Tom John's invaluable advice

Tom John , the well-known British coach of Indian origin who has worked with several top players including Morten Frost, was in Bangalore in April. After two weeks of working with Academy trainees, he addressed the group, consisting mostly of juniors:

You're all working hard, but you may have to work harder if you have to reach the international level. It's relative: you girls are better than the English, but if you want to match the Chinese, you have to work around 20 per cent harder.

And trust your coach. The first day I worked with Morten, he was on court a half-hour early. I walk in and I say: "Okay, Morten, what would you like to do?" and he says "You're the coach. You tell me."

That was a big shock. I'd gone totally unprepared, because I thought he would have decided what was good for him. But after that day, my confidence went really high.

Once I told him, we'll do multi-shuttle. Morten said he didn't like it. He said, in a match, the shuttles don't all come from the same angle. "Okay," I said, "That's a good reason."

He was voicing his objections, but at least he was giving me a good reason. If you have any problems with your coach you should sort it out after the session, not keep it within you.

And Tools: You spend money on discman, watches... well, you could buy a heart-rate monitor. Tells you how you've been improving.

You need to get professional about these small things. Have your own medical kit. You shouldn't depend on the coach for anti-biotics... if you feel you're getting fever, take a tablet immediately. Don't fall sick and then find an excuse to lose in the first round. And keep a book on first-aid.

And ice-packs. Nothing better than ice for any swelling or inflammation. Kim Dong Moon and Ra Kyu Min, they pack their joints with ice every day after practise. Nothing's wrong with them, no injuries, but by preventing wear and tear every day, they prevent the big injury from happening.

Vimal interrupted once: "I saw that some of you were getting irritated at our suggestions. You should know we're doing it to help you play better. Tom would irritate me all the time during practise... but you know, you should use it to play better. You shouldn't allow that to dip your game. These things happen during matches all the time, so you just cannot allow that to affect your game.