Off to Odense 7: Jan Strandberg
15 Aug 2009 at 08:53 | Published by: Hans | Views: 9729 | News search
Jan Strandberg watching the game in Tampere 2008 (Photo by Erik Tiekstra 2008)
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Interview with Jan Strandberg, Head Coach of Sweden,
HB: First of all thank you for letting Minigolfnews interview you.
HB: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself to those who don’t know you. Who is Jan Strandberg?
JS:
Short trivia: A family guy who is fascinated by sports in common and Minigolf in particular.
Profession: Sport Officer / National Team Captain SBGF (half-time job)
Year of birth: 1967
Start of Minigolf career: 1977
Club: Tantogårdens BGK
Favourite ball: D085, SV28, Reisinger WM Studen No.2, Reisinger 14
Favourite surface: Concrete
Technical tip: Be careful with all details. Together they will decide if you will be successful or not.
Coaching Tip: Be open for every personal opinion and try to not be too rigid in your opinion.
HB: Your son Lukas was recently taking two silver medals in the Swedish youth Championships. Are you a proud father now?
JS: I am always proud to be a father of my (two) sons. According to your question I am very happy for Lukas and I think he can be very proud of his performance.
HB: You have been the Head Coach of Sweden since 2005. Have you ever felt any doubts about taking on as coach for one of the most successful teams in the Minigolfworld?
JS: It is a very honoring job and I hope that I can somehow promote Minigolf in Sweden as well as in the rest of the world. I have an unique possibility to do this as a profession, but sometimes I anyway feels like I need more time to do this work as good as I want to.
HB: What is the secret behind the really successful Swedish Teams year after year?
JS: We have a good tradition in Swedish Minigolf. The last years we have had some younger players who have improved themselves a lot and we will have a situation in the next 3-4 years where the national team will be a nice mix of “older” players and upcoming stars.
The way we work with camps in the wintertime where we integrate the National Youth players into the group of “older” players is also very important. The more experienced players have here also a responsibility to take care of the younger ones.
HB: Which has been your best moment so far as Head Coach?
JS: The gold medal for the men’s team in Geldrop 2006 was something special, but I hope that the best moments are still to come…
HB: And which was the toughest moment so far as Head Coach?
JS: There are always tough moments in this job, but I try to improve my skill as a coach in every year and I hope that this will affect my players in a longer perspective.
HB: How long are you planning to stay as Head Coach for the Swedish Team?
JS: I have a contract until September 2010, but I hope that I get the chance to lead the Swedish Team through WC 2011 in Stockholm and I am for the moment ready to keep on working after that as well. It’s of course a question that can only be answered by the Swedish Federation.
HB: Unlike many of your colleague national trainers you are half-time employed by the Swedish Minigolf federation to be the Sport Manager of Swedish Minigolf. Is this affecting how you success as Head Coach?
JS: I am very happy for having the opportunity to do the work as a profession. It’s my strict opinion that we have to go in this direction, in federations as well as in the clubs, if we want to improve our sport and get higher quality in our work.
HB: You are soon to leave for Odense. What are your expectations of the performance on the Swedish Teams in Odense?
JS: I have high expectations on both the ladies team and the men’s team. We will go for the gold medals.
HB: What are your favourites for medals in the Team Competition on men’s and ladies side?
JS: Austria, Germany and Sweden will be in the top in both cathegories I guess. Many countries have a few good players, but when it comes to the team competition I think that these three are the strongest this year.
HB: Are there any nations or players that you think will have a breakthrough this year?
JS: It is interesting to see the improvement of the Russian team, and maybe this year they can take one step more…
HB: You have picked some new names for this year’s Swedish Team. Filiph Svensson and Maria Olsson. Do you have any comments about why you nominated those names?
JS: Maria has worked hard and really improved her playing in several ways the last year. Filiph is a “killer” and always works hard for the team. I think both Maria and Filiph will find their place in the Swedish Team and make a successful WC.
HB: The international audience is maybe missing some top names from the past years Swedish Teams like Jesper Andersson and Sandra Bengtsson. Where they not available for your squad this year or did they not qualify?
JS: Jesper has not played that much this year and Sandra did not come up to her normal high standard. I hope that both will be back in the team, hopefully already next year.
HB: Can you mention any favorites as you see it for the individual medals in Odense?
JS: There are several players who can be in a semi-final. To win a gold-medal you need special skills and you really have to do something extraordinary.
Maybe there are only 5-6 players who are able to do this but the problem is that we don’t play the KO-mode often enough, so I am not sure which 5-6 players who has this special skill. I can only guess…
HB: There has been much discussion on the Internet about the new KO modus played in the individual finals at international championships. What is your opinion about the KO-modus?
JS: I understand that there are discussions about this, and there are both positive and negative sides of the KO-mode (as it is also with the “old” model).
In my opinion the positive aspects are in majority. I like the spectator point of view and I think it is the best way to play when we try to sell the sport to media. It goes fast and is easy to follow. There are still some details to be fixed, but I hope that this will be in order to the next championship.
HB: What is your opinion on the limited training time allowed in Odense?
JS: I am not sure. In some way it is fair that no one can practice before the official training, but maybe there will be even more problems for the new countries when they can’t get any information about the lanes until they have seen the best teams practicing for a couple of days. But I can be wrong here…At least it is interesting to try something new.
HB: What is your opinion about the concept of playing championships indoors?
JS: I prefer to play Minigolf outdoors, but in many ways it will be better. No rain or wind will disturb the players so it is easier to keep the time limit.
HB: Many are stating that since its felt the gold will be safe with Sweden. Is Swedish players really so much better on felt than the rest of the world’s top players?
JS: In common, yes we are. In a team with 3 ladies or 6 men, we will see. I hope so.
HB: There is much focus in some countries on MOS-courses and especially artificial grass courses. The first competitions have been played with various impressions amongst competition players. What is your opinion about artificial grass as a competition arena?
JS: A different kind of Minigolf. I have not played any tournament on artificial grass yet so I can’t be sure in my opinion. But I guess that there is a reason why I prefer Minigolf instead of Golf.
HB: The youth world championships 2010 will be played at a MOS beton course in Sochi, Russia. What do you think of this development with MOS courses entering the Championships?
JS: As the Sochi-course has been visited by Pasi Aho and “approved” as a course good enough for championships I think it is good. I think this way is the best for WMF to be sure that the course is good enough, so it’s from case to case I guess.
HB: It has been some debate in recent years on the Internet about the referees in international competitions, and especially the timekeeping of players. Do you have any comments about the referees or the time rules at championships?
JS: There is nothing wrong with the rules. If the referees can do their work we do not have any time problem. Of course it would be nice if the players will try a little bit harder to follow the rules instead of breaking them.
HB: Again thanks for participating a good luck with the team in Odense.
JS: Thanks!
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