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Why do badminton players perform worse under pressure? In this video, we break down the psychology behind performance drops in competition using real match data from An Se Young, Tai Tzu Ying, and Shi Yu Qi. By analyzing rally patterns, shot selection, and error rates, we reveal how pressure affects decision-making, attention, and emotional control. We also explore concepts like the Yerkes-Dodson Law, challenge vs threat states, and how coaching impacts performance in high-stress situations. Whether you’re a player or coach, this video shows how to stay composed, avoid overthinking, and perform at your best when it matters most.
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0:00
There's a gap between how athletes play
0:02
in training and how they perform in
0:04
competition.
0:05
In training, everything flows.
0:09
You play great,
0:10
shot quality is good,
0:12
footwork is good,
0:13
timing is good, but in tournaments,
0:17
everything suddenly looks worse.
0:20
You come on court, hands stiff and legs
0:22
tense.
0:24
You can't control the shuttle,
0:26
and you lose to someone everyone thought
0:27
you should have beat.
0:29
Coaches see this gap,
0:31
and naturally they try to close it.
0:34
They add more pressure to give a more
0:35
tournament-like feeling.
0:37
They give more feedback,
0:39
and they push their athletes harder.
0:41
But what if that approach is actually
0:43
the problem?
0:45
So in this video,
0:46
we decided to take a deep dive into the
0:48
mental aspect of players, and what we
0:51
found completely redefined what an
0:53
actually good badminton coach looks
0:55
like.
0:56
To understand what makes a badminton
0:57
coach good in competition,
0:59
we first need to understand what
1:01
actually makes athletes play worse under
1:03
pressure from a psychological aspect.
1:06
The performance of an athlete can be
1:08
described with an equation that looks
1:09
like this.
1:11
The variables that can change during a
1:14
match are the athletes' attention
1:16
quality and their emotional regulation.
1:19
These variables are directly affected by
1:21
pressure,
1:22
and are scored out of one.
1:24
Their ceiling skill is the absolute best
1:26
that they can play,
1:28
and is scored out of 100.
1:30
Performance is the output of your skill
1:33
multiplied by these two variables in a
1:34
competition.
1:36
And so your performance at a tournament
1:38
will heavily depend on your ability to
1:40
manage your attention quality and
1:42
emotional regulation.
1:44
For most people, tournaments and
1:45
high-pressure situations lower their
1:47
attention quality and emotional
1:49
regulation capabilities.
1:51
And this is grounded in science.
1:53
High-pressure situations affect our
1:54
bodies down to a biological level.
1:57
In a study conducted on rhesus monkeys,
2:00
a close ancestor with humans, the
2:02
researchers performed a series of tests
2:03
on them.
2:05
They gave them a challenging task and
2:07
increased the amount of pressure on the
2:08
monkeys
2:10
by varying the amount of reward that the
2:12
monkeys would receive if they completed
2:14
the task.
2:15
What happened after was interesting and
2:16
is similar to what happens to humans
2:18
under high pressure situations.
2:21
As the reward increased, so did the
2:22
pressure.
2:24
And at extreme levels of pressure where
2:25
the reward was immense, the monkey's
2:27
motor cortex,
2:29
the part of the brain that controls
2:31
voluntary movements,
2:32
would drive neural activity too far
2:34
along the reward axis
2:37
and out of the optimal zone. Meaning
2:39
that the brain literally prepares the
2:41
movement worse
2:43
before it even happens.
2:45
As with monkeys,
2:47
humans will likely experience similar
2:48
symptoms. A surprise to see Many
2:51
athletes will experience tight muscles
2:53
and slower reactions.
2:55
Or a foggy mental coupled with
2:57
hesitation and confusion.
2:59
But in elite athletes,
3:01
one of the worst things to happen in
3:02
higher pressure situations
3:04
is overthinking.
3:06
These are players who have trained their
3:08
skills to an autonomous level
3:10
where they can perform these techniques
3:12
without even thinking about them.
3:14
However, overthinking leads to less
3:16
fluidity and brings their technique back
3:19
to the basics.
