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arguably one of the greatest men's
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singles players of all time, is known
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for his smooth and effortless footwork
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on court. He is often seen walking back
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during rallies, seemingly never loses
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his balance, and rarely ever takes any
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unneeded extra steps in his footwork.
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While no one can replicate Lindan's
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style exactly, there are key factors
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that allow him to seemingly beat his
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opponent without trying. So, in this
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video, we will explain some tips to play
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We have covered this topic before in our
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Kento Mimoto and Ani Young analysis
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videos and there is no doubt that Lindan
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is a master at this skill as well.
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Preventing the body from unnecessary
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twisting and turning when recovering
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allows him to be in balance for the next
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shot. Pay close attention to how Lindan
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is able to control his body and keep his
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core stable even when retrieving
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This is a necessary skill that allows
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Lindan to recover well for the next shot
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and reserves stamina by eliminating
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unnecessary body movement.
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Another point is that having good body
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control allows you to control your shot
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better as you need to slow down and
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stabilize before hitting your shot.
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The more you lose body control, the less
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stable you are, leading to more
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mistakes. Because Lindan is a master at
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body control, he is able to stabilize
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well when hitting his shots, which keeps
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his mistakes to a minimum.
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So, we always talk about the term body
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control in our videos. But how do you
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actually apply it and improve it? First
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and foremost, there is the physical.
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While this isn't something you can
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immediately improve or copy from Lindan
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by watching this video, it should be
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improved day by day, and it serves as
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the foundation for controlling your
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If you don't have the physical, you may
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struggle to recover and keep your body
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in control, especially after retrieving
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difficult shots. Second, the mental
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aspect. In Chinese, they have this term
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sho, which in badminton means to bring
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yourself back to your ready position
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But this would be extremely tiring if
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you had to recover like this all the
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time. So, we need to talk about the
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second crucial aspect of Lindan's game,
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Shots can be broadly separated into two
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categories, slow paced and fast-paced
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shots. These two categories are pretty
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where some examples of fast-paced shots
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are drives, flat pushes, smashes, and
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And some examples of slow paced shots
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are high lifts, high clears, and tight
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I don't understand the tactic of
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in the later half of his career
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often chose to play these slower paced
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shots such as high clears, high lifts,
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This is one big reason Lindan never
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seems rushed and is often seen walking
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back to the middle. The shots he chooses
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to play allows him to have more time to
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On the contrary, if you play flat and
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fast, you must recover back to the
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middle much faster as your opponent will
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reach the shot earlier.
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There is also a higher chance that your
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opponent can cut off your shot earlier.
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Compare older Lindan to when he played
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in the 2008 Olympics. In 2008, he was
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much younger and played a lot faster.
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He opted for faster paced shots such as
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fast pushes, pump clears, and smashes.
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You can see that this forces him to
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recover back to the middle much faster
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as he must match his footwork timing to
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Another thing to keep in mind is that
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Lindan's shot quality is one of the best
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with his shots all the way to the back
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or tight to the net. This forces his
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opponent to move the longest distance
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and limits their ability to attack
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In other words, if your shot quality is
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not good enough and your lifts and
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clears are half court, it will not have
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the same effect on your opponent.
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They will be able to attack freely and
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play a variety of shots,
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putting you in a bad position and
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forcing you to scramble.
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Another very important point about
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having the correct shot choice and good
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shot quality is that it allows Lindan to
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read his opponent and anticipate their
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next shots effectively. Which brings us
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Traditionally, many coaches teach
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players to recover quickly back to the
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middle. This is true for the most part,
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but Lindan, with the best shot quality
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and shot selection, allows him to never
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rush back to the middle too quickly.
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if you pay close attention to his
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footwork, he anticipates
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even staying in the corner, waiting for
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If you rush too quickly back to the
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middle, your opponent may hit again to
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the same corner or play a deception that
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forces you to take a second split step,
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further depleting your stamina
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Linden shows us that it is important to
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wait until your opponent hits their shot
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before actually pushing off towards that
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While it is important to have a bit of
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anticipation in your game,
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it is impossible to guess 100% what shot
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your opponent will hit.
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That is why it is important to wait and
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react to your opponent's shot, then push
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off towards that direction.
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Lindan's exceptional footwork and shot
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quality allowed him to preserve stamina
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on court, which enabled him to play
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until the age of 36 at such a high
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While we only covered his body control,
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shot choice, and the ability to hit and
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wait, these three factors alone are not
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what made him the greatest of all time.
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He had his own signature skills like his
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explosive power to seemingly generate
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attack from out of the blue or his
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deceptive skills to just name a few.
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But sometimes it's not about adding to
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your game. Instead, it's about how you
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can take away the unnecessary parts of
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your game that lead to more mistakes or
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waste stamina unnecessarily,
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which makes it look like he could beat
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his opponents without even trying.
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If you guys like this video, make sure
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to hit the like and subscribe button.
