How the Olympics and World Championships Reveal the Limits of Attack

0:00
Lee Chong Wei
0:02
If he wins will win Malaysia's first
0:04
ever world championship gold medal.
0:07
When people think of prestige in
0:08
badminton,
0:09
they think of the Olympics and world
0:12
championships.
0:14
Win them both
0:16
and your name will be forever etched
0:17
into the history of badminton.
0:21
And on paper,
0:22
players like Lee Chong Wei and Tai Tzu
0:24
Ying should have won.
0:27
World number one for 349 weeks.
0:30
A career record of 532 wins to 190
0:33
losses.
0:36
By attacking,
0:38
you not only create opportunities for
0:39
yourself to score,
0:40
but you also don't give any
0:41
opportunities for your opponent.
0:43
>> opportunities. Championship points.
0:51
Their play styles are exactly what we
0:53
often preach.
0:54
Change pace, take the shuttle early, and
0:57
try to break your opponent's rhythm.
1:00
But why then
1:02
have they consistently come up short at
1:04
major events like the world
1:06
championships and Olympics, losing to
1:08
players they have already beat?
1:16
The world championships and Olympics
1:18
being the prestigious tournaments that
1:20
they are,
1:21
come with a substantial amount of
1:22
pressure.
1:24
Theoretically,
1:26
both athletes should feel this enormous
1:28
amount of pressure,
1:29
but it always seems like the attacking
1:31
style player is the one who ends up
1:32
choking.
1:34
There is a reason for this.
1:36
Attacking players often rely on skills
1:38
like deception and variation to create
1:39
opportunities to attack and score.
1:42
But why is this a problem?
1:45
You can think about it this way.
1:47
When we describe a deceptive shot in
1:49
badminton,
1:50
we can imagine it split into three
1:52
layers.
1:54
The first layer is the actual execution
1:57
of the basic shot, let's say, the cross
1:59
push.
2:00
Layered on top of it is the element of
2:02
taking the shuttle early to sell
2:04
multiple shots,
2:06
and finally, to bring it all together,
2:09
the hold.
2:11
As you can see,
2:13
this is an extremely technical shot,
2:15
but is highly effective when played
2:17
right, as it almost guarantees the
2:19
point.
2:20
Players like Lee Chong Wei and Tai Tzu
2:22
Ying play these deceptive shots at an
2:23
elite level and often win international
2:26
tournaments.
2:29
But when they reach the stage
2:31
that puts them in arguably the highest
2:33
pressure situation for a badminton
2:34
athlete,
2:36
this pressure greatly hinders their
2:38
execution of these shots.
2:44
Our previous video explained the effects
2:46
of immense pressure on an athlete's
2:48
motor control capabilities because the
2:50
preparatory activity for the movement is
2:51
done worse in the brain. And when you
2:53
have that many movements to prepare,
2:55
naturally, the execution of the shot
2:58
will be worse.
2:59
Once again, This is actually where the
3:00
problem lies with attacking play.
3:03
Tai Tzu Ying uses deceptions and shot
3:06
variety to attack her opponent even more
3:08
so than Lee Chong Wei.
3:11
And these are shots that require high
3:13
amounts of skill and technicality to
3:15
execute.
3:17
While she 100% has the capabilities to
3:19
execute these shots, shown by her wins
3:22
in her career record,
3:23
the ability to execute them at pro level
3:25
shot quality with pro level consistency
3:29
in the highest pressure scenario for a
3:30
badminton athlete
3:32
is something that is extremely rare.
3:36
So, if Tai Tzu Ying fails to execute
3:37
these shots with ample shot quality, she
3:40
gets punished. And in a match like the
3:42
Olympic finals, every mistake counts.
3:47
Each mistake can lead you to
3:48
second-guess yourself and create a
3:50
snowball effect where you continuously
3:52
lose confidence in your abilities.
3:54
Therein,
3:56
the attacking player who relies heavily
3:58
on complex shots may often end up
3:59
falling back on her fundamentals.
4:02
And when it came to Tai Tzu Ying versus
4:04
Chen Yu Fei at the Olympics,
4:06
it became a battle of fundamentals
4:07
against fundamentals.
4:10
Likewise,
4:12
if Lee Chong Wei struggles to execute
4:13
his attacking shot combos against his
4:15
opponent, naturally, he will lose
4:17
confidence in his style as well and fall
4:20
back on his fundamentals.
