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Hey guys, hope you enjoyed that highlight reel. Today, we’ll be breaking down Viktor Axelsen’s strategy and what he needs to do to win the 2024 Paris Olympics and become the greatest of all time.
He is definitely one of the favourites to win it all, but recent performances have been shaky.
First, let’s look at what made prime Axelsen unstoppable. It starts with his height.
At 194 centimeters tall, Viktor Axelsen is one of the tallest badminton players to ever live. This comes with several advantages stemming from his reach.
Naturally, taller athletes have an easier time cutting off shots and taking less steps on court to reach various shots. They’re also able to hit the shuttle much earlier and create steep angles that shorter players cannot reproduce.
However, these advantages come with several weaknesses that can be exploited.
Due to their extra mass, tall athletes such as Axelsen have a much more difficult time turning their body compared to shorter players. For the same reason, jumping and bending your body will also consume extra energy.
Longer limbs also make drive battles more difficult, especially in men’s singles. The extra length slows Axelsen down just enough for him to end up in a defensive position.
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Prime Axelsen played to his height advantages perfectly by slowing down the game with high pushes and lifts and conserving energy in the backcourt with his amazing half-smashes.
Let’s talk about his pushes and lifts first.
Prime Axelsen opts to play his pushes and lifts much higher, which gives his opponents opportunities to two-feet jump and attack. This is fine for Axelsen though because his reach allows him to cover pretty much any shot his opponent can play.
Generally, his opponents need to play an extremely sharp shot that pins the line to win a point. This puts a lot of pressure on Axelsen’s opponents to play perfectly.
Conversely, if Axelsen plays a flatter push that his opponents can jump out and hit, it’s worse for Axelsen because it’s difficult to quickly change direction as a super tall player.
Playing flat shots also lead to more drive battles. These drive battles often aren’t favorable for Axelsen due to reasons mentioned before and are a 50/50 gamble.
If Axelsen were to win the 2024 Paris Olympics, he needs to default to higher pushes and lifts as this best uses his height advantages while minimizing his weaknesses.
Additionally, another strategy prime Axelsen used very well to minimize his weaknesses was blocking further.
Blocking far is typically done to prevent your opponents from spin netting and playing other shots tight to the net. The tradeoff is that opponents have a better opportunity to play a push.
This tradeoff is negated by the fact that it’s very easy for Axelsen to reach these pushes. At the same time, blocking far makes it difficult for Axelsen’s opponents to play spin nets, which is great for Axelsen because it reduces his chances of making a mistake and saves him energy from bending down at the front.
Current Axelsen plays to the net a little too much. These spin nets are all very risky shots and from our perspective, risks that Axelsen do not need to take.
One reason to spin net is to get the lift and that isn’t something that’s been working well for Axelsen.
As a tall player, you can get baited into thinking that you have a monster smash and end up trying to force it every time. This is what Axelsen has been doing a little too much recently. He’s been spinning and trying to jump smash the lift every time which has led to him rapidly burning his energy in the process.
We suspect his injuries can be partly attributed to trying to play this style.
If Axelsen were to become the GOAT, he still needs to win more after the 2024 Paris Olympics. As he ages, it is crucial that his style is efficient and prevents injuries.
Instead of jumping in the back, Axelsen should go back to using his standing half-smashes as his main shot. With his height, Axelsen’s half-smash is already on the same level as other pro players jumping and hitting it down without the downfalls of jumping and recovery.
Just look at how easy it is for Axelsen to move forward after his half-smash compared to his full smashes.
And these half-smashes typically generate just as much, if not more winners than his full smashes. Due to the steep angle, blocks almost always have to come up compared to the flatter block that his opponents can play from a harder, flatter smash, giving Axelsen easy kill opportunities.
Really, prime Axelsen’s strategy is quite simple. 90% of the time, play high pushes and lifts, block far, and play half-smashes. If there’s an opportunity to spin net, flat push, or full smash, do it, but don’t force it.
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Now before we end this video, we also wanted to talk about Viktor Axelsen’s mental. This is always a touchy subject because we don’t know Axelsen personally.
However, there are some clues from Axelsen that are great mindset lessons.
One thing that made prime Axelsen unstoppable was his mental control. We can see that he was actively working on his mental during 2021.
Having read this book myself, I can testify that it’s a phenomenal book with principles that are excellent for helping you play better.
We can see that prime Axelsen was almost always playing very calm and patient which made his style extremely effective.
With his insane reach and skills, Axelsen should never feel like he needs to force a winner. As long as he maintains good shot quality and focus, his opponents have to work so hard to get points.
If your opponents feel like they need to net roll or pin the line with their shots, they’re naturally going to make more mistakes trying to do so.
And if they do happen to net roll or pin the line, you shouldn’t get angry. How many times can they do the same thing again?
Current Axelsen gets frustrated too easily and tries to force winners. Unfortunately, forcing rarely ends well and will lead you to make more mistakes as you get more frustrated.
For Axelsen to become the GOAT, he will need to remember the principles that made him good. From our perspective, those principles are to play calm and patient.
Play each rally one at a time and remember that you will inevitably lose a few. Don’t let your mistakes or opponent’s good shots frustrate you, as that will ultimately lead you to make more mistakes and lose.
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For Viktor Axelsen to become a serious contender for GOAT status, he will need to win the 2024 Paris Olympics and a few more World Championships after.
It’s hard to say if he’ll do it, but it’s definitely possible if he controls his mental and plays the style that makes best use of his height.
What do you think, though? Can Viktor Axelsen win the 2024 Paris Olympics and become the GOAT? Let us know in the comment section below.
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