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If you've been following the BWF
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tournament calendar recently, you would
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have noticed a name from Canada that you
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might not recognize. Victor Lie has been
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making splashes in the world tour,
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finishing in the quarterfinals in the US
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Open and as a runner up in the Canada
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Open, beating his higher ranked teammate
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Brian Yang and even names like Kodai
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How was Victor Lie able to do that?
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Well, today we'll take a look at how a
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lower ranked player is able to beat
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these higher ranked players and discuss
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how Canadian men's singles badminton
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players may finally be able to compete
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against Asian players.
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Victor Li's game revolves around a rally
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style that plays high percentage shots
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which are both safe to play and allow
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him to move smoothly on the court. One
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key shot in his arsenal are these high
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pushes that travel over his opponent's
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An important note is that these high
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pushes aren't slow. Even though they are
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higher, they come off the strings
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quickly with fast shot speed. So, his
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opponent still needs to have a quick
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first step if they want to change pace.
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and intercept the shot early. Because
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it's very risky to go for full jump
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smashes on shots played toward the
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baseline and Victor li shots are often
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played at heights that require his
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opponents to wait before hitting. Many
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players playing against Victor often end
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up playing neutralizing shots instead of
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attacking. This is when Victor Lie can
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counter with a shot combo. The first
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shot combo is to anticipate their late
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forehand and late backhand clear. As we
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said before, many players understand the
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risk and energy needed to commit to a
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full attack when the lift played is at
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the baseline of the court, which is
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often why they will clear, allowing
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Victor to change the pace and attack.
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This could be maybe a little bit closer
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than a lot of experts have suggested.
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The second shot combo is blocking a
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little tighter to the net and watching
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the net. By blocking tighter to the net,
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you give your opponent an opportunity to
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play a spin net, and many players will
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want to take this opportunity. Knowing
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this, Victor will edge up closer for the
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net to take the spin net early
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Blocking tight to the net is like a
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double-edged sword. If your opponent can
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play a really good spin net, it becomes
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dangerous to block tight, especially if
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you cannot follow up on their spin net.
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However, if you can take their spin net
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early, you can easily push them into
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their late forehand or backhand corners.
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The reason for this is because when they
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spin, they will almost always watch the
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front court in case their opponent nets
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So, as long as Victor takes his
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opponent's spin net early, he can almost
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always push the pace of the game and
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catch his opponent's rhythm off.
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course, one major caveat to these high
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pushes that Victor plays is the fact
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that most players in the BWF World Tour
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have the explosive power and agility to
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attack these shots. For example, look at
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how Chinchen and Sulleang are able to
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attack these lifts. That is why we need
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to address his retrieval skills and more
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specifically his rhythm on court.
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The most important aspect in Victor's
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rhythm on court is how quickly he is
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able to turn his hips and torso. One of
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the most difficult movements in
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badmitten is when you have to turn your
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hips and body to retrieve shots.
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However, Victor is a player that has the
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ability to adjust his hips very quickly
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and is seemingly why he is able to move
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so smoothly on court. life in this rally
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Another aspect of his game that aids his
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rhythm is the fact that his footwork
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follows the flow of the game. What we
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mean by this is that Victor won't rush
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back to the middle after hitting his
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Instead, he will speed up when his
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opponent hits the shuttle. And often
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times, he won't recover all the way to
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the center of the court. Instead, he
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will recover one or two steps back
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towards the center and then react to the
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next shot from there. Notice how his
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first step is very quick and then he
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actually will slow down when he plays
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his shot to control the shuttle better.
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Watch these rallies and pay attention to
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when Victor speeds up in his footwork.
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Being able to move smoothly is good and
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all, but to actually win at the level
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Victor Lie is playing at, you must be
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able to find and create your own
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opportunities to score. One of the ways
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that we commonly mention in our videos
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is disrupting your opponent's rhythm.
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And being able to disrupt his opponent's
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footwork and rhythm is something Victor
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Lie is extremely good at. Just take a
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look at these rallies for example. What
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particularly stood out is the amount of
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deception he had on his around the head
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and forehand net area. Even when he is
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falling out of position on his around
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the headside, he is still able to play a
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deceptive shot that makes his opponent
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move the wrong way initially.
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So here we go. Victor light heading us
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However, disrupting your opponent's
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rhythm isn't only about making it
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uncomfortable for them to move, but it's
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also about not falling into your
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opponent's rhythm. For example, many
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times Victor will intercept cross pushes
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early, changing the pace himself, and
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smashing at the opponent's body. This is
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an example of playing a shot combo on
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your opponent's shot combo. By doing
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this, you change the pace yourself and
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also prevent your opponent from playing
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What we can learn from Victor Li's
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gameplay is his patience in rallies.
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Having the patience to push high and
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over your opponent and playing high
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percentage shots are things we need to
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do to move smoothly and stay in the
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rally. We can also implement Victor Li's
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shot combos to change pace and learn
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from his deceptive shots in the front
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court and back court to break our
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opponent's rhythm. Finally, we should
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try to focus on having quick hip turns
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and first steps instead of rushing back
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to the middle after every shot. This
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will tremendously aid our rhythm and
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allow us to change pace much easier. At
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the young age of 20, with his whole
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badminton career still ahead of him,
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there are definitely opportunities for
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Victor Lie to drive up the level of
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Canadian men's singles badminton
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alongside Brian Yang to become
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competitive against the rest of the
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In front of his own fans here in Canada
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if you guys like this video, make sure
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What do you guys want to see next? Let
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us know in the comments below. And as
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always, thank you for watching. Heat.
