Jin

Be aware the product village has changed, in case you didn't go last year. Yonex now prohibit competitors showing at the All Englands. Additionally, remember that pricing at this event is full RRP in most cases, so you'll pay considerably more than you would at Direct Sports.

Paul

Rob

At this level of play defences are so good, movement is so good, deception is so good. Smashing the shuttle to death doesn’t work. Watch last years All England Mixed Final and you’ll see that.

These days players need to work an opening and be patient. Occasionally, they manage to hit a smash that’s a winner (usually off a very short lift). However, most of the time there is strategy behind each shot.

Let’s look at Boe and Mogenson. Their game is based on getting Mogenson to the rear court. Then they use the right left right combination on their forehands to switch attack and angle to create the winner with Boe usually finishing off from the net. But, they have to work themselves into this opening position which isn’t always easy.

Sadly, I couldn’t be at the finals this year. I did feel that LCW looked a lot sharper during the tournament. Lin Dan dropping a game in his semi final told me he was missing that killer finish this year. LCW looked awesome this year and didn’t waste any time in finishing his games. I can’t wait to see the DVD of the final.

The thing we have to appreciate with the top players is that if they’re not playing at the top of their game, they are beatable. A drop of only say, 5% in their standard is enough to lose to a lesser opponent – it’s just that close.

What you’ll also find is that there’s a massive gap between top 10 players and the rest, and usually top 5/6 compared to no 10. Let’s face it, there’s very few players on the pro circuit who aren’t good players with good technique. However, they do not possess the consistency, speed and fluency of movement and sometimes power of the top players.

If you watch some of the semi final footage of Lin Dan, look how many times his opponent left the shuttle and it landed in the corner. His margin for error was smaller than a top 20 player, because he is that good.

When I get the DVD’s I usually watch them in slow motion so I can copy the movement. I then re-create it in my front room and note all the key points. I then test this again on court to see if there is an improvement to what i already do or whether this style only works for that player.

Paul