KUALA LUMPUR: The BA of Malaysia (BAM) will not promote toxic positivity, but instead call a spade a spade.
The national body also has introduced a mechanism to promote transparency in its evaluation of players.
On Tuesday, the national body confirmed they will drop three men's singles players from the national team.
The players axed are 22-year-old Lee Shun Yang, Chia Jeng Hon (20) and Rex Hooi (20).
BAM coaching director Rexy Mainaky and men's singles coach Hendrawan reviewed the performance data collected throughout the year, coach feedback and player input to reach this decision.
"This is necessary so that everything is transparent. We had about five meetings before coming to this conclusion.
"The data collected is not just tournament results but also a head to head percentage of wins and losses.
"The feedback from coaches involves players' attitude in training and during tournaments and how receptive they were to coaches' input,"
"After that, we sat with the players and discussed about it openly," said Rexy, who noted that the same concept will be used when reviewing the other departments.
Former world champion Hendrawan pointed out that not every player is born to be a champion.
Some players, according to the Indonesian, play an important role in supporting higher-ranked shuttlers to improve.
"Not every player is born to be a champion. Some players play a key role in supporting their higher-ranked teammates.
"That is why, for Shun Yang, we have offered him the option to be a full-time sparring partner.
"Shun Yang is a good player with a very good attitude towards training. However, he is just not able to translate this into results in tournaments," added Hendrawan.
The national men's singles department now comprises the elite players (Gred A) and the backup (Gred B).
The elite players are world No. 15 Ng Tze Yong, former Asian junior champion Leong Jun Hao, Justin Hoh, Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin and Eogene Ewe.
The five backup players, who will play between four and six tournaments tentatively, are Ong Zhen Yi, Shaqeem Eiman Shahyar, Ong Ken Yon, Chua Kim Sheng and Jacky Kok.
Rexy said: "Nothing is fixed. It does not mean that Gred B will stay where they are. If they can prove themselves, we will promote them.
"The same goes for Gred A players.
"We need to tighten up our process and criticise our players when it's necessary. We cannot coddle them by only saying nice things.
"A good coach who cares will call a spade a spade. If we keep saying nice things (promoting toxic positivity), we are slowly killing their careers," shared Rexy.