How? I thought those top view shots were done by dolley cameras? Sent from my SM-J320F using Tapatalk
When I was first watching these two, even before they started becoming famous, I thought Arisa was so different from general XD player. Then when they become more popular and started openeing more eyes, I thought they had what it takes to go up the "next" level and really dominate. So far I've been disappointed with their play. Does anyone think they may have plateaued out?
Time will have to tell. It's normal that you reach certain plateaus on the way to the peak. And if you look at their performance at the AEs early in the year, there is a lot of potential above their current plateau level. It will be a question how and if they can unlock it permanently.
This pair can be so fun to watch but also a bit frustrating. I want to see power smashes but Yuta doesn't seem to care much for those shots. A bit unconventional for MXD? Feels a bit weird that Yuta is more effective at the net with Arisa at the back. Arisa smashing almost as much as Yuta?
Yuta just lack power for doubles. With that kind of agility and mobility I wonder why he converted to doubles for a career! But it's not only Yuta. I think Arisa is also messing a lot, mishits, defence not good enough and she isn't proactive enough on the net. A main part is because of Yuta's lack of power though. When push come to shove, a full power smash from the guy usually takes you out of trouble or give you the initiative in XD. But they don't have that. Yuta remains a brillant creative player though. His pairing with Sonoda was amazing in Thomas Cup.
Yes, Yuta plays better in MD because he can comfortably stay up at the net while his partner smashes at the back In MXD, the guy's main role is to give the opponents power smashes so your partner at the net can easily finish the point. Arisa feels like she's got too nervous energy and can't distribute it evenly, leading to lots of mistakes. The way she pounces at the net shots lacks finesse and control. Imagine if HigaWata and Wang/Huang switched partners!
Yuta/Arisa won the HK Open title. This is their second title this year. No XD pairs has won more than one high tier title this year than them, except the obvious Zheng/Huang who dominates the XD category. Hope they can earn more titles in the future. Looking forward to their progress in WTF.
he's a scrawny little boy so why are people expecting serious power? he's smashing harder little by little. give him time to build up more muscle. i still think he smashes harder then zhang nan ever did and he gets a steeper angle. in xd variety and accuracy are just as important as power.
They have arrived in the Top5 of the world rankings and probably will climb to #3 after the recent victory in HK. And they fully deserve to be in that position if you ask me. Zheng/Huang are out of reach for all the others at the moment, let's face it. Just watched yesterday's final on Badmintalk and imo it was their best performance since the All Englands. Arisa was deadly and less error prone compared to some of their latest matches I've seen. Although I have to say that I was a bit disappointed by the performance of Wang/Huang. I've expected some more drive and passion from them but it just didn't happen. My favorite moment of the match: Arisa's face after she got away with that completely messed up serve at 20:19 in game 1: I think every mortal player knows that feeling and can relate to it immediately. Yuta's smash clearly is an area which still has some potential. Although I don't fully share the opinion that it's only a matter of sheer shuttle speed. In every match there have been some moments in which they got into massive trouble because his smash got coutered really badly. You can blame the missing shuttle speed in the smash for it, but another reason is also the questionable choices of placement. He hits some full-on smashes whilst not being in the position for it and/or significantly out of balance during the landing - both which is nothing but an invitation for a decent defense drive/push to the wide open area in the court (for example, see the end of the rally at 2:2 in game 1). On the plus side, to improve smash power can be achieved with spending some hours and sweat in the gym and on the practise court, so it shouldn't be impossible to achieve that over time if he and the coaches really share the opinion that this is currently a limiting factor in their performance. What's bothering me in almost every match I've seen this seasons are those minutes in which they seem to lose their focus and concentration and start to mess up easy shots in a row. Mostly when they are in the lead. Gives me some flashbacks to the early TTY who has been masterclass in giving away comfortable leads. And having that in mind, I'm looking forward to seeing what they can achieve next season with hopefully more match intelligence and consistency. My prediction is that we will seen them in the semi-finals and finals regularly.
That's what I meant by lack of power, sometimes a powerful smash can just get you out of trouble. Of course not all the case!!! Let's say Goh V Shem suddenly unleash 2 - 3 smashes without much placement going on, imagine what Arisa would do with the return!!!
That's the whole point. If GVS is in a bad position and off balance when he hits those random rockets, it's nothing but a matter of luck if he gets away with it or not. If the opponents can hit a well placed defense shot, he's screwed the same way as Yuta or maybe even a tad worse since the shuttle will be back in his own court even faster. It's vital to recognize the right chances to hit those 100% smashes with minimum risk to be countered that badly. If you're not in the position and balance, then either reduce the power and fully focus on angle and placement (gives you more time to recover whilst still keeping the pressure up), or even go for a drop shot.
