We've all had those matches or training sessions, we think we're playing terribly so we play worse...
We think our partner is having a bad day so they have an even worse day! And the key to this is what
we've just said - we think negatively! If you're new to the channel we're Greg and Jenny, two
professional badminton players and in this video we're going to explore the power of positive
thinking and whilst we'll relate to badminton examples throughout these concepts apply to
all areas of your life so are very relevant for everyone! In one of our all-time favourite books, The
Art Of Being Brilliant, the key concept is that of being a two percenter rather than being fine
or even worse a mood hoover. It suggests that most people are stuck in the lower half of this diagram
these people are just fine most of the time and their mood depends on what happens during the day.
Right at the bottom of the diagram are the mood hoovers, someone who has a problem for every
solution. Unfortunately everyone knows a few mood hoovers, just being around them for a few minutes
can bring your energy down and you find yourself starting to complain more too. In contrast at the
top of the diagram we have the two percenters. A two percenter is consistently upbeat, positive,
solution-focused, energetic and has a can-do attitude. So being a two percenter sounds
great but how do we get through that "this is rubbish, I'm terrible at badminton" mood hoover zone,
through that "it was an okay match" fine zone and become a two percenter? Well in this video we're
going to go through six methods you can use to become a two percenter and improve your badminton mentality.
Number one, choose to be positive. Being positive isn't easy but it has so many benefits
especially in badminton. For example positive thinking has shown that athletes who normally
get really nervous and anxious before a match with butterflies in their stomach
can see these characteristics as helpful for their performance and not a hindrance. A common method to
help avoid nerves before a match is visualization and this uses positive thinking. This strategy is
something that we've both used a lot before but how we use it is probably a whole video in itself.
Another example is that positive thinking leads to improved self-confidence and this is really
important in a sporting context helping to improve skill execution and overall performance.
For example in our doubles net shot video Olympic medalist Chris Langridge said that you've got
to believe you can play a tight net... You've got to believe that you can play a tight net.
Number two, play to your strengths. This is important in general life but even more
important on the badminton court. You have a better chance of winning more points if you're playing to
your strengths. For example if your attack from your forehand corner is amazing then you should
try to set this up as much as possible and as we've just said you have a better chance of doing
something well if you're really confident in doing it. Of course we can't just ignore our weaknesses
we should always try and work on them if they're holding us back but in general successful people
play to their strengths. And if we only ever try and improve our weaknesses so that they're no
longer glaringly obvious that we become subject to the curse of mediocrity. This is where we become
average everything with no obvious weaknesses but not great anything to enable us to stand out or
succeed. This is so important that we regularly have super strength sessions where we focus on
further improving our current strengths on-court. Mine is focused around controlling the mid-court
and I love working on this both to improve this strength of mine and also give me the
confidence to keep this area sharp especially going into a tournament. And this actually links
nicely with a previous point of choosing to be positive and deriving confidence from yourself.
Number three, take personal responsibility. It's often said that 10% of life is made up
of what happens to you and the other 90% is decided by how you react to the 10%. This is where we must
strive to be two percenters and react differently to those in the lower end of the diagram
For example being a two percenter when your opponent makes a bad line call means that you
instantly move on and focus on the next rally. If you choose not to be a two percenter then you
swear at your opponent and argue with them, your focus spirals out of control and you lose the next
10 points we've definitely seen it happen before! And also the need for acceptance is a basic human
instinct so if the people around you are being negative then you're more likely to be negative
too to try and fit in but this is where you should take note of our first point choose to be positive.
Brilliantly put in the book, garbage in garbage out. Lots of people put in low energy and negativity
and expect positive results but you have to put in the work enthusiastically and positively to get
these positive results. Changing these habits can be hard but life-changing.
Number four, have bounce-back-ability. This one is simple when you're faced with a bad situation you need to be resilient.
As Henry Ford says "failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently" and we've both
certainly experienced our fair share of knockbacks in our careers so far and would say we've managed
to bounce back each and every time and there's probably two ways of looking at this. Firstly we
would say that losing is always the opportunity to learn no matter how hard it is at the time
and secondly we found that these setbacks actually spur us on and provide us even more incentives to
succeed and we believe this bounce-back ability is a key characteristic you need in order to become
successful in any sport. Number five, understand your impact. Although we don't always realize it
we impact everyone we meet so we may as well aim to make that a positive one. If you're at
your local club night and get put on a court with players you don't necessarily want to hit with and
you clearly show this in your actions then you're unlikely to get any benefit out of that game and
also the opportunity to play with better people in the future. Yes there will come a point where you
politely ask to hit with some different people but you'll be surprised at how much you can still work
on your game no matter who you're playing with. Ask yourself two key questions: number one "how
can I create a feel-good factor in people around me" and number two "how can i inspire these people"
If you get this right not only will you benefit yourself but you'll impact those around you and
ultimately create a better environment. Number six, set huge goals. We hear so many people say that
they don't want to set their goals and ambitions too high as they'll be disappointed if they don't
achieve them but this leads to aiming for averageness and you'll never be fulfilled
with this. An example might be that you have a huge goal to represent your country at a major
event but you don't want to be disappointed so you only set your goal to represent your club but here
you'll probably be disappointed anyway because you'll always wonder what you could have achieved.
The book talks about how you can often achieve a lot more by setting a huge goal
and often actually achieve this huge goal no matter how ambitious it is. This is something we've
both experienced in our playing careers and our YouTube channel. You just have to set that goal,
take the steps to achieve it, and then go for it! So to summarize the six ways to be a two percenter
are choose to be positive, understand your impact, take personal responsibility, have bounce-back-ability,
set huge goals and play to your strengths. There are so many great lessons and tips we've
applied to our life since reading this book a few years ago and we strongly recommend you read it
too or send it to a mood hoover you know! Anyway we'll include a link for you in the description
below if you want to check it out.
No I didn't like that.
No i didn't like that one either.
I can't take this seriously.
for everyone so it's a must watch! Net shot video olympic crew olympic christmas medalist
careers so far and we'd say that we've managed to bounce back
I would say we've managed to bounce back. Oh my!
Thank you for choosing to watch this different style of video. The mental side of the game is so
important so we have to talk about it and we'll continue to do so.
If you did enjoy it please give it a like, smash this subscribe button if you haven't already
and here's our mental training part one if you haven't seen that!