4:24
And you're not going to beat Chen Long
4:25
in a game of fundamentals because he
4:27
spends more time developing and playing
4:30
his basic shots.
4:34
Players who play more of a
4:35
counter-attack style
4:37
often rely on their high-quality basic
4:40
shots
4:42
to control players on the court.
4:44
And of course,
4:45
if this is their play style, they will
4:47
practice this more in training as well.
4:54
Attacking players,
4:56
on the other hand, will practice their
4:57
attacking play style more in training.
5:00
They will often shots
5:02
that involve more deception and variety
5:05
because that's what is often needed to
5:06
break your opponent's rhythm and get
5:08
attacking opportunities.
5:11
If this style fails them in tournaments,
5:13
they have no choice but to rely on their
5:15
basic shots. And from there,
5:18
it then becomes a question of who has
5:20
the better fundamentals.
5:23
When you have to play your opponent's
5:24
game that you're far less practiced on
5:26
compared to your opponent,
5:28
you will lose.
5:30
And this is what we saw at these
5:31
high-pressure tournaments
5:33
like the world championships and
5:35
Olympics.
5:37
Top players like Lee Chong Wei and Tai
5:39
Tzu Ying
5:41
fell against those whom they were
5:43
expected to beat.
5:46
And to support this claim, we took a
5:47
look at the data behind Chen Long and
5:49
Lee Chong Wei's shots. For Lee Chong Wei
5:51
to get the attack, he plays more spin
5:53
nets to try and get a short lift.
5:55
And this stays true to his style.
5:57
In the data,
5:58
you can see the difference in the amount
6:00
of times Lee Chong Wei played the spin
6:01
net compared to Chen Long.
6:04
However, when only comparing the net
6:07
category,
6:08
you can see that both these players
6:10
played around the same amount of nets.
6:12
Something that may be more unexpected is
6:14
Chen Long playing significantly more
6:16
smashes than Lee Chong Wei.
6:19
But when we think about it, it makes
6:21
sense.
6:23
Chen Long in these games played more of
6:25
a box style,
6:27
which involves a ton of blocking further
6:28
and half smashing.
6:30
This style makes it easier for Chen Long
6:31
to control his shots, but what's more
6:33
important is that it makes these
6:36
technically difficult shots even more
6:38
difficult due to the faster shot speed.
6:42
And we can see this when we look at the
6:44
unforced errors Lee Chong Wei made. Most
6:46
of them were on his net play.
6:48
So, the data provides evidence that Lee
6:50
Chong Wei relies more on technically
6:52
difficult,
6:54
higher risk shots to create attacking
6:56
opportunities.
6:58
But the data alone doesn't tell the full
7:00
story.
7:02
What it doesn't capture is how these
7:03
decisions are affected under pressure
7:05
and how that pressure only compounds
7:07
when fatigue and confidence start to
7:09
fluctuate.
7:10
Even though on paper
7:12
attacking play is the best play style,
7:14
it comes with huge drawbacks. With one
7:16
being your physical.
7:18
The nature of the attacking style
7:20
involves more injections of speed,
7:23
explosive movements like jumping and
7:24
smashes
7:25
that rely more on fast-twitch muscle
7:28
fibers
7:29
and place greater demand on the
7:30
anaerobic energy system.
7:32
These are muscle fibers that offer
7:34
high-intensity short bursts of energy,
7:36
but fatigue more quickly.
7:38
In a sport like badminton,
7:40
where rallies often extend past 10
7:42
seconds
7:44
and matches can last for more than an
7:45
hour,
7:47
you can begin to see the consequences of
7:49
more injections of speed or rhythm
7:51
changes.
7:55
In August 2022,
7:57
a study was performed on competitive
7:58
cyclists
8:00
analyzing whether their cadence is
8:02
history-dependent.
8:04
The researchers had the subjects undergo
8:06
three situations.
8:08
The first required them to start at a
8:10
low cadence around 60 revolutions per
8:12
minute.
8:14
The second had them start at a higher
8:15
cadence around 110 revolutions per
8:17
minute.
8:18
The third situation was a control
8:20
situation where the cyclist would bike
8:22
however they liked.
8:25
After cycling at the fixed cadence for a
8:28
set amount of time, the researchers
8:30
would then have the cyclist choose their
8:32
own pace.
