[transcript]
Many of you know Lee Chong Wei, as he was a former world number one, and had one of the greatest rivalries in the history of badminton with Lin Dan.
However, if I bring up the name, Wei Nan – to an average badminton enthusiast, this name may not strike a bell. But, to Lee Chong Wei, it certainly does.
Hey guys, welcome to Get Good at Badminton.
Today we want to dive in depth into the famous game between Wei Nan and Lee Chong Wei at the 2015 Denmark Open, and explain how Wei Nan exposed Lee Chong Wei, and a few things that you guys can take away from this game as well.
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First and foremost, and probably the most obvious is Wei Nan’s smash.
Not only did he have incredible power behind these smashes, he also had insane accuracy. Most of his smashes were perfectly pinning the lines, if not, they were very close.
He also had one more factor to his smash. The steepness. Because Wei Nan’s smashes were so steep, Lee Chong Wei’s defense had to travel upwards to get over the net. This gave Wei Nan a lot of easy kills at the net.
Now that we have pinpointed that Wei Nan’s smash was one of the most insane parts of his game. We want to highlight some key techniques that allow Wei Nan to perform this smash.
First, let’s start with his set up.
Wei Nan likes to quickly set up his racket to his hitting position. His set up is also relatively higher compared to players like Lee Chong Wei, which allows for a smaller swing.
On the topic of smaller swing, Wei Nan has minimal pull back. This is to make his swing, again, shorter and quicker.
Another point to mention about Wei Nan’s smash technique is his contact point. Look at this clip of Wei Nan’s smash and notice how his contact point is not only very high, but it is also in front of him.
Because Wei Nan contacts in front of his body, he can put his strength into the forward part of his swing.
Watch this clip of Viktor Axelsen explaining when to put power into the swing!
We want to cover a little bit about his grip. His grip is very relaxed when he sets up for the smash. However, he squeezes the grip very tight when he contacts the bird and after he contacts.
Lastly, the follow through. Notice how Wei Nan does not follow through completely across his body. In fact, he purposefully stops the follow through short. Why is that?
It allows you to bring your racket back up faster, as it keeps your racket by your side. This is extremely important for following up your smash.
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This being on the list might surprise you, as Wei Nan was not known for his footwork, but it is what allowed Wei Nan to move so smoothly and comfortably against Lee Chong Wei.
The main thing we want to emphasize on is his split step and push off.
If you watch these few clips, you can see Wei Nan just waiting for the bird to be hit. He then does his split step, and pushes off with 100% effort.
The reason why this is so effective is because it virtually allows you to never perform correctional split steps. Correctional split steps are what badminton players have to perform if they get deceived by their opponent. They initially move one way but the shuttle is traveling the other.
To prevent this, Wei Nan simply just waits for the shuttle to be hit, and then moves with 100% effort.
Another reason this is so effective is because it allows for Wei Nan to change the pace. As you can see in these clips, he pushes off with 100% effort which allows him to have quick hip turns to reach the shuttle up high and play a shot with interest.
This is what you guys can implement into your game. Being able to change the pace with not only your shot, but also with your footwork is vital to scoring points and breaking opponents’ defenses.
So when you guys hop back onto the court, try to time your split step right before the opponent hits. This will allow you to land when the shuttle has been hit. Then push off with maximum effort to change the temp of the game!
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Finally, we want to cover Wei Nan’s strategy, which allowed him to completely break down Lee Chong Wei’s defense in this game.
After talking a little bit about Wei Nan’s footwork, it is only appropriate to give you guys an explanation as to why Wei Nan wants to push off with maximal effort every time. Because, honestly, it seems quite tiring.
Second, the reason why Wei Nan pushes off with maximal effort every time, is to take the next shot as high as possible. When you take the shuttle very early, that is already a lot of pressure applied on your opponent. This is primarily why Wei Nan does not play deceptions.
Deceptions often sacrifice your contact point with the bird to play a shot that will cause the opponent to stutter. This will break your opponents rhythm if they fall for your deception. However, Wei Nan chooses to just play the shot at the highest point possible which will still apply pressure on the opponents.
First, we want to talk about what Wei Nan’s goals were during this game. His aim during this game was to try to finish the rallies as fast as possible. As any badminton player or athlete knows, it is vital to play towards your own strengths, while targeting the opponents’ weaknesses. This is why Wei Nan put a lot of emphasis on his spin net and his smash.
Sometimes you can even see Wei Nan force the spin net or the smash even when he is not in position.
Once Wei Nan’s smashes have started working, Lee Chong Wei will watch for them. That is when he can open up the court more through his slice and his punch clear.
Now that we have covered what Wei Nan has done well, we also want to go over what Lee Chong Wei could’ve done better.
It was evident that Lee Chong Wei was not playing so well on that particular day. So, what he needed to do was to play shots that restrict Wei Nan from utilizing his two strengths. This means blocking further, and to the middle, half smashing in the back, and generally playing more downwards and into the middle.
This also means that Lee Chong Wei needed to restrict Wei Nan’s spin net from the very start. His serve.
A lot of the times, the serve is often overlooked. However, it is one of the most important parts of the game. A good serve versus a bad serve can decide the outcome of the rally. This is especially evident in doubles, but is also very important in singles as well.
Watch this rally where Lee Chong Wei serves and allows Wei Nan to use his spin net.
When playing against an opponent with a strong smash, the first thing you should do is prevent their ability to set up for the smash.
This leads us into the second point. Lee Chong Wei needed to add more holds and changes in his shots to prevent Wei Nan from moving so smoothly.
If Wei Nan is playing smashes out of position, there is no reason for Lee Chong Wei to be afraid of losing the rally. This is often how he will get the counter attack.
Finally, there needs to be less easy to read straight clears from Lee Chong Wei. Especially in the late forehand, late backhand positions.
If you guys have watched our analysis on Shi Yu Qi, you would remember that we talked about his ability to play the unexpected cross court clear from his late forehand and backhand positions. This is exactly what Lee Chong Wei needed more of.
As Wei Nan was almost always ready for the straight, Lee Chong Wei needed to catch him off guard by playing the cross. This will also help him in future rallies, as now Wei Nan will be more wary of the cross, which will then open up the straight.
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I think it is safe to say that this match surprised the entire badminton community. The nearly perfect shot placement and power from Wei Nan certainly shocked Lee Chong Wei as well.
Thank you guys for watching this video! If you liked it, make sure to like and subscribe, and comment below on what you would like to see next!