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in this video we will take a look at
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Japanese badminton star Kenichi tago
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tago played during the era of lindan and
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Lee Chong way and was one of the few
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players who could upset the Legends who
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seemed Unstoppable at the time today
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we're going to look at how Kenichi tago
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often plays and the strategies that
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efficiently tago managed to do very well
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competing against the Legends in the
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early 2010s in a sport that relies so
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heavily on your physical ability to
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perform while his physical abil was
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nothing to laugh at as Kenichi still was
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a professional athlete it was not at the
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same level as Lind Dan or Lee Chong
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way to compete he needed to develop a
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strategy that would make the game easier
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for him and allow him to score points
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stamina first we can examine how
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Japanese badminton players traditionally
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played in this 2006 match between Shoji
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sat and Peter Gade we can see the
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immense amount of stamina sat Burns by
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playing this type of style s was also a
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very good player having won four
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consecutive titles at the Japanese
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national badminton championships however
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Kenichi tago who was more gifted in his
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technical skills developed his game to
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utilize those skills while maintaining
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the aggressive attacking play that we
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gameplay not only does this allow him to
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score more on the attack because he's
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choosing better timing to attack but it
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also allows him to conserve more stamina
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if you're aimlessly attacking every shot
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and only playing at a fast pace there is
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no chance you will last an entire match
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let alone a whole tournament so to
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conserve stamina tago had to make the
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court smaller to do that he played
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faster shots further into the court with
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the goal of preventing his opponents
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from moving him around playing faster
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shots past the service line takes out
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the front court because for your
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opponent to play the front Court they
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must lob the shuttle to play the shot
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tight to the net which ultimately gives
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tago more time to retrieve it this is
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because the shot is slower and has to
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travel up to be tighter to the net so by
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playing further into the court your
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opponent's most likely return of shot is
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either to the midcourt or backourt
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depending on where they take the
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shuttle and Kenichi tago mastered this
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he was very good at anticipating common
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habitual shots that his opponent would
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play and once you anticipate these shots
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you can suddenly change the pace of the
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game and make your attack much more
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devastating for example you can see tago
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block further in these rallies and
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it's a a bit of a a high horse for me
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Isn't it you know I don't think that you
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can draw too much conclusion from win
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loss records because it's all about you
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know how many tournaments how many
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finals how many titles and who did you
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play and who did you play I I totally
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agree but it was he also played further
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into the court on his defense often
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choosing to drive the shuttle back
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instead of Simply blocking it this drive
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shot on defense allows two things first
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it breaks your opponent's combo and
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Rhythm most singles players will have
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trained the shot combo smash into net
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kill but by driving the shuttle further
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into the court and at the attacker's
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body it makes it awkward to follow up
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this is because their habit is to smash
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and follow up quickly to the net simply
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because it has been practice so
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much second it limits their shot
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selection by driving the shuttle on
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defense you cut off a lot of their shot
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options most of the time the only turn
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that they can make is to drive back or
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block however if you were to play a
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normal block to the service line they
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have many options here they can cross
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net net straight push cross lift
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straight Etc there are too many options
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here one of the best players at
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conditioning their opponents to a
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certain Rhythm or feeling on the court
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was Lind Dan many of you guys would have
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noticed this too lindan can play a
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halfcourt style and quickly change his
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shot and hit to the other side he could
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do this because of the power in his
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wrist which allowed him to change his
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position so it was practically
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impossible to guess what shot lindan was
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going to hit tago brought this into his
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game as well he centralized his strategy
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around controlling his opponent's
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backourt conditioning them to the
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midcourt and backcourt you can see most
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of the time on the net tago opts to push
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he will only spin if he's presented the
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opportunity to the idea here is to push
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your opponents to the back court until
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they naturally hover more more in the
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back court and then quickly change Pace
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by sending a shot to the front Court the
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late forehand and backhand movements
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require a lot of turning of the hips
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which consumes a ton of energy and takes
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longer to do as it is a difficult
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movement so change Pace when your
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opponent is still recovering from the
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shot and you will find yourself in a
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better spot in the rally
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Kenichi tago also implemented more of
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lindan strategy by playing more toward a
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half court many times tago will send his
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shot back to the same Corner the idea is
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to condition your opponent to that side
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of the court and quickly hit to the
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other side the main goal is to have your
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opponent turn their hips quickly and
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perform side to side movements in the
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by putting these two strategies together
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playing his shots with faster shot speed
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further into his opponent's court and
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conditioning his opponents to specific
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movements tago was able to develop his
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game to focus more around his technical
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strength and allow him to conserve more
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stamina Kenichi tago also adapted his
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footwork around this play style you can
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see in his footwork that his recovery
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often involves walking steps especially
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when he plays the shuttle
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late he opts to play a higher lift or
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clear and walk back to the
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middle this heavily emphasizes his
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explosive power and lessens the need for
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great endurance this explosive power is
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also a factor in Tag's ability to
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suddenly change the game speed you guys
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can implement this into your game this
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strategy isn't limited to players who
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need to conserve energy and rely on
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technical skills however it is essential
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to note that these strategies are
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entirely situational if it makes more
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sense to play the spin net then play it
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tago doesn't completely eliminate the
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net from his game he just chooses when
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to play the tight Nets and the same goes
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opponents these are just general
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guidelines to play by what did you guys
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think about kichi Tag's play style let
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us know in the comment section below if
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you guys like this video don't forget to
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hit the like And subscribe Button as it
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helps us out a lot and as always thanks