8:34
The result was that the cyclist who
8:35
started at a lower cadence
8:38
tended to choose a lower cadence later,
8:40
while those who started higher tended to
8:42
choose a higher cadence.
8:44
This showed that cadence is
8:46
history-dependent, meaning our movement
8:48
rhythm is influenced by what came before
8:50
and that humans prefer maintaining a
8:52
constant rhythm.
8:53
In a sport like badminton,
8:55
this suggests that constantly changing
8:58
rhythm requires the body to repeatedly
9:00
adjust
9:02
and likely increasing physical demand.
9:05
And the cost of this becomes even more
9:06
clear when we look at how those rhythm
9:08
changes actually happen on court.
9:11
Rhythm changes or injections of speed in
9:13
attacking play are most often done from
9:15
the longest distance of a court, the
9:16
front to back. A very common shot
9:19
pattern you will see in attacking play
9:20
is the smash follow-up.
9:23
While every player does this regardless
9:24
of their style,
9:26
attacking players are the ones who
9:27
inject pace most often within a rally in
9:30
a match.
9:31
And this takes its toll on the body.
9:34
If we look at the dimensions of a
9:35
badminton court,
9:37
they are often traveling along the
9:38
entire length of the badminton court.
9:41
And usually,
9:42
they aren't moving forward and back in a
9:44
straight line.
9:45
There is usually a degree of angle at
9:47
which they must move along the diagonal
9:49
of the court, which is longer than just
9:52
moving from front to back.
9:55
If defensive players can consistently
9:57
force their opponent to speed up the
9:59
rhythm of their game across the largest
10:01
stretch of the court,
10:03
they are essentially maximizing energy
10:05
loss and ultimately reducing the
10:08
efficiency of their opponent's play.
10:12
To get true insights into these games,
10:14
we need to look at if Lee Chong Wei was
10:15
also using his physical ability to get
10:17
attacking opportunities to score points.
10:20
And what better way to see this than
10:21
heat maps?
10:23
In these heat maps generated by the app,
10:25
you can see that Lee Chong Wei moved
10:27
around the court significantly more than
10:29
Chen Long.
10:30
Much of the time you can see Lee Chong
10:33
Wei covering the entire court,
10:35
where his movement is often traced to be
10:37
over the first baseline
10:39
and over the service line as well.
10:42
Chen Long on the other hand
10:43
has most of his movements in the center
10:45
of the court.
10:48
As these little extra distances that Lee
10:50
Chong Wei moves piles up, so does his
10:53
fatigue. And this difference could very
10:56
well be the deciding factor of a match.
10:59
If you guys want to see insights like
11:00
this in your own games, we actually made
11:02
this heat map feature public on the GGAB
11:05
app.
11:06
All you have to do is go to
11:07
app.getgoodatbadminton.com,
11:10
head into the dashboard,
11:12
and open movement heat maps.
11:13
From there, you upload your match,
11:16
choose what part of the video you want
11:18
to track, and set up the court and
11:20
players.
11:21
After that, just let it run
11:23
and in a couple minutes you'll get a
11:25
visual of where you and your opponent
11:27
are actually moving on court.
11:29
Now, we'll be honest. It's still in
11:31
beta,
11:32
so there are going to be bugs and things
11:34
we're improving. But because of that,
11:36
we're letting early users in at $7 a
11:39
month.
11:40
And you keep that price forever, even
11:42
when the full version comes out later at
11:44
a higher price.
11:46
We're also working on automatic rally
11:47
and shot tracking right now, which is
11:49
going to make this whole thing way more
11:51
powerful.
11:52
So yeah, if you want to start breaking
11:54
down your own game like this
11:57
and shape how this app is developed,
11:59
click the link in the description below.
12:02
And what's often not thought about and
12:04
arguably worse is what comes as a result
12:06
of this loss in physical.
12:09
If you've ever played a long, tiring
12:11
rally and tried to play the next rally,
12:14
you would feel this lapse in cognitive
12:16
performance and sharpness in the mind,
12:19
which would likely lead to a quick
12:20
error.
12:23
Scientists describe this as
12:25
mental fatigue.
12:27
Mental fatigue has many negative
12:29
effects, especially in a sport like
12:31
badminton,
12:33
where decisions need to be instantaneous
12:35
and reactions need to be sharp.
12:37
As you get more tired and mental fatigue
12:39
starts to creep higher and higher, the
12:41
perceived effort to do things becomes
12:43
even harder.
