From what he said in the interview, it sounds as if he was playing alone without any coach to guide him Would anyone mind resume what he has said?
Has anyone noticed that Prannoy clebrated his points loudly while Kento was quiet and did not roar away his opponent? I think that this scared Kento and made him nervous. Since then, the match went downhill. Hell, it feels good to scream sometimes as obnoxious as it seems. Im feeling misschivious right now but out of curiosities sake, would he get suspended if he screamed Banzai at his opponent after winning a crucial point? As part of the psychological warfare of course
Doesn't it feel like we have been hearing the same reasons for his losses for a while now? He always felt good during practice but then became 'small' on court because he either wanted each point so much or feared making mistakes. This much is pretty obvious to any observer, especially when opponents start getting through with their smashes, which, these day, only get easier with each smash. It is painful to see the same scenario keeps repeating over and over again each tournament because I know he can play better than this. This is a psychological problem that no amount of physical conditioning or practice is going to solve so he needs to confront his fear and uncertainties head on rather than keep running away from it through physical trainings. Get the mind together first, and then worry about the physical aspects. And he should really consider getting a sports psychologist on board along with the new physiotherapist to help him get out of this vicious cycle. The media should leave him alone for a while. He looks fragile on court and he sounds just as fragile in the interview. All this spotlighting and broadcasting of their expectations can't possibly be helping the situation.
I couldn't find any reference to the driver having had alcohol. Delayed diagnosis of the orbit fracture definitely won't have helped. I wonder if there is scar tissue affecting speed of eyesight. It's sad to see Kento struggling so much. I don't think he can come back. He might have a good day once a while (and that's rare now) but that marvellous consistency we admired so much is gone forever.
I've noticed one thing about momota. He used to do alot of sideways hops when moving to his forehand corner with the last one being a sideways jump but now he does more of a sideways shuffle instead. From around the head too, he would hop for the last step, but now he doesn't. This is going to affect the the the steepness of his drops and smahes and he can't play as flat a lift which slows the overall pace of his game. Imo I think there's no lasting injury with momota from the accident. It's all mental with him. I thought he was on the way back to his old form at the end of last year from his performance in the denmark open final and the subsequent tournaments after. But then he went and pushed himself over the limit in that game against tsuneyama and went back to zero
PJB, after the match, commented that MS has changed to a 'power and speed' game and that Momota lacks both of these assets. But, I agree with you; I don't think that is the sum of the problem. One cannot ignore the psychological rut that Momota can't seem to escape. (As for his eyesight: Momota, worried about his vision, underwent an eye examination earlier this year, but no problem surfaced). Personally, I like the proposal made by @Head Heavy for a tête-à-tête with Tago (who was holding back tears in that uploaded video). Japan needs to consider changing its training regimen, and probably coaching staff, as far as MS is concerned. PJB, also, has been at the helm far too long. He showed himself to be powerless during the pandemic when negotiating with the corporate teams to mobilise the players, ... and his only answer to the current impasse is to ramp up physicality, which no doubt contributed to the heart-breaking injuries sustained by both Okuhara and Fukushima. These players will have wanted to avenge their results at Tokyo 2020. It really is painful to watch.
I agree, he can play against Viktor, Lee Zii Jia, Loh Kean Yew and Shi Yuqi, won and lost but the result is quite good, 8/10 his best form. But after back injury, he become zero. Perhaps, he should not push himself to his limit.
An eye examination ’cannot’ determine any vision problems. Eyesight yes - as it is mechanical and can be measured by an ophtalmalogist. Vision is very much mental and is thus a product of expectation faith and belief. Momota said once that badminton is like a video game for him. Based on the reaserch that I have read, Covid has an affect on the glutaminergic and cholinergic systems which are both responsible for excitement and arousal. Covid strikes a lefty more than a right handed person as the psychology is different. It will take more time to recover for him but it will come. I think that we can all agree that it has already been better for Momota. He looked very good on court prior to the match. I am also a left handed player. In December I caught Omnicron and got absolutely devestated the first few weeks that I had it. I felt like an castrated lion and was shaking when I played badminton the first few times. It was truely horrible as the mental ”video game” feeling of playing as a left hander went away completely for me. It took a lot of running, sprinting and supplements for me to recover 30% of what I had at my peak. My memory and motivation have not fully recovered yet for example. University has been hell on earth this semester with many re exams. Luckily things slowly got better. Summer has been very good to me and I thank the lord for the magic in my life as I can now clearly see how dependant I am on the most invisible things that I have taken for granted over the years. If you ever get covid and want to recover faster then avoid alcohol like the pest. You need every single working neurotransmitter to rebalance your neurochemistry as fast as you can
I am sorry to hear about your experience with Covid. Momota, apparently, was asymptomatic; I don't believe that he was much affected. I am not so sure about the back problem that he sustained last year, though. He hasn't been the same since. And, he certainly isn't attacking as much as he should be. 'Vision' has a variety of definitions; I was referring to eyesight. However, in Momota's case, a mental facet may exist, where he believes that his mediocre performances of late could be attributable to a lingering problem with his eye. However, this is in the realm of speculation. Currently, he is exercising his eyes on a daily basis by having them follow his finger in various directions.