3:23
A famous example of this happened in the
3:25
1993 Wimbledon final when the late Jana
3:27
Novotná led 4 to 1 in the final set and
3:30
40 to 30 in the game.
3:32
Meaning Novotná was one point away from
3:34
winning the game and five points away
3:36
from winning the entire match.
3:39
However, something strange would happen.
3:42
Novotná would miss her tennis serves.
3:45
And visibly to the audience, her
3:46
technique would slowly revert to that of
3:48
a beginner.
3:50
What should have been an autonomous for
3:52
the athlete
3:54
became one of conscious control
3:56
under the effects of immense pressure.
4:00
Eventually, Novotna's opponent
4:02
Graf
4:03
would win the entire match
4:05
ending the last set 6 to 4.
4:08
In badminton terms,
4:10
this is like being up in the third set
4:12
15 to 3
4:14
and then losing the entire match.
4:18
One might wonder
4:19
where was Novotna's coach in this match?
4:21
Surely, they could have done something
4:22
to help.
4:24
The reality is
4:26
they couldn't because coaching wasn't
4:27
allowed.
4:29
She had to deal with that pressure
4:30
completely on her own.
4:32
But today
4:33
in tennis and badminton, it's different.
4:37
Coaches do step in.
4:38
They do try to help.
4:40
And ironically, what many coaches do in
4:42
those moments only adds fuel to the
4:44
fire.
4:46
Many coaches are extremely good at
4:47
coaching from a strategy and technical
4:49
aspect.
4:50
But honestly, a lot of them lack in the
4:53
emotional quotient aspect or EQ for
4:55
short.
4:56
They make common mistakes that affect
4:58
many athletes in negative ways.
5:00
For example, one common mistake is
5:03
saying too much during the interval.
5:05
Even if everything they say is
5:06
completely correct from a strategy
5:07
aspect, saying too much will lead to
5:09
overthinking.
5:11
In a fast-paced sport like badminton,
5:13
the athlete doesn't have much time to
5:15
think about what their coach has told
5:16
them during the interval and will likely
5:18
reduce their attention quality by
5:20
pulling them out of the zone.
5:22
For example
5:23
we can look at the game between Viktor
5:24
Lai and Shi Yuqi at the 2025 World
5:28
Championships.
5:30
At the second game 11-point interval
5:33
Viktor Lai's coach gives him some
5:35
coaching and we'll let you hear the clip
5:36
first.
5:40
And then that is the matter. I was I was
5:42
always from winning from all about
5:43
something. All right, so you have to be
5:45
more patient you're losing the cross
5:46
control. All right, it's in the ball
5:48
now.
5:49
All right, and also the love
5:57
>> While there's absolutely nothing
5:58
strategically wrong with telling your
6:00
athlete to lift higher,
6:01
it noticeably affects Victor Ly's
6:03
attention quality.
6:05
In the next couple of rallies,
6:07
Victor makes two errors on his lifts.
6:10
And a big factor for this to happen
6:12
is because Victor is thinking about his
6:14
shot.
6:16
The moment you start thinking about your
6:17
shot,
6:18
it becomes consciously executed movement
6:20
rather than an autonomous movement.
6:23
Psychologically,
6:25
Victor's coach telling him to lift
6:27
higher makes him think more about his
6:29
technique.
6:30
And in doing so,
6:33
he ends up making a mistake.
6:39
On that note, talking about changes in
6:41
technique is also detrimental to the
6:42
athlete.
6:44
Similar to strategy, but arguably worse,
6:47
is that it reduces the athlete's
6:49
attention quality even more.
6:52
And it's not helpful at all.
6:54
Technique can't be changed too much
6:56
within the match
6:57
to make a meaningful positive impact.
6:59
And it's something that needs to be
7:01
addressed in training.
7:03
If you ever tried to change your
7:04
technique,
7:05
you would know that there is a period of
7:07
discomfort and timing adjustment
7:09
where you're going to play a little
7:10
worse
7:12
before getting better.
