I wonder will there be a good speech like lebron James when it's announced that he's going back to Cleveland
He covered the Yonex logo on the shirt with an L and on the shorts with a D. He's wearing Li-Ning socks still, and on his racket, the stencil says LD.
Probably because Lining doesn't have a sleeveless shirt? Last time I saw him at The Star Australian SS, he cut his sleeve and clearly can see the cut. (I don't know anything about Lining apparel, just my thought )
i keep thinking about the past tournaments when he was wearing li ning gear and i do remember that he had played in sleeveless shirts before. now all those jerseys are for sure not the same in design and color, does he keep all of them? i would like to assume he does, so why can't he just do something about those older jerseys and just block out li ning and still use those older shirts?
i am not sure if this was covered previously, but i have a question about his coaches. i did see that he has a chinese coach who was his coach when he was still sponsored by li ning back in 2012 and before...but since the "breaks" from badminton, his main coach is no longer there, is it just because he wasn't there for 2014 chinese taipei open, or is it that he's no longer LD's coach? and does the coaching staff has a certain contact with li ning sponsored players compared to LD who can be seen as independent???
I think he's still a part of the CHN national team so the coaches who sit in on his games are whoever is travelling with them on tour. LYB used to sit in on his games when LD was younger but it seems that LYB has become a master figure now so he's behind the scenes. LD is highly experienced by now and he may not necessarily need his usual coaches to sit in on his games.
All players will benefit from having a good coach with them, even LD. There are things you can only see/observe when you're not physically immersed in the game and when your mind is already fully loaded. It also helps to have a coach for moral support when it gets tough. The tournaments that LD has played recently really doesn't fill me with confidence that he is still capable of beating the likes of CL and LCW when they're on form. But it is obvious to me that he is not playing at 100%. His style of play now reminds me of how Formula 1 drivers are told to win races and how their cars are designed. For drivers, the best wins are not those that are won by a huge margin, but by driving the slowest you possibly can to win the race. That way you win without overstretching yourself or the car. But your opponents are still having to drive at 100% to be 2nd. It seems to me that this is what LD is doing now. He is allowing his opponents have some points but making them work for it by making them move a lot. Rather than go all out and try to win by a large margin, he is instead trying to win with a small margin. Winning is more important than the margin. So, winning 21-19 by playing at 70% is better than winning 21-5 by playing 110% - particularly for someone like LD who is a senior player and has nothing left to prove. I've noticed that he tends to step up his game in the second game though, perhaps after he's sufficiently tired out his opponents, making them play near 100% by playing his 70% game. This again has a similar analogy in Formula 1 with the tyres. A car chasing from behind may maintain a consistent time gap to the car in front for a few laps but drive conservatively to preserve the condition of the tyres. The car in front would want to pull away to increase the gap but in doing so sacrificing the tyres. So by the time the car in front has sufficiently worn tyres, the car behind has a good chance to overtake with the better condition tyres.
I am not sure whether he has changed coaches or not (I don't think this is the case as when your part of the Chinese national team) but I do know that when you are facing your compatriot, a coach is never present.