yea he changed to blu grip taped upp to half the shaft!!!!! really fun.. but in the end of the game he switched back to "normal" grip..
yep! i was surprised to see his overgrip all the way upto the shaft! and did anyone notice that one of LD racket has not butt-cap? i guess he got too much free rackets and decided "break" it and see what's inside the handle!
OMG what is he doing ! LD is well known for having barely any grip on his rackets, now he has gripped most of his racket in blue towel grip
Did anyone else notice that his serve also seems kinda different? Like he isn't making a full swing, he just stops within the movement? :3
Funny - those happen to be the two ways I grip my rackets On a few, I have (depending on grip size) a bit of towel grip on top of a) the wood or b) some overgrip, on the others I put on towel grip pretty high...not quite as high as he did, in most cases^^ There's barely any of the shaft uncovered!
LD also played more hold & flicks and deceptive shots when he was using the "new" style grip (with no bottom cap). towards the end he switched back to his "LD-style" grip (grip only to halfway) and his game was more like the LD we all know - efficient and powerful. seems like he was toying with Gade in the earlier part of the match, he played a lot of hold & flicks, deceptive net shots, double motions etc. not as many powerful smashes but more angled ones. towards the end he went back to his traditional style to get those final few points and close out the match. what's scary is that LD has two contrasting styles now. as if it wasn't hard enough to beat him in his traditional style! he has varied his game and based on his performance against Gade in the final, it can be reasonably concluded that he has been successful in this endeavour!
Seems the "no butt cap" thing is only with a few or even just one certain racquet Look here: Notice the red coloured old style Li Ning logo in the centre of the butt plate? Notice also the white coloured athlete tape covering the whole of the butt cap and a bit of the butt cap plate? For those who can't read Chinese, the top right corner reads 2011 Singapore Badminton Super Series Live, Semifinal Lin Dan -vs- Gade. Now compare it to this: Actually I wonder why the athlete tape hovers in such a definable shape around the wooden handle, if the butt cap is totally gone. Would the athlete tape not stick directly onto the wooden handle and create a totally different shape rather than defy physics and hover as such and let you see the wooden handle so cleanly It is just the butt cap plate which has been removed possibly due to prior damage and it cracking apart and flaking off, leaving the sides of the butt cap still intact. And that is at least true for this racquet, but not all of his racquets. This is for you all who insist that Lin Dan has removed all his racquets' butt cap
AFAIK, no one said than Lin dan has removed all his rackets' butt cap. Just share something different about Lin dan at Sudirman cup, new grip style and remove the bottom cap
seem to me, this racket was modified with a insertion of metal rod into the handle to give extra flip to flex the racket to optimum...was this act allow in baddy tournament?
1. I don't see any metal rod 2. Why would inserting a metal rod into the grip change anything about the flex? The handle is just some wood screwed to the shaft, you can't put something into the shaft, it's closed up. 3. There are some rules about the racket, limiting the size (head length/width, total length). You are allowed to modify your racket in any way you want as long as those measurements remain within the allowed limits and there is nothing about the racket you can change mid-game/mid-rally (e.g. moving/removing some weight to change the BP/weight). Ergo, inserting something into the handle is a legal modification of your racket.