Hey thats whats interesting about the game today - with video cameras all over the place scrutinizing players and their game techniques and tactics, its getting really scientific. One moment you have a new partnership, Hendra/Kido winning and dominating play then they fizzle out due to others getting smart and neutralizing their tactics and then they were splitup and emerge Hendra/Ahsan with their boring but efficient game and start dominating and winning championships. But all the videos analysing and scrutinizing have made other pairs wise to them and at this championship they started to struggle and losing. Same with LYD/YYS was formed recently to counter the Hendra/Ahsan all winning combination! Even the Chinese has jump into the bandwagon and did their own repartnering with mixed results. This seems to be the favoured way by coaches presently to get results! Its like barca and spain's tikitaka that dominates posession and winning everything in world football with duminative, small, fast skillful players, most of the time with no strikers but a false no 9...now with all the videos and analysis by opponents, their game are being neutralized by Bayern Munich for Barca and Brazil for Spain and start to lose badly... now Barca and Spain is changing and giving up possesion for more efficient and direct play and are again looking for strikers! Science are the way to go for team sport unlike MS where an oustanding player can dominate for a long time ie LD. But MAS have no scientific approaches and TBH/KKK partnership continues and they dominate the world of losing!!!
I agree with senior888. With improved technology and camera recordings, it is very easy for coaches/players to analyse their opponent's tatics/game in minute detail and come up with ways to neturalise the attack. Come to think of it, tops players (at their peak) such as LD, LCW, WD's WXL/YY, previous MD pairing CY/FHF, LYD/JJS are definitely scrutinized by their opponents. But why is it so difficult to defeat them and why are they able to stay at the top of their own disciplines since it is possible to come up with a gameplan to counter them . IMO, the answer lies not only in their skills, technique & mental strength but also their on-court ability to adapt to the game situation and counter their opponent's "neutralisation tatics". A top player or pair, IMO, is able to overcome almost any type of challenge posed by their opponents and win the matches. Hence, I feel that top players/pairs are not solely define by their world ranking but their ability to withstand the test of time and remain at the top of their game. As the saying goes ""Only time will tell"
^ These days the opposing team doesn't even have to video your games, they just grab their smartphone and go onto YouTube. Very correct on the adaptability and countering measures, any top pair must know how to minimize the opponent strengths and maximize your own, and also be able to play all styles well.
Doing a very casual read through the comments, I feel compelled to add my own observations. First: I saw a lot of people commenting on the smash power difference between KSH and JJS, many remarking that they were surprised that KSH didn't hit harder because he is bigger. Being a short guy myself, I had to point out that bigger isn't always stronger. Plus, I think tall people don't know how to "look" at short people. JJS is shorter, but if you really look at his frame, he is extremely muscular. And finally on this point, technique counts for a lot when it comes to smash power. JJS's timing was perfect and the amount of body rotation and arm pronation is insane. When I think of the perfect smash, I think of JJS. Please don't start going off on me about how FHF has the hardest smash in tournament and how TBH has the world record.... I don't dispute this, but JJS had near perfect form on most of his smashes. FHF and TBH occasionally look a little awkward when they hit. I SAID OCCASIONALLY so don't get all defensive. Technique counts. I am 5'4" and I hit harder than a lot of people who are several inches taller than me in my club. Once my technique gets better (I'm a little slow on my swing speed) I'll be hitting even harder. Don't judge based solely on size. Second When it comes to the question of leadership between JJS and LYD, I personally see it as JJS taking the father figure roll, as someone put it earlier. Someone else said that LYD was the MEGASTAR and implied that because of this, he was obviously the leader. I simply can't agree with this on principle alone. I am a professional musician and I have competed internationally and I also teach quite a few talented students. In addition to this, I have my own teacher. He is an excellent teacher and observer, but he is not necessarily a fantastic player. I am a far superior player, but I work with him so that he can notice the things that I don't and help motivate me toward certain goals. What I'm saying is that you should not assume that the better player/performer (whether it be sports, music or any other field) is the natural leader simply based on their ability. Leadership is a completely different role. Finally, even though I see JJS as the father figure role, I don't feel there was any real leader in this duo. I have seen numerous occasions where JJS was speaking and LYD would be paying attention nodding his head, and I have seen numerous occasions where it was the opposite. I think these two had learned to rely on and respect each others abilities and observations. They truly were a TEAM. It was the TEAM which was sensational, not just a single player. I have read comments everywhere saying that it was LYD who carried the team and that no matter who he played with, it would be a winning combination. As we have seen, It's just not true. As sensational as he is I think it was his partnership with JJS that really made him look his best. Well, I was resistant to Ko at first, mainly because I was such a fan of the LYD JJS TEAM. Not a just the individual players (although truth be told, I was crushed when JJS retired.... my absolute all time favourite player). Watching LYD and KSH in their first few games, I kept thinking that JJS wouldn't make that mistake, or JJS could hit harder. Then the more I watched, the more I thought that this new pair could be very exciting. I'm actually very sad that the coaches decided to break them up. It feels to me like they were still in their awkward teenage years and now they don't have a chance to grow and mature with each other. Oh well. Good day.
^ Good points jay. I personally know of some shorter players who can hit insanely harder than taller players, because they have amazing muscles and core strength. And technique of course. And btw, Yoo is a much better partner with Lee right now. Just head over to the new thread.
He will be using Roger Federer's Wilson racket to cover a bigger net area! I'm pretty sure with this forecast. (Someone here is pissing up some members here by posting many senseless opinions and questions. No intentional insult, but seriously...)
^ unfortunately he's not being intentionally senseless... he's actually being genuinely himself... just ignore those posts, or there's always the ignore list in your settings menu...
Yeah, they will be playing the super series finals!!! :-D let's see if they can beat the big guns in a great occasion this time. But at least this combination guarantees spectacular matches ;-)
