TOBY NG

I think what drew me to coaching was the concept of "Doing the right thing". But then I learned that things often aren't simply black or white, so I had to adapt: "Doing the right thing for the right person." However, it wasn't enough because I realized that not all sports are equal. But that's out of my control, so in the end, it is simply "Doing the right thing, for the right person, with whatever is available to you." So, simply, "doing your best with what you have" has taken me here, and it will continue to keep me moving forwards, integrating whatever I can come across. "Good artists copy, great artists steal." - Picasso But of course, I'm grateful to be here and having the chance to learn from some of the best. And I'm still learning, as cliche as that sounds nowadays. I do hope the sport grows in North America someday. One step at a time.

This bookshelf is keeping me feeling grounded on the situation that I will buy more books and not read them 🤔

This was a sobering read especially when taking my finance course. Although we haven't touched investing yet, the biggest takeaway is not to always think that everything conforms to the bell curve. There is quite some discussion on fractal geometry on financial modelling, but I'm afraid there are limits to my understanding based on my limited applied math ability. However, the book is meant for the "average" person, so there are still benefits to non-finance people like me in reading it. One major concept I've taken from this book is considering parallels of financial markets to athlete development. Talent identification sometimes feels a bit like picking stocks, and though they measure different things, how do we really know that the measurements give an accurate representation of reality? Do we also make the same mistake and put athletes on a bell curve as well when it may be closer to a power law? I suppose more knowledge reminds us how there is always so much more to learn. I will have to revisit this concept.

Gratitude: Thank you to Coursera for giving me free access to so many wonderful courses because I'm (still) a university student; and thank you @gameplancanada and Queen's University for their partnership in helping athletes attend business programs at Smith School of Business! I've shied away from finance for far too long, though perhaps I've dabbled in it at times (i.e. personal finance), but this course has given me a very good and broad introduction. However, it certainly has helped give perspective to my current finance course at Queen's, and although it has taken more time and effort, it helps to have additional context to what I'm trying to learn. As a coach and educator, continuous learning helps to put me in the perspective of a student, and that gives me an additional level of understanding in how difficult it is to learn something when the purpose of learning it is unclear. Additionally, I enjoy taking ideas from different areas and bringing it back to badminton. Even though it usually doesn't have a significant impact, it is fun to run an experiment to test a hypothesis. I guess I'm also a scientist at heart. There's so much in the world to learn. I just can't understand how some people are so certain of their beliefs. "Seek first to understand, then to be understood." - Stephen Covey. People with low ability at a task overestimate their ability - Dunning-Kruger effect. "It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows." - Epictetus "The more you know, the more you realize you don't know." - Aristotle (perhaps?) And that is why finance has been interesting: with greater risk, comes greater reward.

Did a mini experiment with different training intervals for badminton, and it appears that shorter training intervals maximize the amount of training. BUT, this is mostly observational and there are many confounding variables we didn't control for, including fatigue. However, it does give some implications on the difference between the European style (short intense sets) vs. Asian style (longer sets) of training. Based on this info, I would like to do shorter sets because feeding a drill is similar to an active rest. Working hard for a short duration, followed by an active rest of the same duration is probably more ideal than a longer duration drill, followed with an equally longer duration active rest. Badminton is pretty much an aerobic-alactic sport, and longer duration drills may put athletes in a different energy system. Also, I could be totally wrong. Oh well 🙈

Summer camps are over, and thank you to all the students I had the chance to work with! I even got a card and my favourite line is: "I like how there's a humorous side of you beneath all the seriousness you show us!" 😐😆 It's been an... "interesting" summer break this year, but I'm grateful for the opportunity to work, especially when I get to do what I love! Coaching may not seem like a real occupation to some (try this: tell your parents you want to be a badminton coach when you grow up and see what happens), but there are many parallels to life through coaching sport. As an athlete, I learned to follow instructions from my coach, but as I progressed, I had to ensure that I was doing the best that could be done with my resources at the time. Of course things could have been better in hindsight, but reflecting on the times of uncertainty and make a best decision is a valuable life lesson that I will continue facing in life. It can be difficult to question your own methods, or even first principles sometimes, but ultimately, you become much better through that experience. So eventually, I found myself transitioning from athlete to coach: now I'm on the prescriptive side. I am fortunate to still be active enough to play, so I can still put these methods and principles into practice. Sometimes the kids ask me, "HoW aRe YoU sO gOoD?". And my reply is usually, "... (silence)" because I'm focusing on the next rally, not making conversation in the middle of a practice game. Lead by example 🤷🏻‍♂️ Of course, I would like to thank the coaching team I work with, as everyone has been very supportive through this time of uncertainty. As a final takeaway this summer, there are 3 key points I will leave: 1) Character >> Reputation (from John Wooden) 2) It's okay to make mistakes because that's how you learn in this sport (i.e. growth mindset - Carol Dweck) 3) Make the most with what you have + corollary: instead of wanting more, desire less (multiple sources: Stoicism, Buddhism, religion, philosophy, etc.) It's back to school for many (myself included), so please stay safe and stay healthy! 💪

Happy first wedding anniversary! So far so good 😬 Thanks again to all those who celebrated with us one year ago! On to the next adventures this year 😁 #throwback #weddinganniversary #engagementanniversary #caroby2019

Happy Olympic Day! 🇨🇦🏸 #olympicday #badminton @badmintoncanada

Can't wait to put things into practice!

Finally! After a long process, Carmen and I have moved down to Bellevue, Washington for our new jobs! It's a pretty big step for the both of us, but it will just be another adventure together! Special thank you to our friends and family who saw us before we left, especially Team #caroby2019 😁 Also thank you to Darryl and everyone at ClearOne Badminton for a wonderful farewell dinner. I never imagined how sport could have such a tremendous impact in my life, and I am nothing but grateful for the opportunities that came with it. Now it's time to give back and share the benefits of sport through badminton with others! Looking forward to working with the new team at Bellevue Badminton Club! One last shout out to my brother @derrickng21 for letting us crash at his place! Thanks bro! #athletelife #coachlife #badmintonlife #newlife #marriedlife #sportlife #lifelife #stayhealthy #washyourhands #gratitude

Time to find a new leisure activity as I donated my digital piano. But someday, I will return to practicing these pieces. Some music is timeless 🎼 #pianocollections #finalfantasy #kingdomhearts