Father’s mantra to Lakshya: Shorter swing, extra sting

Saving on microseconds in reaction-time, and including a nippy sting to his assault and defence reflexes, are the calibrations that Lakshya Sen must undertake, his father and early coach Dhirendra Kumar Sen mentioned on their return from the All England Championships.

Developing a brief backswing on his overheard strokes and even hip-level returns whereas producing extra momentum with the wrist, would be the subsequent problem for the defeated finalist from Birmingham.

“He needs the quick hit with an explosive burst when hitting overheads to add more of a surprise variation to his attacking strokes, and for that, we’ll need strengthening of the shoulder and wrist first. He has to cut down the racquet swing and generate power and pace with a shorter backswing,” Sen Sr added.

Shortening the backswing predominantly wants superior forearm energy and Leander Paes-esque agility of the wrists. It successfully cuts down on the winding coil, and the longish, crazy arm actions.

Lakshya Sen in motion. (File)

What got here into stark reduction on the All England closing was Lakshya Sen’s paucity of actually attacking choices for the kill throughout his straight-games loss. In distinction, Viktor Axelsen’s assault may breach what’s frankly Sen’s fairly-decent defence. “You can’t keep defending against an opponent like Viktor when he’s playing like that,” Sen Sr mentioned.

International badminton on the very prime — the ranks of Olympic medallists in males, of which India has none — all boast of a deadly rally-ending kill. At will. It’s that solitary whip that Srikanth, Prannoy and Sai Praneeth have in India — although not all the time backed by an excellent defence or precision, in order that they leak factors in errors, even when they hoard the kills.

But even defensive automatons like Chen Long and Momota and vastly bodily & speedier gamers like Axelsen, Anders Antonsen and Anthony Ginting boast of the brief spring motion on the thwack off the racquet. Both Loh Kean Yew and Thai Kunlavut Vitidsarn possess the brief elastic fast catapult. It’s an possibility that’ll serve Sen properly after coming off two finals losses in again to again weeks, his father reckons.

“When Viktor’s playing errorless like that day, you need more. The backcourt has to improve. And overhead variations,” Sen Sr added.

Coaches all over the world are break up on lengthy and brief backswings (and commensurate follow-throughs). But it’s extensively thought of that if the hitting arm dithers far too away from the torso, there’s a drag in response time in addition to physique stability for the subsequent return.

Limitations of defence

Earlier chatting with the media, Lakshya expanded on his plans towards a lot taller gamers: “Just don’t give unnecessary short lifts. Overall every player is different. With tall players, whenever lifting or clearing, give good length always,” he mentioned of the benefit with which he tackles these constructed larger.

Having misplaced the toss within the closing, he struggled together with his size and therefore management over the shuttle to go down 0-6. Quizzed on whether or not he hit attack-mode too quickly, as a substitute of irritating Axelsen with defence within the opener, DK Sen mentioned that wasn’t an possibility. “Against these players, it won’t work. The best thing to do is counterattack. Get 2-3 offensive winners in, even if they score 5 in a row.”

It’s what Sen tried within the second set to achieve 9-12. “After 12-9, I made two, three crucial errors. The lead got too much. Happy with second game. If I’d won that then I had a chance,” he added. That’s conjecture — although each had been tiring. And his giddy confidence in pulling off shut deciders may need labored, is his perception.

Sen Sr knowledgeable that again in Almora throughout the pandemic, Lakshya would wish to take a minimum of 150 steps, and go up and down from his residence to the principle highway a minimum of 4-5 occasions.

The Bali Saga

While everybody’s questioning what caused this sudden turnaround of the final 6 months that’s fetched him a Worlds medal, a Super 500 title and two finals within the final fortnight, Sen says his non-descript time enjoying the Indonesian swing gave him confidence, regardless of some straight-game pummelings. It’s how elite sport capabilities — rising from the depths of decimations.

Sen performed Axelsen and Momota twice at Bali, dropping 4 occasions. He had a humdinger 3-game win towards Japanese Kanta Tsuneyama proper earlier than the World championships. “Those 5 matches were long, fighting matches against two World No 1s in consecutive weeks. He was learning from those losses, but played equal to them. My belief was he’s the same level. He even had a game point vs Momota at Indonesia. When we reached Spain, he kept endurance, and technically played well.” Sen’s first huge win towards Kenta Nishimoto in 3 units, riffed off these three-set plods.

Lakshya Sen surprised the defending champion 21-13, 12-21, 21-19. (Twitter/BWF)

What Lakshya actually unveiled on the Worlds and took it tight as much as the All England semis was his ending flurry — a shock tactic of accelerating tempo and happening an almighty offensive to complete the sport. “When you are down 16-13 or 16-12, then you know the next few points will decide the game. If tactics are working (and you have the lead), then don’t change. But otherwise, you have to try something different. Against Lee Jii Zia I was down, but I was on the faster side, and yet had been attacking less. So I decided to play at a higher pace, and take over the net. After 16-all, you don’t want to give opponent the chance to attack in one or two rallies & capitalise by being passive. So I always go on offence in the closing stages. Just a matter of taking chances, just a matter of one winner,” he acknowledged.

Sen is conscious that rankings although not all-important, can have a bearing on attracts. “Rankings are also important to qualify for big events and Olympics. But keeping fit, going into big tournaments is also a priority. Top 9 will help with draws, Chen Long has (mostly) retired. So I’ll be placed 7 or 8. Won’t have to play the top 8 players before quarters. And then I’ll of course focus on winning tournaments,” he mentioned.

Wild trend

Sen’s psychedelic geometric sample of enjoying shorts — in yellow, purple and black squares — and a yellow tee, had been the sorest sight for the eyes after the 0-6 early scoreline.

“Those were the best I could get at All England’s new kitting, though the blue (sky & cobalt checked pattern) and white top I wore in earlier matches were more decent. Yellow was too flashy. But Viktor was top seed so he gets the choice of colours. But I really like the white shirt with blue,” he mentioned with a wry smile about an ideal outing towards Lee Jii Zia, his favorite win of the final six months.

One unintended advantage of rising within the rankings would possibly properly be Sen getting the enjoying colors of his selection.