7:14
Having this happen during an important
7:15
match
7:16
would create an absolutely terrible
7:18
outcome.
7:20
Another common mistake that many coaches
7:22
make is giving pressure from a failure
7:24
aspect.
7:25
This is negative pressure,
7:28
which is often insinuated by setting
7:29
expectations for their athletes.
7:32
Instead of rewarding players for making
7:33
it,
7:34
they are punished for not making it.
7:37
For example,
7:38
negative reinforcement might sound like,
7:40
"If you lose,
7:42
you're kicked off the national team.
7:45
The reason why this is not so good is
7:46
because elite athletes often already put
7:49
pressure on themselves to perform.
7:51
So, by putting more external pressure on
7:53
them, they will play noticeably worse.
7:57
Sometimes it's less obvious.
8:00
If you're someone like Lee Chong Wei
8:02
and you're entering major tournaments
8:03
like the 2012 London Olympics as the
8:05
number one seed,
8:07
there is a lot of negative pressure.
8:10
When you've been dominating the entire
8:11
year and are expected to win,
8:14
you're naturally going to have the
8:15
feeling of
8:17
what if I lose?
8:18
This kind of pressure makes you play
8:20
passively.
8:21
It makes you stiff and nervous.
8:24
By playing passively, we mean you are
8:26
playing shots
8:28
with the outcome of the rally in mind
8:30
rather than actually playing out the
8:32
rally.
8:35
Whether you are only playing safe shots
8:36
to minimize mistakes or you are trying
8:38
to force an aggressive shot at the wrong
8:40
time in the rally, negative pressure
8:42
significantly amplifies the severity and
8:45
frequency of both occurrences.
8:48
For example,
8:49
at the 2023 World Tour Finals,
8:53
Tai Tzu Ying
8:54
began her comeback from 19 to 10 down in
8:57
the third set.
9:01
This caused An Se Young to be at both
9:02
ends of the spectrum.
9:04
Not only was she playing passive safe
9:05
shots that, albeit, minimized her
9:08
mistakes, they almost always gave Tai
9:10
Tzu Ying the edge in these rallies.
9:23
But, she was also impatient and tended
9:25
to force attacking shots when she wasn't
9:28
in position to do so.
9:32
These points are furthermore supported
9:33
by data.
9:34
When we look at the data from the last
9:36
14 rallies in the first set and the last
9:39
14 rallies in the last set,
9:41
we see stark differences between the
9:43
two.
9:45
For the first point that An Se Young
9:47
became more passive,
9:48
two useful indicators are how often she
9:50
blocked to the middle
9:52
and played the late forehand straight
9:53
drop.
9:54
The reason why these are the indicators
9:56
chosen
9:57
is because blocks to the middle are
9:59
generally a safe shot to reset the
10:01
rally, while the late forehand straight
10:03
drop is an easier shot to perform and
10:06
tends to be a habit shot for An Se
10:07
Young.
10:09
In the final set,
10:10
over 58% of her net shots were blocked
10:13
to the middle,
10:14
with the rest going straight and
10:16
notably,
10:17
she didn't play a single cross net in
10:19
these rallies.
10:20
And she also did not play a single late
10:23
forehand cross drop in these rallies as
10:25
well. If you compare that to the first
10:27
set,
10:28
you can immediately see the difference
10:29
in shot variety.
10:31
While many of her net shots were still
10:33
straight,
10:34
she mixed in middle blocks and cross
10:36
nets much more frequently.
10:38
Another useful indicator
10:40
is the number of forced errors An Se
10:42
Young committed in the last 14 rallies
10:44
of the third set.
10:46
She committed around 9% more forced
10:48
errors
10:49
than the last 14 points of the first
10:51
game,
10:52
which is a result of playing more
10:53
passively
10:54
as she's giving more attacking
10:56
opportunities to Tai Tzu Ying.
11:00
The unforced error metric between the
11:01
two
11:02
is relatively the same,
11:04
which might lead one to believe that An
11:06
Se Young wasn't impatient.
