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One of the things we love about
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badmitten is that it's such an intricate
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sport with so many layers. There's
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always so much to watch for and learn
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from when studying pro players and your
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own gameplay, especially when you study
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legends such as Kento Mamot. That's
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exactly what the topic of today's video
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is going to be about. When making our
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previous video on how to play as a
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shorter badminton player, we watched a
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lot of Mamot's gameplay and really
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wanted to revisit some of his skills and
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tactics. He was one of the best men's
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singles players of all time after all.
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It's pretty safe to assume that
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everybody knows that Mamota has amazing
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shot quality. He is renowned for his
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extreme precision in his nets and lifts
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that all his opponents struggle against
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immensely. But while everyone looks at
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how Mimoto pins the lines, few people
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discuss the height and speed of his
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pushes. We'd like to argue that Mamoto's
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pushes are what made him truly special.
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After all, if having high lifts that hit
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the lines is all you needed, players
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like Vitidsarn and Naroka wouldn't
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struggle so much against tall players
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As a player, Mimoda plays pretty simply.
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Aside from the occasional pace change,
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Mimoto often wins by pushing the pace
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and punishing his opponent's mistakes.
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This is why we should focus on Mamot's
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push and clears height and speed. Pay
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attention to how Mamot's pushes and
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clears are high and fast enough that
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they pass his opponents, but not so high
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that they have time to get two feet
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behind the shuttle. This forces his
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opponents into two choices. The first
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choice they can make is to jump out and
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take the shuttle early. The second
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choice is to take a late forehand or
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backhand. Either option is beneficial to
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Mamota. If Mamot's opponent jumps out
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attacks, they will be forced to expend
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more energy to quickly follow up.
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And this way Mamo is winning for sure.
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If they opt to play a late shot, Mimoto
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can take the responding shot earlier and
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push the pace himself by either smashing
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or taking the net early. What made
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Mimoto unstoppable was that there were
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very few players who could play at
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Mamot's speed or faster consistently. As
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long as Mimoto played the long rallies,
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the game was in his favor. Even if he
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lost the rally, Mamot's opponents would
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inevitably get tired before him and
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start making mistakes or be less
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aggressive on the attack, giving Mamoto
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Moreover, there was little counterplay
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for his opponents as you couldn't just
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focus on the back court. Mamotto's
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opponents had to respect his nets, which
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ultimately made it extremely difficult
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to anticipate certain shots.
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Interesting that Mamoto is not really
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using his very good net play.
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He's lifting most. He's pushing most.
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Just said it and then he's using it.
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To build on Mamot's strategy of tiring
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out his opponents, it is also important
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to note Mamoto's shot choices. Mamot's
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favorite direction is to go straight.
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The benefit of playing straight shots,
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in particular straight pushes, is that
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it makes it easier for Mamot to defend
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while maintaining a fast pace. Straight
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shots are generally the faster shots due
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to smaller distance traveled compared to
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shots. With this in mind, a straight
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push helps Mamota defend better because
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he's already standing in a position that
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can easily cover the straight smash. And
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since the cross is a slower shot, Mamota
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has more time to cut the shot off.
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Additionally, Mamot's block in response
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to cross smashes are generally straight
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blocks. These blocks, in combination
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with Mamot's straight push, are
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extremely effective at pushing the pace
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opponents. His opponents not only need
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to quickly jump out to attack, but also
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follow up quickly. And when they're too
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slow, that's prime counterattacking
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opportunities for Mamoda.
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Earlier we mentioned that as As long as
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Mamotto plays long rallies, he will
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ultimately win in a battle of attrition.
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This, however, isn't really because
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Mamot's physical and fitness
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capabilities are that much higher than
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his opponents. That's especially when
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you consider that Mamota is often going
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through multiple back-to-back finals
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appearances and often playing much more
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matches than his opponents. In theory,
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many of Mamot's opponents should be in
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much better physical conditions when
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they face him. Why then does Mamota
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consistently win off playing longer
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rallies? The secret lies in his
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footwork. If we were to make an analogy,
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Mimot's footwork is like driving on a
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highway. Sometimes you go faster,
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sometimes you slow down, but you never
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come to a full stop. This way, you never
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drain your momentum and end up needing
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to push from zero to 100. Car drivers
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will know that you'll save a lot more
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gas if you don't have to repeatedly stop
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and speed up. And it's the same with bad
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mitten footwork. When you watch Mimoto's
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footwork, there are two things that are
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very important to look at. Mimoto rarely
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hits a shot and then stops before his
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split step. He generally adjusts his
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feet a little before his split step to
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help him reposition and stay in rhythm.
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The second thing is to pay attention to
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Mimot's pace of his footwork with
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respect to the rally. His footwork going
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to the shuttle will generally match the
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speed of his opponent's shot and his
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recovery footwork will match the speed
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of the shot he plays. What's really
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important is that Mimoto rarely gets
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stuck when playing any shot. His
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movements are almost always continuous,
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which makes it easier to move around the
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From our eyes, Momota after the accident
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was not the same because he had strayed
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away or became incapable of reproducing
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what was once key proponents to his
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success. More often than in his prime,
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postac, Mimoda often rushed and played
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flat or slow pushes and aggressive
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smashes at bad timings that wasted his
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own energy and pushed the pace to a
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speed that was too fast for himself.
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Along the same lines, his shot choice
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also deviated quite a bit from his
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previous strategies, where he opted to
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push and clear cross way more often than
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before, which put him in difficult spots
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to recover from. And although we'll
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never know what would have been if
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Mamot's accident and the pandemic did
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not happen, Mimot's dominant
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performances between 2018 and 2019 are
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games we can continuously look back upon
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and learn from. If you like this video,
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make sure to hit the like and subscribe
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button so you don't miss out on future
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videos. Let us know in the comments what
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you would like to see next.
10:08
Becomes just the fourth different player
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to retain the world championship men's
