What is so different about Lin Dan?

If I knew that, I'd be a billionaire haha. There really is no one reason why he is so good, the reasons may be a combination of everything you mentioned plus about 100 more! All we know is that he is really one of a kind, a true talent and a legend of our sport. You can try to question why he is so good, but ultimately, all we can really do is watch him perform when he is on top of his game and just appreciate it. I am more a LCW fan to be honest, but I still have to admire Lin Dan and all that he has accomplished. Even the most hardcore LCW fans still have to accept that LD is a quality player and we may not see another like him in a while.

 

Coz he is a gift of god to the badminton world.One destined to rule the world.

 

From watching numerous LD vs. LCW matches, I think the most contributing factors are that he plays better under a lot of psychological pressure (a) and tactically better (b). Also, you can't deny that China has a lot of good sparring partners compared with other countries, say Malaysia for example (c).

Other aspects I would like to add:

- great precision on every shot
- excellent deception
- good anticipation

 

Fox, good answer!

 

Because he's a perfectionist, he practices every shot until he's satisfied it's perfect.

 

I was just about to make a thread about this!

There are a number of reasons but I'm going to try and sum it up. I have been watching him play in depth for a while now.

1) Very strong muscle memory
Playing since he was a child, his muscles were able to develop a feel for the shuttle and build on it for many many years. They say you need to have ~1,000hrs doing something to become a master at it and it's pretty safe to say that he has more than that at most if not all shots

2) Confidence
HUGE. Must be the biggest factor in his game. This is usually the deciding factor between who wins and who loses when you get that high up in the ranks. When you get up there, most people have played roughly as long as you and have the same skill as you, but when they go to tournaments they question themselves/get nervous/instill doubt and it causes them to second guess themselves or to play safe or whatnot that severely impacts their shot quality. A good example of this is netshots. If you are calm and confident you can hit a good quality cross court net, but if you are nervous/stiff, your cross court net will me slow and loopy and might even go out. Lin Dan hardly ever second guesses himself. He has no doubt in his ability to play whatever he wants whenever he wants and it shows in his aura as well as the way he plays

3) He's a genius
I've studied him for a long time and while looking at his footwork you can clearly see he moves considerably slower than his opponent. Not to say he is slow; he can change direction easily (which is extremely tough to do btw), but if you look at his feet you can see his opponent does all the running. This is because he sees the shuttle very early. Before it is hit he has a good idea of where the shuttle will land and so he is able to move early, which lessens the amount of effort he needs and almost always puts him in a good position. Especially when he changes pace and moves in to attack, you can see in some instances he gets into position before the shuttle is hit. Most players react instead of anticipate for a number of obvious reasons, one being its tough to judge the shuttle so early and another is that its tolling on your legs to change direction if you are wrong. However, Lin Dan does this with ease. It's something else.

3) Lin Dan's arm = tree
His arm is pretty ridiculous. Fast swing speeds allows him to snap the shuttle down with ease, even when it's behind him.

4) Shot quality
His shots are usually on point and are very fast and powerful because of his whippy swing. Many players don't wind up with him and instead force the shuttle with muscular force. This uses up a lot more effort and causes the shuttle to be slower than if they were to whip it. The problem is that winding up takes time and the only reason he is able to do this is because of all the time he has from anticipating the shot earlier like I talked about before. Chen Long and LCW (before, now he kind of relaxed his swing) are examples of people who use more muscular force than whip in their swing and you can see the difference in the speed and quality of their shots in comparison to Lin Dan

 

Not sure if I agree with that. Maybe now that he is getting on a bit, he relies on his incredible reading of the game to make his movement seem just as quick as anyone else's. However back in his day, his speed on court was still pretty fast, not LCW fast but still pretty fast. He then added his speed to his reading of the game to make him almost invincible.

However, that's the only real point that I didn't agree with, other than that I really enjoyed your in-depth analysis of LD. In particular, muscle memory. I feel this is not very well understood by too many people, but you explained it well.

 

Yes, back in his day he moved just as fast if not faster than everyone else, and coupled with his anticipation it made him a smash machine. I've never seen a number 1 tear through a number 2 in any sport before like I saw in the Beijing Olympics (not even the MayPac fight! ha...ha...ha...)

I think the fact that he is past his prime and still able to win almost at will is spectacular though; more spectacular than the fact that he used to rip through people in his prime. It really shows his technical prowess and skill as a player and lends to the idea that a more skilled player can beat a less skilled but more fit player. I am a big supporter of this notion.

 

Thanks for your kind words by the way [MENTION=115329]racketman123[/MENTION]

 

Your welcome, and as a LCW fan (although I greatly respect LD) the 2008 olympics were hard for me to watch, but whilst painful, it was also just amazing to watch a true masterclass take place. LD totally dominated LCW from start to finish which you really can't say for any other match against LCW. LD really is a true legend of the game and I don't think we'll see another LD for some time unfortunately.

 

I don't understand why few people think LCW is more skilled player of the two.During his heydays,lin dan could read the game in slow motion without even mentioning his other qualities.

 

I would imagine the 2012 London Olympics were way harder to watch for a LCW fan. LD wasn't even in his prime when he beat him . If he didn't choke he would have won IMO.

LD is pure talent molded into perfection by hard work and determination. He's a once in a blue moon type of thing.

 

Fans will be fans. He's definitely not more skilled but undeniably more fit. I think he lacks a lot of mental grit and doesn't seem to use his head much. Especially in the older Lee Chong Wall days where he would just belly flop everywhere to win points. He's a very reactive player.

Of course it goes without saying that he is still very skilled

 

You're right, I think the 2008's were a bit of a disappointment rather than just agony, whilst the 2012's were so agonising. LCW got so close but in the end LD just held his nerve a little longer.

 

If you're talking particularly about me, then I would like to just say, as Caffrey said, fans will be fans. I like LCW's character and personality and I admire his humble nature and his determination. I don't think for a minute that LCW is more naturally skilled than LD, but I just like LCW because I like LCW. That's all.

 

I cheered for LCW(even as a LD fan) for last year's World Championship because he deserved atleast one major title but he still felt little short and i didn't expect him to win Asian games,neither did he.I am assured of his qualities and his contribution to the game but not sure what future generation would think about his status.

 

I appreciate your honest views.Even i admire LCW a lot.

 

I agree. I'm not quite sure what you mean by major title because he has a few... but yeah I know what you're trying to say. Then again I think Taufik deserved an All England and Peter Gade deserved a gold @ Olympics but they both never got it

 

Thanks, I think LCW is a very likeable guy and we all feel a little sorry for him because he has been a great supporter of the Superseries circuit for so long now and has always put 110% in to every game, but he always falls short at the final hurdle at the big events and that is ultimately the defining factor when comparing LD and LCW.