In my short time on Earth (to date ) and even shorter time being facinated about badminton and the 'development of badminton players', I came to observe a difference in 'type of players' that existed,... a phenomena that I believe you can observe not only in the International Badminton scene but prolly even at your local badminton hall. There are occurance of what we may call 'talented players' among normal players and even other 'subset' categories of players which we may label (out of human nature not prejudice). Today, I hope to focus this Thread on the topic of 'Talented Players' only. Definition & attributes, suggested players in the world badminton scene which fulfill the criterias, and of course further discussion regarding the topic. Before I continue, I would like to stress that 'Talented Player' does not 100% equate to = 'World Class Player' as these Talented players have varying degree of success, commitment, actual ability / potential and all the other intangible factors you can fit in this page. Regards, and I hope for a fruitful discussion for everyone.
Definition & Attributes The Talented Player. The discussion will look from the perspective of a 'match player', i.e. the conduct of a player on the badminton court and the manner the they 'play the game'. Please avoid the temptation to view the discussion from a 'coaching' point of view... since every student who 'learns how to hit a shuttle with little guidance / direction from a coach' would be considered a talented player. So the main focus of the discussion should be towards 'match play', match play, and match play. Any player which display a majority of such attributes and etc can be considered as a 'talented player'... Please do not hesitate to add any attribute you feel i'm missing out. 1) A strong sense of the game (perhaps from a strong upbringing in a dense badminton environment) 2) A varrying approach to matches (Pace & Style varrying skills) 3) Match tempo control skills 4) Cool under pressure aka big match player (irrespective of level) 5) Makes playing badminton look effortless / easy. 6) A 'shot maker' 7) Match winning skills againts apparent 'higer level' players (more physical or 'senior' players) 8) Low percentage for unforced errors 9) The best of them in this category would of course have strong 'finishing moves' to end rallies abruptly. This is what I can come up with at the moment. Will add more when it shows up in my grey area. Cheers
List of Talented players A talented player may or may not be a top top flight player. They have attributes, whether or not they grow into a top class world player is a different point. We can discuss which players could / should be in this list... Past and Present. Let's leave the future out for the time being. My short list to begin with are as follows. Some are none brainers, so enjoy. List of Talented Players (Non Exhaustive, to be expanded) (In no particular order) 1) Taufik Hidayat (MS INA) 2) Zhao Jian Hua (MS CHN Past) 3) Habis Hashim (oops) (MS MAS) 4) Arif Latif (MS MAS) 5) Ng Hui Lin (WD MAS) 6) Bao Chun Lai (MS CHN) 7) Rexy Manaiky (MD INA Past) 8) Peter Gade (MS DEN) 9) Gurusaidat (MS IND) Please feel free to add who you think should be considered as a talented player. Regards,
well, that was a good summary in fact very detail of what to expect i think if i look into lin dan, taufik, peter gade and lee chong wei i think i have found your answer
Thank you pBm, Out of respect, yes we would call all the World Class Players as 'Talented'. However that would defeat the purpose of the discussion. A talented player must have special flair. We must put the players 'success' aside as things other than 'talent' may be the reason for their success. Look at Shon Soeng Mo. Olympic Silver Medalist but i can't even spell his name right. Talented? Or a different category.
A talented player must be able to learn quickly. I think most of those attributes in post 2 can be taught and learnt. A talented person can pick these up ore quickly. A talented person can also work harder. You cannot simply play to an international level by playing twice a week.
choi hoi jin is also talented against lin dan 1-0 win in favor of him so far... we can find here and there and almost everywhere a lot of talented players but we will never find a 100% talented player he or she just never exist yet
Dude, talent is not measure on H2H against LD. Anyway, jug8man, on point no.4, if you consider a player to have every other attribute besides that one, will you still call him a talented player? A all round player who gets nervous at crucial stages?
