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the popularity of badminton in China's
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large population have made the country
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the strongest badminton nation in the
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world as players fall past their Prime
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there's seemingly always another in line
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today we want to focus our attention on
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potentially China's next men's's singles
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badminton Superstar 18-year-old huan
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he's your 2024 World Junior champion and
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has a unique play style that caught our
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attention where he hits to the middle
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very often how does he win games without
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moving his opponents around let's find
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video when you watch huian play you'll
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notice that the vast majority of his
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shots go to the middle many coaches will
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tell you to hit to the sides and move
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your opponent around so it definitely
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comes as a surprise to see a player at
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such a high level not open up the court
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completely but there are good reasons to
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play to the middle the first is that it
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reduces the number of Errors you make
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significantly when you're under pressure
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and your touch is not there it's vital
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that you play easier to execute shots
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that will help you get into the rhythm
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of the game playing conditions also
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differ especially in large Halls where
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there are often drifts that can cause
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the shuttle to fly unexpectedly that's
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why H an often plays Within These
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imaginary lines the result is that even
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if who hits a shot that flies slightly
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further than where he originally aimed
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it often ends up being a good thing
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where the shot stays in if you watched
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our video on why you should block middle
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and badminton you'll also know that
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playing shots to to the middle reduce
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the angle of returns that your opponents
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can play this often makes your
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opponent's returns much easier to deal
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with as the softer angle generally
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forces your opponent to play a slower
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shot people often forget that winning
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off your opponent's mistakes is still a
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win someone like huaan is often more
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patient than his opponents when the
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rallies get longer due to huaan keeping
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it going from playing more toward the
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middle his opponents often feel the need
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to force a winner and make mistakes
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so again playing that High
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cautious of course simply playing a shot
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to the middle is not going to win you
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games you can be very consistent but
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ultimately playing a shot to the middle
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gives your opponent the same benefits
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that you receive you may reduce the
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return angles and make less mistakes but
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the same goes for your opponent a shot
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to the middle is most of the time going
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toward to your opponent which makes it
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easier for them to retrieve thus you
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need a little bit of something extra to
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win what makes huji and good is his
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ability to play around the middle and
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particularly his skill around the front
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Court first let's talk raw ability
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huan's net play is simply better than
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most of his opponents what most people
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like to do with a shot played towards
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the middle is net who knows this very
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well and has developed phenomenal net
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skills he does a really good job of resp
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spinning his opponent's spins which
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forces his opponents to stay further up
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at the net and when who's opponents
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begin moving closer to the net then his
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pushes and lifts become very effective
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where his opponents are unable to attack
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because they're so far
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up Huda an's shots at the front Court
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are also all very deceptive he does an
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exceptional job of following the shuttle
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and then changing his shot last second
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it's not like other players don't do
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this but it's noticeably clear that hu
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jayan has spent more time practicing
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being more deceptive specifically around
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the middle where the technique to play
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certain shots is often different than
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when shots are played to the corners for
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players who have spent most of their
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lives practicing their ability to pin
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the lines and play to the outside limits
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of the Court it can be very difficult
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dealing with a player like hu an who is
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exceptional at playing around the middle
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that's one thing we really like about
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huian his strategy is to generally
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neutralize in the back play around the
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middle and win at the net it pairs well
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with his skills and vice versa showing
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good focus and direction in gameplay
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which unfortunately you don't
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necessarily see in all players today as
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mentioned in some of our other videos
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having focus and direction in your
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training is key to improving faster
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finding a strategy and putting emphasis
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on practicing the skills required to
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execute the specific strategy will help
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you become a deadly player much quicker
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than practicing a little bit of
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everything now even though it's pretty
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clear that who often plays to the middle
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and Around the Net he still manages to
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be an unpredictable player this is due
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to the number of pace changes and shot
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variety H has in his games we can look
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at the front Court first we already
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talked about net spins and deceptive
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pushes but he also uses drives and far
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blocks to change up the rally and his
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opponents for not being
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ready his back hord is also extremely
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diverse with slices stop drops and punch
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clears mixed in with fast smashes and
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drives all of these different shots make
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it difficult for his opponents to
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anticipate and move smoothly as they're
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continuously guessing what who is going
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really who's only major weakness is that
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he lacks the physicality and power that
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many players have at the senior level if
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who wants to continue playing his game
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around the middle of the Court the
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natural progression is to develop faster
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shots that your opponents have lots of
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trouble dealing with this is something
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that should develop as he gets older but
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it's hard to predict the future it's
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also difficult to tell if H's techniques
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and strategies will be at the same level
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as top senior players the only Senior
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tournament he has played so far is the
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2024 boui China master
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where he won against his older teammate
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Wang Jang Shing in three games if we use
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that as an indicator hjan is probably
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around top 25 to 50 in the world at his
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current level it'll definitely be
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interesting to see how he develops and
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how he fares at the senior level what do
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you think do you think huji an will
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become China's next men's's singles
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badminton star let us know in the
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below additionally if you like this
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video don't forget to like And subscribe
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