Even before the accident I once commented that his quick eye movements accompanied by his quick tactical awareness was one of his secret weapon. It is good to know that he is working on improving his eye movements. The eyes can slow everything down by fractions of valuable seconds. On another matter, I hope he will not put limitations to his playing style. Badminton, like all sports are not stagnant but keep improving. VA is a smart player and although he is an attacking player, I'm sure he admired Momota's defence and went to work on his own defence so that he can be on par with Momota's defence. Momota might perhaps consider admitting VA's attacking styles a bit. When Momota had idols like LCW and LD, he worked hard to be on par with LCW and LD and eventually able to win them. I know it sounds crazy but maybe he might want to consider including VA also as another idol? Someone whom he had beaten H2H many times. VA smashes are more deadly than before. He had worked hard to make them more effective and less mistakes. Also on his smashes, he learned to execute them with less energy so that he can keep his stamina. Let the racket do most of the job. Yes, Momota can work on his defence and special attacks (attacks without smashes), but the ability to smash from back court like what many players are doing now is a powerful weapon. They are very alert about when the opponent is going to lift the shuttle. It takes away the back court as a safe place to lift the shuttle to. It makes the opponent do a bit more thinking. Anyway, hope Momota's will continue to exercise his eyes movement and restore it back to what it was before. Sent from my XQ-BT52 using Tapatalk
The Astrox 99 pro is great at controlling but some things cannot be controlled and have to be dealt with accordingly. VA uses the 100zz for example, not the 99. Yonex have improved the racket in the wrong direction. The 99 is too head heavy to be used optimally. Players have learnt to react to his controlling playstyle and scream no more.
This is somewhat a perplexing observation. I don’t think the MS’s level has increased since his peak ‘19 days. It is just that he dropped off from his peak ‘power and speed’. Given his current condition, I do understand his struggles against younger generation of players with more power and speed. However I couldn’t quite comprehend why he struggled against with someone like HSP who has similar pace and power as him. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yes you're right, Victor is preparing really very well, I watched videos of his training, it's impressive! The H2H was 11-0 before the accident
Yes I think you are right about his Astrox 99. This morning I watched this Thomas cup 2018 match against Chen Long Momota's smashes were definitely sharper with his 88D. It seems to me that Momota's game was really faster, more aggressive but I'm not an expert
Cool that you have managed to qoute the video!! It was exactly what I was thinking as well. His previous games were full of life. There were a lot of smashes and an overall aggressive Mike-Tyson kind of vibe with that little grin Since Momota started using the 99, he has not been playing to his own anatomical potential. There is a consensus that all of the 200$+ racket are good and that it takes a while to get used to them but I dissagree with this. I think that there is a magic sweetspot where the rackets are heavy enough to have the power and light enough to be agile. That sweetspot is the Astrox 88D and the 100ZZ. These are the only rackets that consistently win titles.
I personally vouch for A88D Best racket I ever used and I bought a second I don't agree that badminton has become speed and power. Not much has changed - it is Momota who doesn't have it anymore. He is slower and less explosive - he cannot do his semi dives anymore - he does one full dive and it is over. His shot quality is non existent. Shot quality is one of the most important aspect in badminton. I know two great players in my club. One is super fit and quick and powerful and the other one is just powerful. However, the second one has the best shot quality and although he is not as young and quick and has that much stamina - he is able to keep up with the first one as his shot quality is making the other one run a lot more. Momota used to have the best shot quality ever and never made any mistakes. His racket skills were second to none. This is non existent now.