11:08
However, when you look at the rally
11:09
duration metric,
11:11
you can see that more than 57%
11:13
of An Se Young's rallies with Tai Tzu
11:15
Ying
11:16
were past 15 seconds.
11:18
And the majority of the rallies in the
11:20
last 14 rallies of the final set
11:23
were between 8 seconds and 15 seconds.
11:26
Another piece of evidence that supports
11:28
the argument that An Se Young became
11:29
impatient is her shot quality.
11:33
For good shot quality, you need to have
11:35
control of both your swing and movement.
11:37
And the more anxious you feel,
11:39
the less control you have.
11:54
And the reason we're even able to see
11:55
this level of detail
11:57
is because we tracked every single
11:59
rally.
12:01
Behind the scenes,
12:02
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12:04
analytics app.
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Instead of keeping it private,
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Right now, it's in beta.
12:14
That means it's not perfect yet,
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but we're actively building features
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like automatic AI shot tracking, pro
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comparisons, and movement heat maps.
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When those launch, this will become a
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including all future features.
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We're only letting in 1,000 beta users,
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so if you're interested,
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the link is in the description.
12:45
Now, back to the video.
12:46
An Se Young's nervousness is also
12:48
indicated by her recovery footwork.
12:50
Recovery footwork depends on the type of
12:52
shot and its quality.
12:53
And as the game progressed in the third
12:55
set, you could visibly see An Se Young
12:57
scrambling much more than in her usual
12:59
calm recovery.
13:09
This overwhelming pressure
13:11
is the same thing that happened to Shi
13:13
Yu Qi at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
13:16
While the circumstances were more
13:18
similar to Lee Chong Wei as the number
13:20
one seed and the world number one who
13:22
had won the last couple of tournaments
13:23
back-to-back-to-back,
13:26
all eyes were on Shi to win the
13:28
Olympics.
13:30
But as we all know now, Shi Yuqi fell in
13:32
the quarterfinals to Kunlavut Vitidsarn
13:34
in two one-sided games.
13:36
And this wasn't supposed to happen
13:37
normally.
13:39
Shi Yuqi had already won against
13:40
Vitidsarn twice that year.
13:42
And an overall 7 to 4 record in favor of
13:44
Shi Yuqi showed that Vitidsarn was not a
13:46
particularly bad match up for Shi.
13:50
The real problem was a mental problem.
13:52
Shi Yuqi was considered the best going
13:54
into that tournament.
13:56
And when you're considered the best, the
13:58
natural question is,
14:00
"What if I'm not?"
14:03
Marcus Aurelius once wrote, "I can
14:05
control my thoughts as necessary. Then
14:07
how can I be troubled?
14:09
What is outside my mind means nothing to
14:11
it."
14:12
Absorb that lesson
14:14
and your feet stand firm.
14:16
Great athletes don't fall under
14:17
pressure.
14:18
Instead, they rise to it, which is why
14:20
some pressure is actually a good thing.
14:23
In 1908, two psychologists with the
14:26
names of Robert M. Yerkes and John
14:27
Dillingham Dodson established the
14:29
Yerkes-Dodson law.
14:31
What this law illustrates is that
14:32
performance increases with levels of
14:34
stress,
14:35
but only up to a point.
14:37
Too much stress will lead to lower
14:38
performance.
14:40
This is often represented by an inverted
14:42
U-shape graph,
14:43
in which you can see different zones
14:45
according to how much stress or pressure
14:47
is being applied.
14:48
The main consideration, however, is what
14:50
kind of pressure you're experiencing.
14:52
Think about it this way.
14:54
Anxiety and excitement have the same
14:56
symptoms.
14:57
They both keep you awake in anticipation
15:00
of something and increase your
15:01
adrenaline.
15:03
But in one case,
15:04
you fear the event.
15:06
In the other,
15:08
you look forward to it.
15:10
Researchers describe two ways to
15:11
interpret pressure.
15:13
One being the threat state,
15:14
and the other, the challenge state.
15:17
The threat state is when the athlete
15:19
feels as if the demands exceeds the
15:21
resources,
15:22
meaning that they feel what's being
15:24
asked of them is more than they can
15:26
handle.
