After the olympics disaster, Lin Dan has learnt his lesson. But not fully yet. By not playing for a year before Olympics he put himself under pressure and lost. He should stop fooling around and play to win every tournament. Got another 6 months or one year max. After that he would have to play qualifiers. Would do well to make full use of this time.
If there's somebody who needs to be advised on making full use his career span and his opportunities, it's certainly not Lin Dan.
He missed out on the third gold despite being fittest bestest player because of his mental issues. Not so perfect as his fanboys think. He needs to rethink his priorities for next one year. Hasn't achieved anything big in last one year by his standards. And WC is coming.
Fittest? Mental problems? Who are we talking about? Besides, he wouldn't have been able to beat Chen Long at the WC or Olympic the past 2 years anyway. Sucks to be LD, his season is meaningless unless he wins a WC or Olympic gold.
Hey, at least it's better than a "this video is not available in your country" message Sent from my ZTE A2017G using Tapatalk
Fit enough to beat CL as he showed in Australia open. Nothing is as good as getting into a winning habit. He hasnt won even the AE this year. And will be 34 this December. Not much time left. Yes, when you are LD , people expect you to win more than lose. Don't think it sucks. It's just a compliment. Any slight criticism or analysis regarding his losses, mental problems , sure bring all fanboys together. LD lost at Olympics because he got himself under pressure n didn't smash. He was good enough to win the third gold. Has only himself to blame
Yep I know you weren't being unreasonable. Your criticisms were quite fair and in decent spirit. I was just in the mood for some mischief, no hard feelings there. Name calling isn't cool, though. The reality is, LD didn't smash at the Olympics not because he had metal issues, it was just that his attacking play in 2015-16 was plain terrible. And if 2017 LD couldn't beat an average-form CL, then there would have been no chance whatsoever for 2016 LD to beat a peaking Chen Long. As you can see there, I have no problems with giving LD crap when he sucks.
That's a rare exception, not the rule. You're are referring to Kuching many moons ago to LCW , I supposed. But we're talking about the aging Lin Dan now and past his prime as well as other factors, understandably the chances of that happening nowadays is expected to be higher. As I've pointed out, he also lost a streak of points to Qiao Bin while having a hefty lead in G3 at the CHN Masters.
He was as fit and good as ever. He wasn't smashing because he had not played tournaments before the Olympics. Some smashes getting returned and some going out destroyed his confidence, so he got back to defensive play. That's why I say he lost the Olympics gold by putting himself under pressure by not playing tournaments prior to that. Come now and he is not giving 100% . That's not how u win. MS is supremely tough. By playing to lose , LD is getting into the habit of losing, allowing other players to play against him confidently and ruining his chances for future glory.
He wasn't. He was significantly slower and had less endurance than before. You're living in a fantasy world if you believe otherwise, it's very noticeable to anyone watching the matches. The situation was similar in the Olympic tournaments he won, he didnt play a whole lot of tournaments before, yet somehow he was faster and more decisive in those. Maybe it's actually possible he was younger and fitter back then...? Could it be...?
Yup. Went to the third set with LCW in Olympics semi final without smashing. Barely lost. LCW must ve been slow too. I wasn't clocking him but he hardly looked slow. Less aggressive . Less pro active . Yes. In this age of fitness badminton, LD is still going good despite being slow. Not less aggressive. Hmmm.
2017 LD is better than 2016 LD, but still couldn't beat Chen Long. There is no way 2016 LD would have beaten Olympic Chen Long. In fact, 2016 LD only managed to mount such a close contest against LCW at the Olympics because of his mental advantage against his rival. In terms of form and level of play, LCW was quite clearly better than LD last year.
He's excellent at controlling the rally and keeping his opponent's aggression in check by keeping them guessing (deceptive, high shot quality). His movement, however, isnt close to that of 2012, much less 2008. LCW has gotten slower since then as well, of course, but he also played a slower game than expected, which played right into LD's hand. Add to that that the matches between those two are an entirely different affair than others because they know each other so well and LD has a significant psychological advantage, and you get a close 3-setter. While LD's overall level of play hasn't decreased as much, his speed has dropped significantly.
I've been religiously watching some of his matches recently (mostly since I don't wish to miss the opportunity of seeing him like I did in his early days) and sometimes I felt like his racket arm was too fast for his body and moving on its own to compensate for his speed. It was really weird but has someone else noticed this too? As if the arm hasn't aged but the body has.
He's always had an extremely fast swing and wrist snap action. You can see that quality most clearly in is stick-smashes and his round-the-head clears under pressure. The more he has aged, the more he has hit using mostly his forearm as opposed to with his shoulder/upper-body rotation. This gives the impression of the arm moving "on its own" ahead of the rest of the body.
In a way, LD's greatest asset is his wrist; LCW's greatest asset is his legs; CL's greatest asset is is reflexes.
I would say Lin Dan's greatest asset is his head, figuratively of course. His reading of the game is second to none, therefore he can overcome physically stronger and faster players.
i certainly don't. why? simple, he's old. when he loses to anyone in the top 15, i'm not totally surprised because he's old. when he beats anyone in the top 10 i am not surprised, but, i'm not expecting it because he's old. when he beats anyone in the top 5 i am surprised because he's old. from now on to any fanboy excuse as to why lin dan loses a match i'm gonna reply 'well, ya, cuz he's old. what were you expecting, lin dan 2008?' at this stage of his career the ?'n is how does lin dan feel about his losses? he is regarded by his peers, past/present, male/female, as the g.o.a.t., so if he loses a close match against a top 15 player today and in the future how much does he feel the meaning of his life changes? 'i look forward to your letters...'
Everyone feels pressure and everyone cracks under pressure. Depends on how much one can bear. Saw a much faster, younger LD lose all confidence on his net play against Chen Hong in 2005 AE final. LD gets under pressure but his defence is good and bails him out. Happened against Srikanth in Olympics. Secondly, everybody`s body starts changing at around 34. Thats what biology tells you. LD is not 34 and that is why he can keep going for another six months to one year. To believe that 2017 LD is faster than 2016 LD is amusing. So he is working hard to win SS now and didnt to win Olympics medal. Amusing.