12:45
And this study depicts exactly this.
12:47
They described mental fatigue as
12:50
influencing performance through two
12:52
systems.
12:53
The first was the perceived effort. As
12:56
mental fatigue rises,
12:58
more negative thoughts show up like
13:00
"I can't do it. I'm too tired."
13:02
The second,
13:04
the reward value system.
13:06
A rise in mental fatigue puts athletes
13:08
more in the mindset of "I don't want to
13:11
do it.
13:12
It's not worth it."
13:13
Now, imagine thinking these negative
13:15
thoughts in high-pressure situations,
13:17
like the World Championships and the
13:18
Olympics finals.
13:20
These negative thoughts are only
13:21
amplified if they're not able to score
13:24
with their attacking
13:26
Athletes who rely too much on their
13:27
attack
13:28
are like a ticking time bomb.
13:30
The more they attack, the faster they
13:32
plummet towards mental fatigue.
13:35
But what about 2008 Lin Dan?
13:38
He also attacked a lot
13:40
and used technical shots like
13:41
deceptions.
13:44
2008 Lin Dan was widely regarded as an
13:46
attacking player.
13:48
But he wasn't as aggressive and
13:49
technical as people make him out to be.
13:51
He controlled his opponents and looked
13:52
for better opportunities to attack
13:55
by mainly using basic shots like clears
13:57
and good pushes.
13:58
From there, he would use his
14:00
explosiveness to punish any mistakes
14:02
that his opponents would make.
14:04
Even though his game had characteristics
14:06
of an attacking player,
14:07
the strategy was a little different.
14:10
Rather than using your physical strength
14:12
to try and create opportunities
14:14
yourself,
14:15
be patient and focus on punishing your
14:18
opponent's mistakes.
14:21
And this was the key difference. The
14:23
mental edge that this shift in mentality
14:25
provided Lin Dan was what separated him
14:27
from the other players. Because
14:29
ultimately, what enables a player to win
14:31
these high-stakes tournaments boils down
14:33
to the mental game.
14:35
While Lin Dan probably had the best
14:37
mental toughness out of everyone,
14:39
he wasn't the exception. In fact, he was
14:42
probably a blueprint for many players.
14:44
Understanding this, you can begin to see
14:46
patterns in the players that dominated
14:47
after him. Players like Axelsen and Lin
14:49
Chunyi, who were aggressive players,
14:52
slowly began to adapt their style to
14:54
control first
14:55
and punish the opponent's mistakes.
14:59
Other players who dominated and are
15:01
dominating with this style are Kento
15:03
Momota, An Se Young, and Chen Long.
15:08
And you may notice that most of these
15:10
players
15:11
can play the fast attacking style.
15:14
And they also all have good attack in
15:16
the first place, but have adjusted their
15:18
styles.
15:20
Because the defensive control style
15:22
often involves using more basic shots
15:24
and patience to punish their opponent's
15:25
mistakes,
15:27
the game plan becomes simplified.
15:29
There is less of a focus on trying to
15:31
create opportunities for yourself with
15:33
risky technical shots
15:35
and rather focus on punishing your
15:36
opponent's mistakes.
15:38
This makes a huge difference as there
15:40
are fewer crucial decisions to be made.
15:43
Under good mental clarity,
15:45
players like Lee Chong Wei and Tai Tzu
15:47
Ying would dominate the circuit and win
15:50
against these defensive style players as
15:52
their attacking style and shots made it
15:54
much more difficult for their opponents
15:56
to play.
16:04
As the pressure and stakes rise, the
16:06
brain's ability to prepare and execute
16:08
precise motor movement declines.
16:10
And because attacking players rely on
16:12
creating opportunities through
16:13
technically demanding shots,
16:15
they are placed at a greater
16:16
disadvantage than players who depend on
16:18
simpler shots and patience.
16:21
This isn't to say that Lee Chong Wei or
16:23
Tai Tzu Ying had bad defense or basic
16:26
shots either, or that Chen Long was a
16:28
purely defensive player. In fact, Lee
16:30
Chong Wei's dives were iconic and Chen
16:32
Long had some of the most smash winners
16:35
of anyone on the circuit.
16:37
But ultimately, these basic shots will
16:39
be more practiced by a player whose
16:40
style revolves around them.
16:42
And this is why defense makes champions.

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How the Olympics and World Championships Reveal the Limits of Attack

getgoodatbadminton.com