Dean and David at The Bridge (©AAH/Alan Wright Photography)
Two former international badminton players from Horsham have joined forces to launch an online coaching platform.
Dean George and David King both represented Sussex and England during distinguished playing careers, before turning their hand to coaching. Now, they are passing on their experience to a global audience, generating 150m views across The Badminton Zone’s social media platforms.
DEAN’S STORY
Dean, who lives in Horsham with his young family, first picked up a racket as a six-year-old growing up in Portslade. While his sister was trampolining at the local leisure centre, Dean would peer through the curtain to watch badminton until, one day, a coach asked if he’d like to try it.
His progress was rapid. By the age of 10, Dean was playing for Sussex and went on to represent England at tournaments during his teenage years. At Under-19 level, he was the highest ranked player in Europe, specialising in doubles. However, Dean retired from competition at the age of only 23 to focus on coaching.
He said: ‘At one time, I was ranked in the top four senior players in England and 43 in the world at Men’s and Mixed Doubles. I played in five All-England Championships too, a tournament which attracts the world’s best players. While I’m proud of my achievements as a player, I found it hard to adjust to the competitive nature. Growing up, those around me were always so supportive, unlike the dog-eat-dog world of professional sport. I struggled with the lifestyle, travel, elements of coaching and the atmosphere. I’m not ashamed to say that my self-esteem and confidence suffered as a result.
‘I don’t feel I reached my absolute peak and probably had more to give, but from a mental health perspective, I did the right thing by walking away, as I was falling out of love with the game that had been the focus of my life.
Still, my career was always going to be centred around badminton, as it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. So, I joined Badminton England’s Elite coaching programme and was named Coach of the Year 2016. I have coached ever since, including working at the National Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes for the past four years. I also played in the National Badminton League, often beating full-time players while representing my club, Surrey Smashers. My love for playing returned too, which helped me draw a positive line under that aspect of my career.’
David King started his career in Horsham (©AAH/Alan Wright Photography)
DAVID’S STORY
Dean also coached at Horsham Arun Performance Centre, the first such centre established by Badminton England. There, he started coaching David King, who grew up in Horsham and now lives in Thakeham.
David comes from a family who regularly played together, with his mum helping out at Horsham Arun Badminton Club’s junior sessions. David also benefitted from the coaching of Tanya Woodward, as one of the first group of juniors at Horsham Arun’s Performance Centre. He represented Sussex Juniors in singles competitions, before being selected for England at the age of 11.
David continued to represent his country at international events, winning bronze at the Under-17 European Juniors and competing for England at World Junior Championships in Malaysia and Peru. He stepped back from top level competition to study Sports and Exercise Science at Loughborough, before he too pursued a career as a badminton coach.
David said: ‘When I was 21, I didn’t want to carry on playing. I switched from singles to doubles and played the international circuit for a while, but it wasn’t for me. Like Dean, I struggled with the travel and pressures of high-level competition. Only the top two or three players receive funding from the governing body, so for everybody else, the financial obstacles are extremely difficult to overcome. So, after graduating, I returned to Horsham and helped establish Shuttlers Academy, coaching juniors across the county. I then spent a year working for a tech start-up, but was made redundant. It was then that I started to talk to Dean about our ideas for The Badminton Zone.’
Dean was one of Europe’s best doubles players
GLOBAL REACH
Having shared similar experiences, David and Dean became close friends. They are keen golfers too and use YouTube tutorials to improve their game. They felt there was an opportunity to do something similar for badminton, combining their experience to offer coaching via online platforms.
Dean said: ‘As with anything on social media, things happen slowly at the beginning. However, we continued posting videos and our social media following kept rising. We now have 250,000 followers across various platforms and our aim is to reach half a million in the next two years. We had about 150 million views last year, helping us to secure sponsorship from Yonex and Central Sports. When we first started out, we could only have dreamed of such numbers.
‘We’ve now made about 300 videos, demonstrating different techniques and tactics for singles, doubles and mixed play, covering everything from serving and court positioning to agility drills and off-court training routines. Nearly all of these tutorials have been filmed at The Bridge Leisure Centre in Broadbridge Heath.
‘Our tutorials can have a positive impact on anyone’s game, with supportive coaching programmes for beginner, intermediate and advanced players, even some at an international level. People are enjoying and benefitting from our tutorials, and some are happy to pay a small fee to access further content which focus on personal coaching programmes. It’s an affordable way to improve your game with the help of experienced coaches.’
ACCESSIBLE SPORT
While Dean and David are well-established coaches in Sussex, The Badminton Zone has helped spread their name further afield. They travelled to Singapore to shoot new content with players at an elite tournament, while 20 players will join a training camp hosted by Dean and David in Lanzarote next year. Thanks to their confident presenting style and large following amongst younger people, they have also been asked to provide punditry and analysis for National Badminton League matches on YouTube.
David said: ‘The Badminton Zone is opening up new avenues, allowing us to reach more people all over the world. We couldn’t have a better job, as we love teaching badminton, and being able to engage people through social media is great fun. It also doesn’t impact our other coaching commitments. Badminton is facing difficulties, with the growth of pickleball having an impact not just on participation, but court space. However, it’s a cheap and highly accessible sport, so we need to encourage more children to join a local club. It’s a wonderful sport for both physical and mental health, and our hope is that The Badminton Zone can help people to enhance their enjoyment at every level of the game.’
Further information: Sign up for a free trial at www.thebadmintonzone.com
Originally published on 1st November 2026.
Words: Ben Morris/Photos: Alan Wright