Who in the world currently has the best technique? By technique, I mean stroke and footwork. I personally think that P. Gade and Wong Chu Han have very good strokes when taking his overhead shots.
I saw Lee Chong Wei play a few times, I think he has very graceful (for a guy) footwork and his racket touch is excellent too. I also like Peter Gade's footwork. Both of them are not very tall (in badminton terms) and not powerfully-built (like Kenneth Jonassen or Wong Choon Hann). They need good footwork to get them to their current level of perfomance. I think Wong Choon Hann is a bit clumsy. His physique and style is more suitable as a doubles player; he started out as one.
wong choong hann isn't clumsy at all, he is te fastrest player in the world, who wouldn't be with legs his size, plus peter gade started as a doubles player winning the world junior champs doubles title. Gade and Taufik's footwork is inconsistent but good, no doubt about it. Chen Hong for me has the best footwork in the modern game.
There is a guy that knows what he is talking about! Strokewise, I am not sure, it depends whether you base it on effectiveness, looks, ability to decieve, and in which strokes, not many players have good techniques in all their strokes, and few (if any) the best at all of them. Also, it is difficult to define the best technique, since technique should help to win games, therefore should we judge it on results, or looks (style)?
Gade is a tall player 1.85m so hes not as small as Lee Chong Wei. I personally think Gade together with Taufik has the best strokes.. Chen Hong, Xia and Lin Dan has superb foot work.
I have to agree on this one. Curretly, Lin Dan's great asset is his quickness to get behind the shuttlecock and smash it hard.
I heard Peter Gade is 6.0 feet, maybe I am wrong. Anyways is 6 feet not considered tall in badminton terms? About the powerfully-built point, do you think Lin Dan is powerfully built or not?
want tall!? Take Lin Dan and Bao Chun Lai! I think they're both over 6feet tall though Bao is not as powerfully-built as Lin Dan.
There are many players who have a good footwork. Some of them those in the top are : Chen Hong, Xia and Peter. But Chen Hong's footwork is the best from these three. Lin Dan is fast and powerfully-built (like sessyargc said), but I don't think that his footwork is as good as Chen Hong. Wong CH also has a good footwork, but not beter than Chen Hong. Taufik is out of my list. In the past, Prakash Padukone is the best one, beside Rudy and Sven Pri. For lady, I choose Susi Susanti and Zhang Ning.
if you are talking about the past i think the player with best technique and footwork is zhao jianhua,how can anyone disagree. chen hong of the modern game i feel. lin dan i feel leans over more than getting behind the shuttle, around the head he is fast but to his forehand he has his non-racket leg foreword so not so quick into forehand court than his around the head. Chen Hong is the master of getting behind the shuttle and i feel lin dan hits alot on the move and not standing and jumping like chen hong does.
I dont think Lin Dans Technique for his footwork is good at all. It is effective as he is a fantastic athlete and has youth on his side and excellent agility, but technique wise, it is not good. When Lin loses his speed in a few years he should struggle to win matches. He can win matches now since he can retrieve and wait for the counter attack, which he does well, but when he is older and his fitness and speed to retrieve has gone, he will struggle. Chen Hong however, I believe given the chance he can continue for many years yet. BTW Ben, I actually think Lins movement to the forehand rear is good, he can leap and finish the short ones very effectivley. IMHO why I think his footwork is not pretty is because his natural tendency is to have the feet pointing outwards (like a duck) it is better for Badminton to have the feet straight, or slightly inwards.
How tall is WCH? When I see him in vids, he looks like he's flying on the court and can reach everything (I've only seen the wc 2003 mind you)
Yeah he is 6'. I do not remember the exact height which was told in the starting of World Championship 2003 Final.
jamesd20, lin dan only finishes rallies on the forehand when its short. When its a good lift or clear he crosses his feet and usually drops the shuttle. Chen Hong and other players chasee-chasee out to the side enabling them to hit a wider variety of shots. Its because when the shuttle is in the straight on lin's forehand side he has his left leg really far forward which is a reason for him being so fast coming forward(watch ae2004 against gade) but when he is put deep in his forehand court he is relatively slow compared to the other corners.
Hmm true, but I also think it is partly because of his attitude and style. Chen Hong is an out and out attacker, who always aims to get behind the shuttle to hit downwards. Lin is IMO a counter attacking player (sometimes even defensive) who likes to rally the games and wait for an oppurtunity to finish the point. That footwork method he uses is very energy efficient and so he can rally more, and make his opponent work harder while he isn't. Sun jun used to do this alot too. Generally Lin is quite relaxed and takes a slow option when forced to the back. take on his backhand side for example, chen hong again tries to rush back to smash with two steps hitting high, whereas lin tends to take two gentle steps and stay low. When he gets it short he plays fast to finish the rallies. It is very hard to play a relaxed movement to the rear forehand court area in the two steps, since the body rotation takes you away from the shuttle, crossing your legs and lunging enables you to be moving towards the shuttle, so the lower you take it, the further to the corner you are.