you didn't read in between the line or it wasn't clear its just one example to say choi hoi jin is talented against lin dan and here obviously there is nothing to measure
Thank you shot of the undead. This is the kind of discussion i'm looking for. Yes, a talented player may not have all of the attributes in that list. So may still be considered a Talented player. However, you pointed out point no. 4.... Somehow this is not really something you can train a person for. So yes, I suppose point no 4 has a greater weightage compared to the others. So it would be hard to call a person 'talented' if he/she did not have this attribute. However, having point. no 4 (ie being cool under pressure / big match player) still does not guarantee that the player wins the match. cheers
I cant say that CHJ is talented because he beat LD. My discussion here is more about the players conduct. Example. Hafiz Hashim is a talented player. But has really bad record againts LD, and etc. and being a talented player does not mean he is (still) a top world class player
I would like to edit 5) Makes playing badminton look effortless / easy. (When they Win) They may look extra weak / lazy when they lose
Yes Cheung, I agree about that. That is why I'm trying to differentiate Talented Player from World Class Player. Talent does not 100% translate to World Class Player. So many other Factor to take into account other than Talent. Case for example. DLCW. When he first showed up, he was called a 'Malaysia's New Foo Kok Keong' by Chen Hong. No disrespect to FKK, That guy was considered a 'bottom scraper' (some1 coined that term in BC, Cooler maybe). Clearly shows that DLCW was not considered a talented player by DLCW peer CH but look how far DLCW has come. Surely Talent was not the primary factor in this case. Hafiz Hashim however was very much the opposite. Tauted as the next big thing but now... only to be constantly used as a reference point by jug8man.
maybe i wasn't writing clear again chj is talented against lin dan but no talents by himself because he knows where and when to strike and vice versa thats how he cornered lin dan or maybe its late and i am just writing rubbish lol
Wow,my friend you've started a thread that is so open-ended that it could eventually overtake the Singapore Thread in terms of views. Let me try to chip in, based mainly on 2nd hand info since I am not a coach : 1) Zhao Jian Hua was said to be unique because he could "see" or visualise the court or opponent that nobody else can, some kind of 3rd eye. And he started to play seriously not because he was groomed to be a baddy player, they just spotted his talent. he always has his opponent's position in view. 2) Li Yong Dae was discovered by Tan Kim Her for his potential in badminton. Not because of his racquet skills but rather his athletic abilities.experts say he could excel in any sports. 3) Lin Dan when interviewed was asked how he developed his talent or skills, to which he replied there is no such thing, it is hours and hours of practice to hone the skills which can later be innovated to look like talent. 4) Lee Chong Wei, trained by his Sifu Teh, so unique in racquet skills that Morten Frost added him into the national squad despite his lack of physique necessary for badminton. 5) Tony Gunawan and Christian Hadinata for their unique ability to predict and read opponents and intercept shots. 6) Many of my sifu from schooldays who cited mental strength as unique, especially the ability to remain focused and concentrate and not get distracted by anything. Hope this helps, and good luck, may there be more positive postings.
Thank you Bbn, From your sharing, I very much agree with the point that Talented Players have attributes that are not 'groomed',... such as 'visualize', 'predict and read' and even 'inherent athletic ability' that not only LYD displays but LD as well (That's why they call him SUPER Dan) Mental strength is also rather unique. When backed in to a tight spot... cornered to a wall... not everyone can still apply the skills learned from training. It's so often at this point that the normal will fumble, mumble, stutter and etc.... where as the 'talented' make it look so easy. I notice Ng Hui Lin has a built in big smile. Even when her fitness fails, here smile and composure does not. Regards. Regarding DLCW, as you mentioned 'unique racket skills trained by Sifu Teh' I must conclude that he does not fall into 'Talented Player'. (As the racket skills were groomed) Perhaps 'Resilient Player' yes, but another topic for another thread and day.
If we're not talking about world class level competition, then athletic ability and fitness is not as important in the "talented player". Most important, I assume we're referring to the "naturally" talented player, is that spatial perception ability to always be aware of where the net and court boundaries are, and also of course where the opponent is. This is the "third eye" that Bbn was referring to. This ability is not something that can be taught, I don't think. You can see this in players who dominate their sport, eg. Tiger Woods, Lin Dan, Roger Federrer, Wayne Gretzky, Kobe Bryant, etc. Of course, to follow on that ability, you have to also have impeccable eye hand coordination.
