wow, looks like she is on her way to come back to the base, and it's amazing that she could make it (Nice space-walking )
Don't let your eyes off the 'Bird'! She seems late in taking it. At what height do you think she took it ultimately?
I think she's not taking it early on purpose. Why not? Because the physical effort of running from the back would be very great. Even if she took the shuttle as early as physically possible, the advantage gained would be small (i.e. the shuttle would have fallen quite a lot below the net level). Therefore, to conserve energy and stamina, she is letting the shuttle drop and she will most likely play a very safe lift to the back court. (I could be wrong though). She would then have time to walk back to base in a non-hurried fashion. Another option would depend on the position of the opponent. It is conceivable that if the opponent was still in the rear court, Xie would play a forecourt return. IMHO, the 'conservation of energy' option is the one I would favour. It can make a player help save a lot of energy during the whole game.
Don't forget she's 5'11". Maybe that's why Indonesian girls have to be at least 5'9" to play the country. I really doubt if anyone less than 5'9" can retrieve that shot.
A height difference of two inches would not make so much difference. Notice the 'air' movement? If the player can cover the court like that, they have the ability to reach the shot. Given the right balance, the top players can cover from rear court to front court in three steps, sometimes only two.
Quite right about the ability of top players to be able to cover the court in unbelievable time and movement! At the recent TC qualifiers finals between China and Malaysia, I was astonished to watch Roslin Hashim, a relatively short player by international standards, returning a smash to the right mid-court by Chen Hong and diving to his left for another subsequent smash and yet being able to recover on his feet in time to resume a normal rally with Chen Hong which Roslin won ultimately. Chen Hong himself demonstrated some incredible saves from all four corners of the court and this is only possible with top class players of his calibre who can move about effortlessly and in perfect balance from base to net or anywhere else within the court.
WHAT?! She is 5'11?! (That's taller than me!) wow.....also, girls have lighter weight (than guys), so that should be another plus on defense. About the footwork, yeah, I have seen some people with good footwork and they can reach shots from corners to corners in no time. I wish I can do that though (But I can't, because my breath is really short. If a rally is more than 10 strokes, I will be starting to cough and not feeling good. Result would be losing the rally or points.)
I don't think height is necessary for womens singles, I walked past susanti once and she was very small, but with fantastic coverage, similarly Gong Zhicao
Susi had great footwork and she is fast.. btw she did alot of spreads as well to reach for shuttles compare to other taller players. Short legs..
Check out the postion of the racquet head as well. Many amateurs would not prepare for a lift of the shuttle in that manner. They would plant the leading leg first, then draw back the racquet head, then play the lift.
Good observation Cheung. I agree with your statement as well. That is one of the reason why she can retrive the shuttle. with her hand and body movement.. it can propel her foward to get the shuttel. See her float.. she is already floating to get it.
By George, I learn something new again today (refer to Cheung's observation). IBF should make saints out of everyday badminton fan...
