I'm fortunate to have a "close-up" watch of Sigit playing in HK Open. I was really surprised on his skills. You should all know that the grip of Sigit is wrapped up to the middle of the racket, it is because he usually holds very high of the racket to play around the net shots. However, when he smashes, he will hold the grip again instead of the shaft. During his warm-up (on the court), I noticed that he kept changing the position where he hold the racket in a very fast speed. The action is so smooth and fast which I really can't understand how can he do it. If Cheung's guess is correct, he was using Cab 20 tour this time which is a regular length racket, however he mainly used MP rackets before which are in long length, but I didn't seen he mis-hitted the frame at all, i.e. almost all shots were still hitted exactly at the sweet spot even with such a rapid and drastic change (I'm talking about moving the racket holding position for several inches within a second) of holding the racket. His reaction is also extremely fast which sometime I just can't follow his forearm movement for some net shots. Not to mention his jump, which is also incredible imo. Besides jumping very high, he sometimes jumped a little to smash a shuttle which is not very high - in other words, he can dynamically adjust how high to jump for each shuttle. Perhaps you guys already notice these when watching video, but I believe any of you will be more impressed when you can take such a "close-up" watch. To me, he is definitely the most amazing badminton profession !
Before his ban, it looks like he was using cab20tour. Sigit jump - yeah, that is incredible. Saw him in the 98 Thomas cup. It was frightening to see him jump so high.
What's the latest news on Sigit anyway? Will he still be playing in the international competition in the future? I wish I had more of sigit's videos....I repeatedly watch the All England doubles match against Tony/Halim - Sigit is just purely amazing.
I agree with you Ricky. I wonder how this sigit can change his grip so fast. Really have to watch it slow motion. I guess it was part of his trainning. Once u get used to it , it comes naturally.
Hi, I agree, Sigit is a very dynamic doubles player and that is his strength, but also his weakness i feel. Sometimes, he does tend to show-boat. He knows he is good and can get to these shots with ease, and therefore maybe tries something a little too special at times when they are not needed, maybe it has gone to his head? His jump is out of this world, i was lucky enought to see him twice, and fairly close up too, and with his power it is such a potent weapon. Maybe he didnt deserve to get what he got, but i can see where Candra is coming from, especially after the mens doubles WC finals. Matt
notice Sigit's fingers and wrists are always in motion. he seldom holds a firm grip. perhaps that relaxation is how he switch grips so quickly, similar to bouncing your feet makes you move faster around the court...
He had great flair, no doubt about it and much to the delight of badminton fans all over the world as well. At least someone dares to be different and be succesful at it. These are the showmen/women whom gives the game a very refreshing look in a game that would otherwise end up the same all the time. People get excited when Sigit and Candra step into the court because they know Sigit is likely to try something special (or crazy). Such unpredictability makes the game the more interesting. Oh yeah, his jump. I saw him jump before his ban as well, perhaps the same one that Cheung was talking about and even at a television angle, it looked absolutely amazing.
i might say that his skill is one of the best .... unfortunately ... he is not very stable like chandra or tony ... sometimes he makes too much mistakes ... i saw him playing singles around 8 years ago ... it's amazing ...
repeat AzNbOi2747 you asked exactly the same question in this thread on the 30th of October! http://www.badmintonforum.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12280&highlight=sigit
I agree with this one too - it's like a payoff for his amazing skills. And this leads to worse part of him - being arrogant and having the tendency to underestimate the opponents. And what about his temper? I remember him looking like about to jump on the Danes during TC2002 semifinals match...
I just watched some of his videos, and when hes defending he seems to be standing perpendicular to the net, like hes relying solely on his backhand for defense. this always seemed interesting to me, i wonder why he does that?
I have a friend that i play with sometimes that represents australia.. A few months ago, he and another friend who represents australia went to indonesia to train for a few weeks. While they were there, they got a couple of warm up games with chandra and sigit. During warm up rallies just doing drives, my friend mentioned to me that sigit and chandra were using squash rackets whilst he and his friend was using badminton rackets... and turns out, chandra and sigit were still able to constantly beat them at those drives.... amazing stuff... really shows how strong their wrists and fingers must be.
I've tried few times to play with squash racket. Of coz i lost all the matches. My respond was too slow due to the weight. But after switching back.. everything seems to be faster. Hmmm maybe some of us will start a trend on playing badminton with squash racket.
Hey Zhi, which 2 of the Oz team member played with Candra and Sigit?? If u dont feel right to say it, then can you please pm me? Really wanted to know... Btw... how did they managed to meet and play with Candra and Sigit?? Did your friends tell u what squash rackets they used?? I might get one for myself too for some wrist training~
I experimented with the perpendicular stance that is mentioned in this thread of Sigit and I noticed a great benefit in defensive aspects : Covers more area - The stance creates a 'shield' in front of the player. With the racquet being in the front AND in the middle, your arm is 'free' to move left and right, uninhibited by your torso. Drives and smashes can be caught and replied with a simple deflection of the shuttle over the net, and that often happens before the opponent who did the smash or drive returns to neutral from recovery. I have managed to neutralize a lot of the smashes and tap that the opponent, a player with really solid technique, left, right, and centre. And if the reply is a bad one, lunge and tap; you don't need to turn. Works great if you hold up to the cone. Oh, it also shields your face. Quicker reflex - as the above, without the inhibition of the torso, it also creates a more symmetrical movement pattern ie both backhand and forehand returns are done almost the same way - same distance, same power, same speed. With this speed, one can afford a cleaner shift in grip, something most of us would have trouble doing in the heat of the game. Thus, the replies are quicker than usual. This, is good as one gets into the grip shifting habit easier (for us beginners anyway...) Also, the body movement, shifting from backhand to forehand, vice versa, neutral etc to reach for a shuttle can't just be deflected over can be done in a single step in a much shorter time. The traditional way to do that is to stand facing the net, racquet up and alert - this is good if the opponent only attacks your forehand but backhand, you'd have to turn 180 degrees just to reach for the shuttle. With the perpedicular stance, you turn half the distance. There are some cons to this technique as well. Unless one is as good as Sigit (or anybody listed in the IBF standings for that matter...), it may cause one to : Lost of speed in front-back movement - With the perpendicular stance, you gain speed on horizontal court movement, but you may also lose speed in vertical court movement. I found it particularly slower to go for shuttles that were hit to the back as I need to turn a full 180 degrees to get into forehand position and then to hit the shot. The backhands, however, improved slightly as I would have switched grip already (above : saves time) and turn just a shorter 90 degrees to get them. Works only when one is in the 'split' position ie doubles-defensive Try that when you're the sole person in front (you front, your partner at the back smashing, dropping), and you'll have too much of a distance to cover at the net. Well, just some opinion and experimentation results from me. The limitations above may not apply to others but to myself. Any other 'testimonies'?
