lol). I'm not sure getting me back to writing was her hidden agenda (girls always have one), but I know whatever she writes is free to be interpreted as you like, so this is how I choose to interpret it!

Now I'm here and it's time to open up again. Hopefully my inspirator, and all the other readers, will find it interesting, but more importantly I'm sure it will make me feel better with a clearer mind when I press 'post'.


My latest post was about the Dutch, Denmark and French Opens and how I was hoping to do well so I could push into top 28 on the world rankings (a ranking list/system that is broken, but that's a completely different discussion!) Unfortunately I didn't give a good performance in any of these three tournaments. The first two weeks were horrible and the last was just average. Not exactly what I was hoping for and obviously very disappointing. But I have come out of those three weeks with a stronger mind and a more positive outlook on the future. So how is that possible?

First of all my coach Claus Poulsen, whom I only started working with about a month before the tournaments, has been a tremendous help. His commitment towards helping me achieve my goals and getting my final breakthrough has been outstanding so far. I'm not saying it wasn't good with my former coach, but everyone like to do things differently and the change Claus has brought me just seems to have sparked my motivation once again.



The poor results also made me re-think what I'm working on and what I'm NOT working on. Am I working and focusing on the right things to take me to where I want to go? I was trying to find an explanation to why I could perform so well at Bitburger Open in September and then drop to this low level in October. Trough some long talks with Claus and a lot of thinking on my own side, we/I came up with a much clearer plan for what to focus on and what to 'forget' for a little while.

So now we're trying to adjust these things in my daily routines both on and off court. Theres lots of little things to work on, it will always be like that, even for a player of Lin Dans caliber. But some are more important than others and often the most important ones are often also the hardest to work on and change. I'm not gonna go into details about what it is exactly I'm working with, but I'm very focused on it in every training session I have and again Claus is there all the time to remind me.


This all means the losses has given me a better and more realistic picture of what path I need to go down if I want to achieve the goals I've set for myself. That's why I say I've come out of the period with a stronger mind. I feel I'm better prepared and more aware of myself now than I was before. That's about the only positive thing about losing - there is a lot to learn from it :-)



A couple of weeks after the French Open I managed to win my third title at the Norwegian International in Oslo. I'm very proud that I managed to defend my crown and I felt good playing there once again. But I also feel it was some kind of proof that I've moved on since the bad results and I'm ready to look forward to the next big challenges.

I will get another chance to prove that to myself this week as I'm going to Dublin for the Irish International on thursday. I will be the top-seed once again so the pressure is on me, but I know that if I can focus on the right things, like I did in Norway, I have a good chance of winning another title. But I will have to take it one match at the time and remember the proces all the time. I'm on the right path now, so I think it's a good idea to stay there :-)



The Irish International will not only be serious business for me this year. Along with Scott Evans and some other topplayers we will have an exhibition on the sunday evening a couple of hours after the final. All the profits from this exhibition will go directly to Solibad which is a non-profit humanitarian organisation. Their idea is a simple as to help others where help is needed. They don't do big life-changing projects, but just try to help in a way that maybe makes the days go by a little easier for someone with a troubled life. Solibad is raising funds through the badminton community and I'm proud to support them by playing with their logo on my shirts and now by doing this exhibition as well. I fully support them and I hope my small contribution can be felt in some way.

Along with Scott I've made a funny little promo-video for the exhibition. We tried to imitate a popular video made by tennis stars Roger Federer (the king) and Rafael Nadal (the crown prince, I hope your still reading Ms. 526!) and had lots of fun doing it. Check out the video here

If your interested in learning more about Solibad or maybe even give them a donation you should check out their website by clicking here.



That's it for now, I do feel much better now so mission accomplished :-) Hopefully it was worth a read for anyone out there...

/HK