Ever since I started watching badminton I've always been impressed by Lin Dan's "clip" smash. The way he runs round his backhand corner and tap the shuttle down (many of the times despite it being behind him) is just pure awesome. He can do this on the forehand side as well, a jump, then the cross-court "clip", leaving his opponent stranded time and time again. I have yet to see another player display this skill to the degree that Lin Dan does, their taps are like fast drops whereas Lin Dan's are like full-power smashes at times. How does Lin Dan do this? Is it thanks to his unorthodox grip, wrist strength or is it a secret he keeps to himself? What do you think?
From a bio-mechanical standpoint, I think you have to credit LD's amazing core strength and stability with the combination of his technique and forearm strength. I feel like LD's core strength and stability is at a different level compared to the other pros. These clip smashes involves one making a hop diagonally towards the back court and while in mid air, you engage your core for body form stabilization while at the same time generating power through to your swing motion. One of LD's underrated game ability is his ability to vertically leap extremely high compared to alot of other badminton players.
I remember someone interview one of the chinese female players, I forget her name but if my memory serve me right, she won gold in Olympic in doubles. In part of interview or conversation, they talked about Lin dan and she said lin dan is very special player, his wrist smashes are as strong as some of the normal smashes of others. I remember that part vividly because those really show Lin dan is super human...
I've always called the clip smash an "insta-smash" because it happens instantly, without the full arm movement, which gives the opponent less time to react. Also, it can be used a lot more often than full smashes which usually require a high lift to give enough time to set up the smash. I agree that Lin Dan's insta-smash is one of his greatest weapons, when right-handed players try to defend by doing a cross-court clear to his backhand side he just backpedals diagonally and intercepts it down the sideline; no other player can kill clears like that - it ends the rally right then and there, while in a match between lesser players such a defensive shot would cause the rally to last one more minute which annoys me a lot knowing that it can be killed. For the ones where he backpedals I think it's because his extensive match experience and knowledge of player tendencies allows him to predict what shot his opponent will take and start moving a split second after they hit it, allowing him to get behind the shuttle. With lesser players, I notice that they would pause for a lot longer than a split second after their opponent hits the shuttle, during which it is too late to get behind the shuttle effectively and a result any insta-smash would lack power and leave them out of position. For the ones where he doesn't have to move much before doing the insta-smash, I would say it is nothing special, a lot of players can do that and it usually doesn't end the rally right away. However I notice that many times Lin Dan would stretch and move his opponent so well that they end up lifting it right to him, without enough height and leaving a huge gap on their side of the court, which he then easily kills.
Very good points. His amazing anticipation and footwork definitely helps him get there early enough to do this shot whereas others would have to lift or switch over to backhand on the backhand side. I would even add that his accuracy and consistency also contributes to this, as I don't think I've ever seen him miss this shot when he does this shot.
Very good points All.. I would like to add patience is one of his gifted abilities. With patience, he would preserve his energies well, and having to fight 3 tight sets against Dato LCW, he still have enough gas at the end of the match compared to LCW. Additionally, his current style of play also requires it
1)over head smash straight down the line -totally agree on his overhead straight line smashes are so deadly. And also that as for a lefty he has an advantage whenever executing that shot, overhead smashed straight down ,for a right hander it will be on the backhand side. Whereby it will limit the area of return. Whereby even if the opponent can get the shuttle,he would anticipate it and follows up to the net.As expected opponent can only retrieve it by blocking straight to the net. 2) Mental strength - nothing much to be said, he has proven it by winning big titles even when trailing. 3) Extra anticipation - The ability to read opponents next shot, which puts him in such position that he is always in position to play any of his shots. (this is my own perception towards lin dan )
I've actually thought about that his clip smashes were that extra skill in his game that sets him apart from others. I happen to be left-handed, and I think that we can see these wrist "clip smashes" more often in left handers. I know this won't be 100% true, but recently this has been the case, with lin dan, kento momota and myself (not saying that i'm pro). I believe this is due to the fact that left-handers constantly practice their overhead technique because that is the area that gets pressured most often. You also must be very relaxed, or else your wrist cannot move to give the shuttle a good angle. Playing these wrist smashes requires the swift explosive energy like lin dan, not the raw, hard explosive power like lee chong wei. (my theory)
His acceleration and jump off the floor is superb as is the steepness of the smash. There aren't that many who can smash as steeply as he can so consistently.
A Dutch badminton news site has some articles/columns on a regular basis and one time the writer (iirc a younger dutch trainer who got his coaching training in Denmark and is now involved with the Italian national team) did his analysis on Lin Dan and one of the points was indeed his grip. But (iirc) this was more pertaining a certain "pull" stroke which allowes him to take the shuttle behind him whilst already starting to move forward (a shot we see very often, a fast drop shop to the middle taken behind him). In any case, but debatable/questioned by others, he uses a backhandgrip as monogrip (same grip for forehand and backhand) but you need a lot of forearm strength (aka "fingerpower") .
not to be superficial, but the extra tape weight he has on his racquet actually gives him a little more head momentum to give the shuttle more angle. However, you must have massive strength to be able to wield in the short amount of time given to prepare the clip smash
Exactly!!! = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PiGVQG7GO8 It's like..I dont need backhand smash, why bother when I can to this and its far more effective Look how he clips it down with such velocity from the base position. Usually, if somehow his opponent can get it back he just simply lunging forward with full speed and kill it
This is the skill LCW has too, that is what differentiate them from other player. With this skill, LD and LCW are playing on a league of their own. I usually refer to this 'special skill' as sudden outburst. It is actually not mainly do to his grip or whatsoever arm movement, but more of his ability to instantly switch pace from a calm mode to an split second of outburst thus taking enemy by surprise. some ppl believe that you can train this doing sprint intervals, which is, jogging for 30 seconds or 100m then FULL sprint for 30 seconds or 100 m, this will adapt your heart to a sudden change of pace and also enable your body to suddenly perform an outburst. However, such skills also requires other practises in court and to master it like ld and lcw is no easy task
Or if you are taufik then switch to backhand take a leap and give a smash as strong as Lin dans full arm smash . only if he is in mood though . they are the most super natural stuff.
