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Anthony Sinosuka Ginting is perhaps
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badmitten's most inconsistent star. He
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has shown many moments of brilliance by
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beating players like Kento Mimoda,
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Victor Axelson, Lindan, and more. But
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unfortunately, he's only shown moments.
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Though players and commentators such as
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Morton Frost have described Ginting as
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having the highest skill ceiling of
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men's singles players at the time,
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Ginting has never been able to
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consistently produce those results.
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Now, it's easy to say that Ginting was
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simply too inconsistent and would have
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won more if he made less mistakes. What
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many people don't know, however, is what
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made Ginting inconsistent. We're going
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to discuss that in today's video and the
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true reason behind Ginting's
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performances. Speed is a double-edged
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sword for Ginting. It is Ginting's
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greatest strength, but it also masks
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huge issues in his gameplay. One such
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issue is Ginting shot
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quality. Ginting often plays shots that
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are easy for his opponents to cut off
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and puts himself in a difficult position
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from, but because he's so fast, he can
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move to the next shot quickly and cover
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himself. One example of this is
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Ginting's forehand cross push. Against
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left-handed players such as Mimoda, it
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can be more effective because a backhand
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cut off generally isn't as deadly as a
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forehand one. You also don't need as
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much height on your push to get your
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opponent to turn their body on their
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backhand side. One more time, we also
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saw he played in Malaysia lost in three
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games. So, um, he's really had some good
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But against taller right-handed players
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such as Victor Axelen and Chenl Long,
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these forehand cross pushes are often
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easy opportunities for Ginting opponents
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to simply reach their arm out and play a
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straight drive. When Ginting is at his
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best physically and taking the shot
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above the tape, this flat cross push is
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less of an issue. The problem is more
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revealed when he's not moving so fast
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and taking the shuttle
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lower. There are so many times where
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Ginting still opts to play a flat cross
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push when below the tape and he ends up
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using his speed to chase the shuttle.
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Keep in mind that when you play a fast
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shot, you have less time to recover for
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the returning shot. This is why Ginting
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is so inconsistent. He's constantly
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playing shots that force him to move at
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his max speeds and not necessarily
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forcing his opponents to do the same.
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And you can see the problem when you
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think about how you would perform if
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you're moving at max speeds all the
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time. One, it's very difficult to
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control the shuttle when you're moving
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super fast. Two, it's very tiring over
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the long run. You lose focus and
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ultimately make mistakes.
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Building on top of Ginting's shot
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quality issues, Ginting also frequently
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makes the wrong shot choice. In our
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eyes, Ginting plays toward the lines way
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too much, particularly on his blocks and
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nets, and often opts for cross shots at
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bad timings. While this seems like a
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good thing because you're moving your
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opponent around, it's important to
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consider your own movements on the court
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well. An important idea in badmitten is
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playing shots that make it easy for you
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to move on the court. This is something
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Ginting is not very good at. Whenever
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Ginting plays straight blocks and nets
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that you'll see in the clips, the angle
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of the returning possible shots are
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extremely sharp and difficult to deal
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If Ginting opts to block to the middle
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instead, the returning angle of the
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shots become easier for him to respond
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to. In fact, Ginting at his best has
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generally opted to block
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middle compared to Ginting when he's not
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Oh, that was amazing. The same can be
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said about Ginting's back court. Aside
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from the bigger risk of hitting it out
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when playing towards the
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lines, which is a big problem for
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Ginting, there is often a tendency to go
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for risky smashes and play for winners
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rather than safer neutral shots.
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This goes back to the idea of Ginting
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using his speed to chase the shuttle
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rather than putting pressure on his
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opponents. Too often, Ginting ends up
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using a ton of energy, going for big
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attacking shots in the back court and
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moving full speed to follow up while his
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opponent barely moves at
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all. In our view, Ginting and fast
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players in general need to focus on shot
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quality first and foremost.
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Putting pressure on your opponent does
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not necessarily mean playing fast shots
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at them all the time. A simple high lift
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can still put a ton of pressure on your
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opponent as long as you take the net
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early. In our eyes, Ginting should study
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how pre20200 Lindan plays. There are
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three key ideas to take away from
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pre-210 Lindan's gameplay for the
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context of this video.
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First, we can take a look at Lindan's
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shot angles, particularly on his pushes.
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What you should watch for is Lindan's
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pushes will almost always force his
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opponents to either jump, turn their
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body, or both. There is almost never a
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situation where his opponents can simply
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reach out with their racket and play an
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attacking shot. When it does happen,
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Lindan is usually on the losing end of
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Second, we need to look at Lindan's shot
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placement. Yes, Lindan's shot quality is
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great, and there are times where he is
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pinning the lines, but more often than
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not, his shots stay very much within the
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boundaries of the court, especially his
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smashes. This is in contrast with
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Ginting, who often makes the mistake in
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the back court by smashing out or into
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the net. Again, it's not wrong to hit to
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the lines and make it difficult for your
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opponent to defend. But there's another
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way to think about this. If you have
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good power and or angle in your
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shots, it's already difficult for your
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control. Even if you hit in an area
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where your opponent is able to defend
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your smash within one step, how good
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will the returning shot really be? This
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idea is especially important to consider
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because a player like Ginting is fast
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and should theoretically be able to
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follow up very quickly. You're much more
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likely to get the point off follow-up
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net kills or punishing a very bad return
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from your opponent rather than gambling
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off of pinning lines. In fact, Lindan
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often scored much of his points not
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directly from his backcourt, but on
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follow-up shots. Ginting should look to
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Speaking of speed, the third idea is to
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emphasize taking the shuttle early,
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particularly at the net. This idea stems
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from another philosophy regarding
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deceptions, where a deception's true
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effectiveness comes from what kind of
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shots you can threaten your opponent
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with. While Ginting's technique and
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shots are always tricky to deal with,
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what made him so much more deceptive
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before was because of his speed and
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ability to take the net early. When your
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opponent is scared of the fast shots
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that you're immediately able to play
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when you take the net early, that's when
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holds and deceptions to play slower
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shots become more effective. This is why
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Ginting nowadays doesn't perform as well
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as before. His technique is still good,
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but when his opponents are not as rushed
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to prepare for a fast shot, they can
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slow down their footwork and have better
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split step timings. And we are aware
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that potentially lower motivation levels
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to train and an aging body can make it
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difficult for one to move fast all the
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time. Thus, one thing Ginting can do is
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focus more on playing neutral shots in
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the back court and prioritize a quick
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follow-up instead of jumping for full
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smashes all the time.
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He can look to use slices and half
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smashes that keep him in position more
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often and look to change speed at the
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court. If you're a fast badmitten
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player, it can be easy to forget about
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shot quality and shot choice because
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you're quick to change directions and
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cover the court. Instead of using your
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speed to control your opponent, you end
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up using your speed to chase the
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shuttle. And when you have to move so
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fast all the time, it tires you out and
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hence makes you more inconsistent as
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diminishes. This is ultimately why
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inconsistent. His shot choices and shot
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quality are frequently gamles and the
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odds are not always in Ginting's favor.
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Do you think Ginting will make a
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comeback? Let us know in the comment
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section below. If you like this video,
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make sure to hit the like and subscribe
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future videos. As always, thanks for
