An 18-year-long badminton career, featuring several titles on what was then the BWF International Challenge/Series circuit and a bronze medal at the first European Games in 2015, has been replaced by life as a coach, first at the Centre of Excellence (now called High Performance Centre) with Badminton Europe and later and current with the French Badminton Federation.

In 2025, he was named BEC Coach of the Year, and just a week ago he helped write history alongside the French men’s national team, as they claimed the European Men’s Team Championships title for the very first time in Istanbul, Türkiye.

“Those three years were the perfect experience for me”

Navickas’ first full-time coaching position came at the Center of Excellence at Badminton Europe.

“I took the job at the CoE because I wanted to have a coaching experience, and I believe I had the perfect mentor in Jeroen Van Dijk. He let me be myself, he gave me responsibilities, he gave me ambition, and he guided me in many different ways.”

For Navickas, it was not only about technical development of badminton players, but about learning to manage people. Working with players from different nationalities also meant fast adapting.

“I knew I would meet many different people from different cultures that I would need to manage. Those three years were the perfect experience for me to get to know different cultures and learn how to manage different personalities.”

That cultural awareness and management, he says, is something he now uses daily in France.

“France wants more – and that fits my personality”

Moving to France marked a shift in scale and expectation. At the French federation, the goals are clear – and high.

“In France the goals are very high, the players are very motivated and ambitious. And that approach goes really well with my ambitious personality.”

He describes himself as someone who is never satisfied “I always want to do it better. I always want to do more.”

According to Navickas, that mentality mirrors the current state of French badminton. “France nowadays – we want more. We are achieving more. And we want what’s next.”

The commitment, he says, is visible everywhere.

“We feel it in every angle. We feel it through the fans – you see national championships with full halls, the French Open with full halls. The badminton community in France is very enthusiastic, and we really feel that. That also gives a responsibility.”

Support is not limited to the stands. “From the government, from the management, from the players – we are all on that wave, like: what’s next? That’s the mentality.”

Growing together with a young men’s singles group

When Navickas arrived in France four years ago, he inherited a young but promising men’s singles group.

“When I came, Alex (Lanier) was only 16, Arnaud (Merkle) was 21. Actually, we grew together.”

Despite the progress made, Navickas resists focusing on results.

“To be honest, at the moment they are showing very good results. But I don’t think that way. I always think: what’s next to do so they develop?”

Development, he says, is a daily conversation. “We don’t talk about what we have achieved already. We talk about what’s next, what’s next.”

That mindset reflects what he sees as the broader identity of French badminton: “We are not staying happy with where we are. We want more.”

“We are not sleeping on the results”

With Alex Lanier now established among the world’s top players, expectations have naturally increased. But Navickas is careful not to let success create complacency.

“It is settling in” he says about Lanier’s rise into the world’s top ten. “But I believe we work with Alex in a way that he has the mentality to become the best in the world.”

For Navickas, current achievements are merely milestones. “What we achieve is good. But we still have so much to do to become the best in the world.”

Preparation is constant and forward-looking. “We are continuously thinking how to counter what our opponents can do, or to have as many tools as possible to beat everybody.”

He acknowledges that this approach can sometimes mean they rarely pause to celebrate. “Maybe at some times it is a little bit of a problem that we don’t sit down and enjoy too much. We are continuously working forward.”

Maximizing potential – together

Although Lanier is a central figure, Navickas emphasizes collective strength.

“His potential is unlimited” he says. “But we don’t want to be only Alex Lanier. We want to be a singles group where each person is so important – and Alex is so important for the group as well.”

The philosophy is built around synchronization: “We are not just talking about how Alex can be the best. We are talking about how Alex can be the best for the group, and how the group can be the best for Alex.”

In his view, that dynamic is essential if both the individual and the team are to maximize their potential.

Building the next generation

The collaboration between the senior setup and the youth structure is another key pillar. Talents such as Mady Sow are currently based in a youth center but already connected to the national system.

“They are in the federation, but at the moment they are in a youth center” Navickas explains. “We are talking and cooperating with the coaches.”

The goal is gradual integration. “When they come to INSEP in Paris, they will already know the philosophy.”

We are approaching ten years since Kęstutis Navickas ended his professional badminton career and exchanged life on court for a role at the side of it. And although it would be a fitting moment to look back at his many achievements as a coach, it would probably be more in his spirit to ask a different question instead: what’s next?