15:28
This state you can think of as the
15:29
anxiety-inducing state.
15:32
On the other hand, the challenge state
15:34
is when the athlete feels as if they are
15:36
capable of taking on the task.
15:39
In one study,
15:41
researchers took 127 contestants.
15:44
Important is that both groups felt the
15:47
same level of stress or pressure.
15:50
And this was indicated by the
15:51
significant increase in the average
15:53
heart rate of both groups.
15:55
What changed from group to group was how
15:58
they interpreted this pressure.
16:00
And the group that saw it as a challenge
16:03
performed significantly better than the
16:05
group that saw it as a threat.
16:08
The challenge group had smoother swings,
16:10
meaning their preparation for the swing
16:12
was better,
16:13
which lines up with the rhesus monkey
16:15
study.
16:16
On top of this, the challenge state
16:18
group had noticeably better quiet eye,
16:21
which is the last stable gaze on the
16:23
target before initiating a motor
16:25
movement.
16:27
They also had lower activation of
16:28
task-relevant muscles.
16:30
And while this seems counterintuitive,
16:33
it makes sense when you think about it
16:35
depending on the context.
16:37
In this case,
16:39
the researchers had the subjects perform
16:41
a putt in golf.
16:42
A putt in golf
16:44
requires delicate control with use of
16:46
smaller muscles.
16:48
So, a lower activation of task-relevant
16:50
muscles
16:51
means more control, but maybe less
16:53
power.
16:55
In badminton, there also needs to be a
16:57
degree of delicate control,
16:59
especially of the racket, but also the
17:01
movement. For example,
17:03
playing a spin net with higher
17:04
activation of task-relevant muscles may
17:07
lead to more power, but less fluidity.
17:09
And this isn't something you want for a
17:11
spin net
17:12
because it not only requires delicate
17:13
control of the racket, but also requires
17:16
the athlete to be able to accelerate and
17:18
decelerate their movement to the shuttle
17:20
smoothly.
17:26
So now
17:28
with the understanding that being in a
17:30
challenge state
17:31
where you feel capable of tackling the
17:34
obstacle at hand
17:35
is the better mental state to be in.
17:38
The question then poses as, how do you
17:40
get into the state? And what does it
17:42
look like?
17:44
To enter the challenge state
17:46
elite athletes simplify their behavior.
17:49
They begin to focus on what's happening
17:50
right now.
17:52
They don't expect to suddenly be better
17:54
than what they've trained. They play
17:56
without thinking too much and especially
17:58
not thinking about the outcome of the
17:59
match.
18:00
Because that's something out of their
18:01
control.
18:03
They tackle tournaments with routines
18:04
that make it feel like just another day
18:05
of training.
18:07
And they don't make out their opponent
18:08
to be a big external threat.
18:10
They just make it a battle against
18:12
themselves.
18:13
It just becomes them executing their
18:15
game.
18:16
And because of that
18:18
they actually enjoy it.
18:20
These are general principles that will
18:22
help athletes enter the challenge state
18:24
or zone on their own accord.
18:27
This is also a significant reason why we
18:29
see underdog performances that upset the
18:31
favorites.
18:33
Because the underdog mentality
18:34
essentially makes this challenge state
18:37
much easier to get into
18:39
by putting the athlete into a mindset
18:42
that forces them to rise to the
18:44
challenge instead of fall under
18:50
And we've seen this many times.
18:52
A recent one
18:54
was the 2025 World Championships.
18:56
Victor Lai
18:58
who was the clear underdog against the
19:00
world number one Shi Yuqi
19:02
was playing extremely well.
19:04
And Shi Yuqi the favorite was clearly
19:08
under performing.
19:26
>> Let's push it in. Loh Kean Yew's
19:28
historic run in the 2021 World
19:30
Championships, as well as Kevin Cordon's
19:32
run in the 2011 World Championships, are
19:35
great examples of underdog stories in
19:36
badminton.
19:44
That's short.
19:45
Follow him. Follow him. He's done it.
