http://www.badzine.net/news/lin-dan-%E2%80%9Ci%E2%80%99m-quitting-badminton%E2%80%9D/24679/ Confirmed April fools Joke.
Lin Dan's badminton bag, interestingly there are 2 models there. anyone know what are they? View attachment 139694
The n55II I beleive. He also does an advertisement where he mimic other players serving, and he uses this racquet for it.
I'm not sure if this is relevant post, but for the past while, since I've been avoiding to study my exams. I've watched a lot of games that Lin Dan has played. Stuff from 8+ years ago to more recent ones. I loved how he has developed his game. I'm a big Taufik fan, but Lin Dan is just something special(I'm not here to say who's better or trying to start a forum troll). As I have said earlier I've been watching a lot of Lin Dan's game. And re-watched a lot of them as well. When he first came out he was the explosive player. He had an array of attacks at his disposable. Everything he did was speed and power. His athleticism was supreme, I mean all international players are super athletic as well. 2004 Olympic final just shows his power and speed. As he got older, like in the recent tournaments of 2011+, his style has changed. He plays a more tactical game. Maybe it's age creeping in, but I highly doubt that's the cause of it. He has tons of help from dieticians and physiotherapists, professional care to make him at the top of his form. I feel like now he plays on experience and tactical. He seldom goes for the big power plays. In the 2012 Olympics finals, I saw maybe one or two that I remember where he would attack and charge the net to finish it off. Lin Dan was doing the power plays in 2008 almost every other point. I felt like his old style wasn't a thing for me to watch. I mean yes it's amazing broadcasting to see him leap 4 feet in the air and crosscourt ultra angle smash. But I like watching how he plays now. It's stable and safe. Easiest way I can explain it. He plays very tactical and cautious. He keeps calm throughout rallies as oppose to before when he was younger and would rage out. He plays high quality, safe shots. Seldom takes a chance to leave himself in an opening. Which made his defence a lot better I think. He plays shots that he knows that whatever his opponent returns back at him, he'll be ready for it. He's quite impressive. I like to think, that at this moment of time, we have one of badminton's golden era's. Players like Peter Gade, Lee Chong Wei, Taufik Hidayat, and then Lin Dan. To think of it. All four of these players are extremely talented. But Lin Dan rises slightly on top. To be honest, I never really enjoyed that much watching Lin Dan when he was younger, he had temper, and his play style wasn't that great to watch(this is only my opinion by the way). Like I said, I've always been a Taufik Fan and still am. I'm not trying to say which athlete is better. But by my own observations, Lin Dan is not quite as fit as LCW(of course, all internationals are fit, i'm talking about marginals). Lin Dan is not as naturally talented as Taufik. Not as consistent as Peter Gade. LCW, probably the most fittest person, I'm not saying any of these athletes aren't fit, it's just he plays the most tournaments and scores reasonably high all the time. Same with Peter Gade. And Taufik plays with talent, I'd say he was more so gifted(again, all 4 of these athletes are talented and gifted, I just think Taufik had a bit more). If you watch the earlier matches, he would lose matches to his fellow rivals. He would lose spirit when he was losing by a lot of points. But he did one thing that I think that made him better. He played a lot smarter. He doesn't lose his temper. And in match point scenarios, he can put everything behind him and just focus on the current rally. I'm not trying to put down any other athletes or anything. I just appreciate Lin Dan's tactical and elegance style of play now and I enjoy watching him. PS. Sigh.. no more badminton for another few weeks.. I could've written my 3k page essay instead of writing about badminton.. I <3 badminton, i only found this sport recently and fell in love. If only I picked it up earlier in my life.. Shiny
Agree with most of what you say. You probably meant 2008 Olympic final when referring to Lin Dan. Its interesting to see that Xia Xuanze perhaps influenced the way he plays (that's what Gill Clark says anyways). Even in 2009 AE, he was still playing quite explosively. At any chance of attacking, he'll probably do an all-out attack. I think it was sometime in 2010 and 2011 that he changed the most. Sort of similar to how he changed his appearance (hairstyle and the tan) to reflect his transition into a more mature phase. Or perhaps, he got a bit traumatized when he played at 2011 AE Finals. My god, he just wasn't himself that day, I don't know what he was doing there. It was like the only match in many years that LCW beat him in two straight sets. He didn't even attack that game. The style he played with his "new short hair" is indeed very patient and tactical. He'll only do a mid-level attack after he manages to step into a shot early at the net, provoking a short lift and then just sorta half-smash/clipping it down. Most of his shots are almost perfect. LD's strategy is simply to rally patiently to 11 points and be ahead at the interval, then naturally the opponent has ran out of options and starts to get psychologically desperate. That's when LD will easily take like 8 out of the next 10 points to close the game. Only Gade was able to keep up with him somewhat, and Sasaki. Taufik doesn't have the belief anymore, and Lee Hyun Il doesn't have the attack or speed to break down LD's defense. I only started watching LD post 2009, so I'm not too sure how he compared to the other "kings" of today. But from my point of view, Taufik just couldn't beat him after 2006/2007. Gade got old, while LD got more patient. Gade might have consistency and a nice array of shots, but LD had all that and could attack and explode much harder at will. LCW started playing a bit smarter against LD, that's when he introduced much more explosiveness into his play (a similar phase transition for him as well when he started wearing those sleeve-less shirts lol), and that's when a lot of the LCW-LD games became much more "chess-like". In some way, their games don't really reflect how men's singles should be played, simply because its at such a high level. The most interesting thing to see right now is whether or not LD can train himself back into the game and beat Chen Long. I have no doubts that he can still beat LCW. Even on a good day, LCW's tactics are too foreseen by LD. Chen Long, on the other hand, has proven to have developed his patience much more, and with his natural physical advantage, he can produce very dangerous attacking shots without having to go all-out and risk getting out of balance afterwards.
