You really think all this muscle was just hidden underneath a cute layer of baby fat? Not impossible, but I somehow doubt it. She has simply stepped up her game and training regime from "my talent is enough" to "I'm working my ass off every day".
Not doubting the last statement in the least, but I really think she didnt put on muscle, or at least not much. It's simply visible without the fat covering it. If anything, she might have lost some mass, at least overall. She's always had big calves, for example, they are simply much more defined now. Unless you're a beginner, putting on muscle and losing fat at the same time is almost impossible, at least in noticeable amounts. 10kg fat loss is way too much to build a significant amount of muscle at the same time.
Their training regime does not need to be changed that much in order to win shapes, we're talking about national players after all, but shifting alimentation regime really allows the fat to be drained out without risk of regaining it. Once the fat is gone and only after that there is the possibility to finally display the muscles. On the other hand just having less weight to carry around on court is already enough to extend court coverage (but not to prevent injuries!).
Happy 23rd birthday today! May AUS open bring better luck! And stay healthy! Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
Didn't seem to work well in last 2 tournaments for her. During SF AUS Open, she made 1 high serve error in each of two straight games she lost. Plus simple receive errors, and other short rallies. You can do/sustain that to stay in top positions. For a while, I thought she and her coaching team worked out her inconsistency. Looks like it's creeping back into her games. Perhaps she needs some rest; don't play so many tournaments... Or perhaps she starts thinking about something she shouldn't be thinking, and thus loses focus.
Are you serious there? Two lost matches (in what, 27 wins and 6 titles in a row) and your start questioning her development, performance and in general? You have to be kidding me. According to her FB posts, she was struggling with a cold with light fever, a sore throat and a running nose since beginning of the week. And look at that amazing match against PVS yesterday. That third game was mindblowing. And besides, it's close to impossible for a top level athlete to keep his/her best form throughout a full season (without any sort of chemical help...). It's perfectly normal to go through less prefect times during such a long season. And if this week's performance is one of her not-so-prefect ones, I'd say she can relax and keep looking forward to the upcoming months and years.
@s_mair. Yes, I'm serious, very serious. I'm Tai's fan. Her skill and speed are unmatched. I've been picking and choosing to watch her Singles, along with other skillful/tricky player's games, despite her losses due to her inconsistency. It's true a cold with fever would certainly have affected her physical and play. What about the match before that? Did she also have a cold? I don't expect service errors and service receive errors to occur at that frequency in high caliber players' games, as there's little pressure, yet at the start of a rally. And when she's not feeling/playing well, I think she should be able to control her margin for errors. These make me wonder if she's mental (e.g. focus) issue, in addition to any physical issues during that match, and the match she lost in previous tournament. That's one way how you could make those kinds of mistakes. I understand there is performance peaking consideration; a player can't stay peak for an extended period. What's the reason she needs to play so many matches recently [it seems she's in every tourney recently]? To stay in #1 spot? She's currently 20,000 points SJH. Would skipping some tournaments, like AU Open, affect her ranking, and subsequent seeding that much? Here's another factor that could affect an athlete's performance - mental fatigue. She may not be as "hungry" to play/win when she gets tired playing all these matches. As her fan, I would rather see less of her, but when she plays, she plays with energy, skill, speed, control and smarts. Even though she still may not win (though I suspect she will if she could achieve all those qualities), that's fine. I watched Boonsak Ponsana's games a lot in the past, though he didn't win that many finals; same with Peter Gade. Clearly winning is not everything to me.
Yeah, she's probably mentally and physically tired. Haven't seen her with so much tape before... Against Sindhu, she was lucky to save some match points in G2. And then again lucky she was more fit than her to outlast G3. But against peak Yamaguchi, she could not afford so many service errors and unforced errors hitting out or into net as she did. She was losing her confidence and ended up lifting frequently only to be punished by Yamaguchi. Hopefully she'll rest up for a few months after this. What's the next SS after this? KOR and JPN open in September? Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
top 10 players are required to enter all ss/p tournaments. it would cost her $5,000 to withdraw. $5,000 is a lot of $ for a badminton player.
1. Are we talking about an issue with the BWF system? 2. On WBF website: http://bwfbadminton.com/rankings/2/bwf-world-rankings/7/women-s-singles/2017/25/?rows=25&page_no=1, it says Tai's "Prize Money" as of today (in past 12 months?) it's $640K US. Was this much paid out to Tai? If $5K is a lot, $640K certainly is huge. 3. If those money didn't go to Tai, then clearly someone pocketed the money. Can the same someone pay out the $5K for Tai's sake?
It's compulsory attendance or mandatory for every top 10 (or is it top 8) players/pairs to participate in all the 5 Premier SS and 5 of the remaining 7 normal SS tournaments, allowed to skip two SS only.
It's normal, I'd say even natural, for any top player to pull back or ease off a little or lose some form after an excellent run of successes. They are just humans, not robots. Even a high-tech, state-of-the-art machine requires regular maintenance and an overhaul after prolonged extensive use. As it is, Tai Tzu Ying is doing excellent already. A pity she's not going to the Worlds.
Looks like she has withdrawn from the Chinese Taipei GPG. Looking at how tired and worn out she appeared to be during the last match against AY, this is definitely the right move. With skipping the Wold Champs (...sigh...) she is now facing a decent recovery period before the next SS event, only "disturbed" by the University Games in August.
I can't wait to see how much more killer abs she'll put on as penance for her recent string of losses. Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
Another ab-date: And since the abs are sooner or later getting boring, let's move on to the shoulders and the back... holy sht...: *Pics taken from Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/tai__tzu_ying1994/)