Interview: Ashwini all praise for Tom John

“Tom Sir works on every single aspect of the game, which is very important for me” – Ashwini Ponnappa

Tom John is well known in Indian badminton circles for being the current coach of singles players Anup Sridhar and Ajay Jayaram, but top doubles player Ashwini Ponnappa too lavished praise on the veteran coach, saying his sessions were helping her immensely.

John is running his own academy out of a two-court club in JP Nagar, Bangalore. He trains a group of around 15 players, including internationals like Sridhar, Jayaram, Saili Rane, and nationally ranked players like Mohit Kamath, Subhankar Dey, Uttara Prakash and others. Ponnappa has trained on and off with John, and is keen to extend her current session with him.

“It’s very different here,” Ashwini said. “There’s a lot of emphasis on individual training, which isn’t the case there (national camp). Tom Sir works on every single aspect of the game, which is very important for me. If I have to get better, I need that kind of training and Sir gives that to me. He corrects me constantly, and that’s very essential. Because there’s no end to learning, it’s not like I’m 23 so I have to stop learning… it’s really important, because I’m getting better, I get more confidence. You’re working on aspects that need to be worked on. Like this morning, I did multi-shuttle (practice), with a crazy number of shuttles, and Sir pushes you, and it’s required, because you need someone to help you. It’s definitely going to help me, because women’s doubles is not only about hitting; you have to smart and patient. Doing drills like this helps my stamina and patience.

Ashwini is currently ranked No. 25 in women’s doubles and 36 in mixed doubles. After a good show at the Olympics, she had to search for a new partner in the women’s doubles as Jwala Gutta decided to take time off. Partnering Pradnya Gadre, Ashwini did well to reach the quarterfinals of the Macau Open GP Gold, where they recorded a creditable win over second seeds Lok Yan Poon/Tse Ying Tsuet in the first round.

“I worked with Tom Sir before I went to Hong Kong and Macau. Sometimes it’s simple things like, tap and keep your racket up. People don’t tell you these things. And it makes a lot of difference. At Macau, my anticipation was much better. It really helped. Sir’s very good at analysing, like what you need and where you go wrong. These tiny changes matter. It’s not all about bang bang bang. I really need to improve as an overall doubles player. I should be able to play with anyone.”

Ashwini says training at the national camp has its downside because it’s difficult for the doubles coach, Edwin Iriwan, to pay individual attention. “It’s impossible to get individual attention at the camp, because there are lots of players,” she says. “Coach Edwin (Iriwan) is helpful, but the sessions are different. With Tom Sir I get individual attention. At the camp the training is the same for everyone. But you do require individual attention because everyone has different needs.”

“Jwala (Gutta) and I were hard hitters, but you don’t always get points with a smash” – Ashwini Ponnappa (right)

“I’m working on individual aspects. For example, if my partner is in front, and if I can’t get a point out of my smash, I have to turn it with a drop. Jwala (Gutta) and I were hard hitters, but you don’t always get points with a smash. There have been times when I have been exhausted hitting, and at that time you have to be smart, take the pace off… and that’s the kind of thing I need to work on, because smash comes naturally to me. The first drill I did was drops and half-smash, and Sir gave me 40-50 shuttles, and I was exhausted. You get to the stage where your legs are like rocks, but Sir keeps pushing you. The intensity is very high. I could barely move after that. I was dead tired.” The Kodava girl is hoping to bring her regular partners to Bangalore so that they can all train under Tom John. “I will request Gopi Sir to see if we can train here.”

Ashwini and Pradyna Gadre will begin their season at the Malaysia Open Superseries later this month.