About

Coach Arnav Kumar

Coach Arnav Kumar started playing badminton at the age of 12, which is considered late compared to many players competing in junior tournaments. Even with a later start, he trained seriously throughout his youth years and traveled across the country competing in USA Badminton Junior tournaments.

His journey was not perfectly linear. During COVID and later health-related challenges, Arnav had to step away from the sport. But as soon as he was able to return in 2024, he found his way back onto the court. He first began as an assistant coach at The Maugus Club, using coaching as a way to ease himself back into badminton while helping younger players build their foundation.

After a few months, Arnav returned to his own training, starting with 1–2 sessions per week throughout 2024. Under the guidance of his coach, Pashupati Paneru, he began seeing real improvements in his game, technique, movement, and discipline. That progress pushed him to take the sport even more seriously in 2025, increasing his training and fully committing himself to the process.

In late 2025, after winning Men’s Singles at the Bay State Games, Arnav realized that badminton was not just something he enjoyed. It was something he genuinely wanted to pursue.

Alongside studying at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, where he majors in computer science and minors in finance, Arnav trains every single day. His schedule includes early morning gym sessions and evening on-court training, all with the goal of becoming one of the best players in the country and, in due time, the world.

Arnav’s coaching is built from his own journey. He understands what it means to start late, face setbacks, rebuild, and still believe in a bigger goal. His objective is to put that same fire into his students, not only for badminton, but for life.

Through his training, coaching, and personal example, Arnav wants players to understand that anything is possible with self-belief, consistency, discipline, patience and passion.

Philosophy

  • Self-Belief

    Self-belief is the first pillar of success. When your back is against the wall, you still have to believe that what you want is possible. Jack Ma grew up poor, failed his university entrance exams, and was rejected from dozens of jobs before founding Alibaba. Colonel Sanders was rejected over 1,000 times before KFC became a worldwide brand. Walt Disney was once fired for “lacking imagination” and watched his first studio go bankrupt before creating Mickey Mouse. What made these people different was not that life was easy for them. It was that they believed before the world had a reason to believe with them.

  • Consistency

    Consistency is the second pillar of success. You cannot become great at anything without showing up and doing the required work day after day. This is why Arnav trains every single day. Even on the days when the effort is not perfect, simply showing up puts him ahead of the people who did not show up at all. Small improvements compound over time. As James Clear explains in Atomic Habits, improving by just 1% every day can make you 37 times better over the course of a year, while small daily declines can pull you in the opposite direction. Success is not built in one big moment. It is built through repeated effort.

  • Discipline

    Discipline is the third pillar of success. It is what separates the average from the elite. Talent can help, but discipline is what allows a person to make the right choices repeatedly, even when it is uncomfortable. Novak Djokovic is known for his extreme commitment to his diet, recovery, and lifestyle. After his 2012 Australian Open victory, he famously celebrated by eating only a tiny square of chocolate after 2 years of completely restricting sweets. He refused to break the standards he had set for himself. That level of discipline is what makes greatness possible. Without discipline, dreams can fade into the abyss.

  • Patience

    Patience is the fourth pillar of success. It means doing the work day after day, even when the results are not showing yet, and trusting that the pieces will eventually come together. From 1996 to 2008, Ta-Nehisi Coates spent years struggling as a writer, moving between publications and fighting to stay afloat. In 2008, his first book barely made noise, but he kept going. By 2012, his work started gaining national attention, and by 2015, his book Between the World and Me became a bestseller and Pulitzer Prize finalist. Even when the roots of hard work are hidden beneath the surface, stay patient and keep watering the tree, because in time, it will bear fruit. Greatness is not created in one moment. It is built through consistent work, even before the results appear.

  • Passion

    Passion is the final pillar of success. When passion is real, the other pillars become easier to live by. Self-belief becomes stronger, consistency becomes natural, discipline starts to feel less like punishment and more like purpose, and patiently waiting for your turn at glory doesn't seem painful. Arnav’s love for badminton is what fuels his training, coaching, and long-term vision. He loves the sport, the process, the struggle, and the growth that comes with it. Passion is what turns hard work into something meaningful, and it is what gives athletes the motivation to keep going when the path gets difficult.