Really like what you wrote here! At the top of their game together, they are/were like two predators stalking one another. You need to be top predator to do that!
As an athlete gets closer to 30 is a major negative milestone in individual sports like badminton, where athleticism and fitness is often critically the deciding factor at the very top levels of play. So, in a way, a younger less experienced player who is more athletic can compensate for his inexperience using his fitness when playing against an older more experienced player who must use smart play to compensate for his aging. This happens all the time with all players in all sports... just the natural inevitable progression of aging, that's all. You see this at the club level too. Nothing special that I would attribute towards Lin Dan, imho.
Agree with most of what you say, you probably meant LCW instead of LHI regarding to break down LD's defense
Nah, he's probably referring to LHI, the OG SF match showed LHI really didn't have lethal weapons against LD. Being an avid fan of the "Four Heavenly Kings" (LD, PG, LCW, TH, and damn these titles are always so damn cheesy), I quite agree with Kaitamasaki with how LD really changed. I would however hesitate to call it a evolution, but simply a change. As Gillian often comment on how LD changed his game due to XHZ's influence, I agree with her saying that his change isn't necessarily for the best. Though it's much more entertaining to watch LD and LCW duke out points by endlessly retrieving shots, the 2008 Beijing OG Lin Dan seriously played the most amazing badminton I've ever seen. LCW didn't play poorly that match, LD simply dominated the entire match. Same goes for AE2009, Lin Dan's offensive play was out of the world, shots hitting the line repeatedly. The explosiveness and domination is simply put "inspiring". Nowadays, LD and LCW play at such a high level, they only take out their highest gear for each other, almost like no one else can force them to work hard. I personally like to refer to this as the "Meta-Game". The matches are so dynamic, one rally they're clearing 9/10 shots, and the next rally they're smashing each other's faces off. It almost feels like they don't employ any tactics, because they can both retrieve every single shot, and place shots to the tee. They just edge each other by staying in mentally, showing who has the iron will. (which I must say, LD almost gets the edge on this part every time, and obviously, they're pretty much tactical master minds). It must be said LCW ascended to a new level around 2010, and LD changed his game into a more "runner" style of game (I personally consider this a regression). Since then, although LD still beats out LCW more often, LD rarely dominates him on court any more. As a fan of his younger self, I'd really like to see him complete destroy his opponents. Nothing's quite as satisfying as seeing a flying pack of muscle smash every single shot for an hour.
Agree with the last paragraph. I am personally a huge fan of his younger self with those huge repeated smashes against virtually every lift. The 2005 WC SF against Gade certainly showed his spectacular stamina to jump smash against virtually every clear or lift given to him, Peter's defense was just not good enough. I miss the former LD, his current self is imo quite boring to watch(of course others will have different opinions). I would certainly watch more of his former matches if they were uploaded into YouTube.
Lin Dan not messing around now. As shown at BAC, he got some freshly tatted autobot and decipticon transformers tattoos on his inside arms. -.-'
IMO, Lin "God" Dan's style lately is like he's Son Goku, fusion with Vegeta (Lee Hyun Il - The Grace). Resulting perfection of technique, ultra effortless, gliding tirelessly, but still ready to bombard heavily if he feels it was neccessary. No weakness, but having all the answer towards all his opponent's effort be it long tiring rally, deception battle, or power bomber style. Truly god of badminton Attack : 10, Defence : 10, Technique : 10, Mental : 10, Stamina : Starting to Aging :crying:
according to the latest list published by Forbes, http://www.forbeschina.com/review/list/002055.shtml China's Top 100 Most Influential Celebrities List - 2013, Lin Dan is at No 42. the only badminton player in the list with annual income of 3.55m USD.
No wonder he and Xie Xingfang could jointly donate 2.2 million RMB to the Ya'an earthquake victims in south-west China's Sichuan province. http://sports.qq.com/a/20130422/000211.htm A charitable act, no less, and the celebrated couple even visited the site the other day to ensure the necessities and money reach those in need.
I know this is off topic but their are 2 athletes ahead of LD - Li Na i understand, easy for her to make far more money. But can anyone tell me how Sun Yang has managed to make so much money relatively?
Lin Dan on wildlife conservation: [video=youtube;P4o5B31TazA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4o5B31TazA[/video] is this a sign that he is transitioning into another phase of his life? caring more about things beyond badminton, using his fortune and fame. (think Bill Gates but of course without the same deep pocket)..
