You think those are actually gold and silver? This is not the Olympics or something ... rather have trophies than medals . Definitely should cost more than cheap medals ...
LOL, I just replied the same to him on the other thread! Actually, I like trophies much more if they are aesthetically designed. The French Open trophies are pretty good IMO...
Hello! I just watched her French Open Finals match against Saina, Minatsu does move very very fast around court! very cute and funny yet graceful in her own way Congratulations to her for winning and getting Japan's 1st WS SS. getting back to a classic question (sorry if I missed out from previous posts), what racquet is our pretty Minatsu using?
I find it amusing that every time BCers see a player moving fantastically fast or possesses superb shots, the first question that comes to mind is - what racket is she/he using? You would be surprise to find out the reality of the matter is - for a racket to be powerful, you must train your wrist power first (sit on a chair, swing the racket head overhead while having the old type badminton head cover on the racket head. Swing it as hard as you can). Then to have a powerful smash, use a heavy racket head, not a light one. So if you just use a heavy racket like the one used by LD (without any practising), you will injure your wrist. Many substance are of training first, then comes material support. Some even think that wearing Phiten straight away will make you a superman in badminton, which unfortunately does not work that way. Likewise if you want to move lightning fast, run wearing anklet weights on both legs and train with care on your knees and ankles. See if you are able to fly later. Then your question about what racket does a particular player will not matter anymore.. or at least not so much.
Every time Yonex brings out a new model of racket, LCW is told to use it . Agree. Some BCers think that players depend on their rackets to perform good shots/strokes. In reality, some players have told me that they don't really like the rackets they are using, but they have to use them because they are sponsored by their racket companies. A very good example is Lee Chong Wei - Every time Yonex brings out a new model of racket, LCW is told to use it (whether he likes it or not). .
Hhm.. now this further brings in question the matter of whether LCW's shoulder injury was indeed caused or aggravated by the Yonex racket used for the Olympics which is a lighter one compared to the pre-Olympic racket.
thanks for answering, Demolidor and Cobalt. so, the medals are not gold/silver plated? what a pity. about the French SS trophy design, i think Denmark Open's one are more elegant. simple, yet nice to see. the French one are like accessories for home decor. just my opinion.
Thanks Pakito, I do appreciate your post on the importance of correct skills and techniques, I almost forgot bout them =P The mindset during play too I think is very important.Hmm I was giving concern as a fan, maybe next time I should start with how she moves around so fast and yet still keep her sweetness =)but I cant deny "doing the same as my idol do" mentality here (what shots/moves they do, what they wear/use), need to grow up hehehe.getting back to Minatsu, where is she playing next?
We will see her in action at the CHN Open PSS. Whoever faces her at the early rounds might be in for a shock, at least a mild one.
Mitani retired in her match with Wang Yihan at the HK Open presumably injured. Any news how she is? Not too serious I hope.
Taken from a Japanese badminton blog, this is what Mitani apparently said about her injury: " 悔しい。右ひざの痛みは昔からのものではないが、香港に入ったころから少し（痛みが）出ていた。連戦の疲れかもしれない」とコメントした。 " "It's vexing. The pain in my right knee isn't something from before, but just around the time I entered Hong Kong, I felt the pain coming slowly. It might have something to do with all the continuous games I've had recently."
From personal experience, knees gets a battering during long training sessions. My knees will be super sore after training. Any tough games following that and the knees get very painful and inflamed. We are seeing too many injuries to the ladies recently. Maybe they are pushing themselves too hard.
I think it is pretty common with injuries among professional athletes. Of course you can strengthen muscles among other parts in order to prepare your body better against the stress, but the chances of avoiding injuries completely would seem impossible to me, even for amateur players. But like Gillian Clark frequently brings up during games, women's singels have become a lot more like men's singels and I have to agree with that. Women's singels are a lot more interesting to me now than before, thanks to the speed of the game has gone up. Not that it was boring, but it just wasn't as appealing as men's. And in order to increase the speed of the game they would have to also up their exercise, which would mean more stress put on their bodies. But I agree though, we never want to see athletes get injured. I hope Mitani will recover soon.
Injury is just part of the problem. Even after recovery, the thought of re-injuring will be another mental block for some time. Very hard to shake off this feeling.
Minatsu Mitani is now ranked World No.13 . Let's hope that Minatsu Mitani can make it into the Top 10 during 2013. For the World Ranking of other WS players, here is the link: http://bwfbadminton.org/page.aspx?id=14955 .