19:49
And once again, we can look at Lee Chong
19:51
Wei at the World Championships and
19:52
Olympics.
19:54
This one is surprising because it's
19:55
quite ingrained in stone
19:57
that Lin Dan is the greatest of all
19:59
time.
20:00
So,
20:01
many view Lee Chong Wei as the underdog.
20:04
But, in the years leading up to the
20:06
tournaments,
20:08
especially from 2012 to 2016,
20:11
Lee Chong Wei was usually the favorite
20:13
for these big tournaments.
20:21
And you can see the impact on his mental
20:23
through the outcome of these matches.
20:25
Which raises an important question.
20:28
What role does the coach play in moments
20:29
like this?
20:30
Because
20:31
what a coach says under pressure
20:33
can either calm the athlete down
20:35
or push them further into overthinking.
20:38
First, it's crucial that the coach is
20:41
emotionally intelligent and has a good
20:43
understanding of their athlete.
20:45
Secondly,
20:47
they should save strategy and technique
20:48
coaching
20:49
for after the game and in training.
20:52
Because as we mentioned before,
20:54
overthinking will make you worse in the
20:56
moment.
20:57
If there is some strategy or technique
20:59
that you know would benefit your
21:00
athlete, hence why you need the
21:02
understanding of your athlete's
21:03
capabilities,
21:04
you can say it, but keep it to one
21:06
point,
21:07
Two maximum, and try to keep it more
21:09
general, not specific.
21:12
For example,
21:13
if you as the coach
21:15
notice your athlete is struggling
21:17
against your opponent's flat game,
21:19
saying something specific like, "If you
21:21
block here, he will drive at you."
21:24
will lead to more overthinking
21:26
than saying something more general like,
21:27
"Be ready for the flat game."
21:30
And a good example of this
21:32
was Wang Zhiyi's coach at the 2026
21:35
All England.
21:36
Instead of mentioning specific shot
21:38
patterns that Wang Zhiyi should watch
21:39
for, he kept it more general and told
21:41
her to be ready for these flat exchanges
21:43
with An Se Young. And that distinction
21:45
matters
21:46
because in high-pressure moments, the
21:47
coach's role is to guide the athlete's
21:49
focus.
21:51
Coaches play a significant role in
21:52
providing external support to the
21:54
athlete, acting as that first push that
21:57
gets everything moving in the right
21:58
direction.
22:00
And lastly,
22:01
from an emotional intelligence aspect,
22:04
coaches should generally be wary of the
22:05
tone that they use.
22:07
Because in the end,
22:09
pressure is about how the athlete
22:11
interprets it.
22:13
If they interpret the coaching
22:14
negatively,
22:16
they might enter the threat state.
22:18
But if they interpret the coaching
22:19
positively,
22:21
it will help push them into the
22:22
challenge state.
22:24
In an effort to make their athletes play
22:26
better,
22:27
coaches or organizations unknowingly
22:30
often induce stress that causes them to
22:32
choke.
22:34
Ultimately,
22:35
it's about having the emotional
22:37
intelligence to recognize
22:39
when an athlete is moving away from
22:40
their optimal state
22:42
and knowing how to bring them back.
22:44
Because in competition,
22:47
you're not building skill,
22:49
you're revealing it.
22:51
Pressure doesn't take away your ability,
22:53
it only affects your access to it.
22:57
The athletes who perform at their best
22:59
aren't the ones who feel no pressure.
23:02
And they're not the ones who try harder.
23:05
They're the ones who stay in control of
23:07
their attention and their emotions.
23:09
And interpret pressure as something they
23:11
can handle.
23:12
The best coaches understand this.
23:15
They don't overload their athletes with
23:16
information.
23:18
And they don't push blindly for more
23:19
intensity.
23:21
Instead, they regulate pressure,
23:24
reduce noise,
23:25
and create an environment where the
23:27
athlete feels capable.
23:29
If you guys like this video, make sure
23:31
to hit the like and subscribe buttons.
23:33
And as always, thanks for watching.
#Sports