Nice, do you have any more? Which year was this taken from? Any chance you could get a small video clip?
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--------------------------------------- That's all I have on Tang,circa 60s,70s. Soon some clips of Eddy Choong and Wong Peng soon.
strong pure attacking players can do it. mediocre attackers can not (or just barely = weak 2nd attack). this separates the men from the boys. pure defensive players....... you will almost never ever see anything close to this. in the first smash why did tang do a jumping smash straight at his opponent? most players today would prefer down the line smashes or cross court smashes when the opponent is a bit off position. perhaps this is due to the heavier racquets used during does times causing a slower 'body defence' making smash at the body a 'useable strategy' for singles in that era. jug
makes it more difficult considering he is probably using a heavy wooden frame racket. the flick of the wrist was fast and crisp.
His actions on court were really really fast. His technique was in a way 'perfect'... If you pay a closer look, it's hard to the opponent see his action. The body is covering the arm movement and racquet is seen only when is above the head in overhead shots, like in the pictures here.
i dont think it was a drop shot.............. who in their right mind would do a jumping drop shot right in the middle when the opponent is standing there all-ready........ also..... if that was a drop shot....... why didnt the opponent: 1) move forward to go in for the kill 2) or at least give a net return? instead the opponent decides to lift the shuttle back. the lift looks more like a smash return to me. jug
- First stroke was actually a sliced chop, the kind favored by Wong Choon Han or Misbun. Rarely seen nowadays I think.
how can you put these 3 parts (bolded) in the same 'paragraph / sentence'??? and i dont think a sliced chop is anything unique to todays badminton= ie it is now very common. great pics tho....... jug
- As far as I know some of Msian players who faced Tang said that it was suicidal to give Tang or Hou a net return as they are very quick to the net and can tap the shuttle quick. People like Freeman , Tang, Hou and Hartono were well ahead of their time. I think most internationals nowadays can probably match their skills and athleticism. Anyway like most people say, Koboduck has already given a very good analysis.
no problem. Things get different names in different places. e.g. I would call Tang's first jump a spin jump, and the second jump a scissor jump. But some people call the first one a scissor jump Talking of that second jump though, I notice he jumps from his left foot and lands on his left foot. Unusual? In my experience one-footed jumps are usually done on the racquet leg. (or maybe I don't watch games as closely as I should) The racquet leg should be the stronger leg because of all the lunging it has to do.
