The analysis and competition strategy of the uncrowned king of badminton Lee Chong Wei’s key points

Figures & data

Figure 1. Schematic diagram of the lower declination angle.

Table 1. Statistical table of Lee Chong Wei’s matchups to be studied.

Competition name	Opponent	Winning side	Score	Competition time
Rio Olympics Men’s Singles Semi-Finals	Lin Dan	Lee Chong Wei	2:1	2016
Malaysia Open Quarter Finals	Anselme	Lee Chong Wei	2:0	2018
Malaysia Open Men’s Singles Final	Lin Dan	Lee Chong Wei	2:0	2017
WAF Finals	Anselme	Anselme	2:1	2017
Badminton Asian Championships Men’s Singles Semi-Finals	Kento Momota	Kento Momota	2:0	2018
Hong Kong Open Badminton Championships	Chen Long	Lee Chong Wei	2:0	2017
Rio Olympics Men’s Singles Final	Chen Long	Chen Long	2:0	2016
Asian Team Championships Quarter Finals	Ng Ka Long	Lee Chong Wei	2:0	2018
All England Open Badminton Championships	Lin Dan	Lin Dan	2:0	2018
Malaysia Open Men’s Singles Final	Kento Momota	Lee Chong Wei	2:0	2018

Table 2. Distribution of the average frequency of serve types under different conditions of Lee Chong Wei’s key score.

	Score lead	Score tied	Down by a score	F	P
Backhand serve at the net	1.79 ± 1.84	0.57 ± 1.02	1 ± 1.57	2.306	0.113
Flat high backhand serve	0.36 ± 0.633	0.07 ± 0.267	0	3.174	0.053
T	7.493	3.169	5.688	–	–
P	0.011	0.087	0.025	–	–

Table 3. Distribution of the average frequency of the type of serve received under different conditions of Lee Chong Wei’s key score.

	Score lead	Score tied	Down by a score	F	P
Lift shot	0.64 ± 0.842^♦	0.07 ± 0.267	*1.14 ± 1.406*	4.376	0.019
Pick	0.43 ± 0.646	0.50 ± 0.650^⊿	0.50 ± 0.650	0.057	0.945
Crosscourt shot	0.43 ± 0.852	0	0.21 ± 0.579	1.819	0.176
Rush shot	0.07 ± 0.267	0.07 ± 0.267	0.14 ± 0.363	0.260	0.772
Other	0.14 ± 0.363	0.07 ± 0.267	0.29 ± 0.611	1.696	0.197
F	1.860	4.483	3.558	–	–
P	0.128	0.003	0.011	–	–

Note. *, ^♦ and ^⊿ not indicate variability in the magnitude of the values adjacent to each other, the front side of the values indicate horizontal comparisons and the marks on the back side of the values indicate vertical comparisons, as below.

Table 4. Distribution of the average frequency of the opponent’s hitting area on the first shot of the key point scored and lost by Lee Chong Wei.

	Goals allowed	Scoring goals	T	P
Forecourt backhand area	1.07 ± 1.269	0.93 ± 1.141	0.268	0.793
Middle area of the forecourt	1.79 ± 1.311^#	1.43 ± 1.158^♦	0.673	0.513
Front court forehand area	0.86 ± 0.864	0.57 ± 0.756	1.000	0.336
Backhand area in the middle court	0	0.70 ± 0.267	−1.000	0.336
Backhand area	0.36 ± 0.633	0.43 ± 0.646	−3.22	0.752
Middle backfield area	0.07 ± 0.267	0	1.000	0.336
Back court forehand area	0.50 ± 0.760	0.57 ± 0.646	−0.322	0.752
Other	0	0	–	–
F	7.566	5.784	–	–
P	<0.001	<0.001	–	–

Note. ^#Indicates that there is variability in the magnitude of the values three levels apart and is marked on the larger value, below. ^♦Indicates that there is a difference between the values at one level, and is marked on the larger value.

Table 5. Distribution of the average frequency of the first shot of the first Skill stroke line for key points scored and lost by Lee Chong Wei.

	Goals allowed	Scoring goals	T	P
Forehand position	0.93 ± 1.072	1.57 ± 1.158	−1.505	0.156
Middle road	2 ± 1.519	1.5 ± 1.454	0.809	0.433
Backhand position	1.71 ± 1.590	0.86 ± 0.949	2.199	0.047
F	2.161	1.492	–	–
P	0.129	0.238	–	–

Table 6. Distribution of the average frequency of the changes in the first shot of the first game of the key points scored and conceded by Lee Chong Wei.

	Goals allowed	Scoring goals	T	P
Euphoria	0	0.43 ± 0.646	−2.482	0.028
Homogeneous state	4.43 ± 2.065*	3.43 ± 1.869*	1.117	0.284
Inferior state	0.29 ± 0.469	0	2.280	0.040
F	57.544	37.446	–	–
P	<0.001	<0.001	–	–

*Indicates that there is a difference between the adjacent levels of the values, and is marked on the larger value.

Table 7. Distribution of the average frequency of the second shot skill category for key points scored and conceded by Lee Chong Wei.

	Goals allowed	Scoring goals	T	P
Ball rolling	0.07 ± 0.267	0.07 ± 0.267	0	1.000
Rush shot	0	0.07 ± 0.267	−1.000	0.336
Crosscourt shot	0.07 ± 0.267	0.14 ± 0.363	−1.000	0.336
Drop ball	1.43 ± 1.399^Ф	0.86 ± 0.949	1.375	0.192
Flat draw fast block	0	0.07 ± 0.267	−1.000	0.336
Catch and kill blocking net	0.29 ± 0.611	0.14 ± 0.363	0.694	0.500
Catch and kill high	0.07 ± 0.267	0.07 ± 0.267	0	1.000
Smash	0.21 ± 0.426	0.57 ± 0.514	−1.794	0.096
Hight clear	0.07 ± 0.267	0.29 ± 0.469	−1.385	0.189
Splitting and lifting	0.50 ± 0.519	0.21 ± 0.426	1.749	0.104
Lift shot	0.71 ± 0.825	0.29 ± 0.611	2.482	0.028
Pick	1.00 ± 0.877	0.71 ± 0.726	0.939	0.365
F	7.122	3.361	–	–
P	<0.001	<0.001	–	–

Note. ^ФIndicates that there is variability in the magnitude of the values four levels apart and is marked on the larger values.

Table 8. Distribution of the average frequency of the opponent’s hitting area for the second shot of the key point scored and lost by Lee Chong Wei.

	Goals allowed	Scoring goals	T	P
Forecourt backhand area	1.00 ± 0.961	0.79 ± 0.802	0.611	0.551
Middle area of the forecourt	0.43 ± 0.646	0.36 ± 0.633	0.268	0.793
Front court forehand area	1.36 ± 1.151^♦	0.50 ± 0.760	2.917	0.012
Backhand area in the middle court	0.14 ± 0.363	0.21 ± 0.426	−0.563	0.583
Central midfield area	0.14 ± 0.363	0.36 ± 0.633	−1.000	0.336
Forehand area in the middle court	0	0.14 ± 0.363	−1.472	0.165
Backhand area	0.36 ± 0.745	0.36 ± 0.497	0.000	1.000
Middle backfield area	0.14 ± 0.363	0.36 ± 0.633	−1.385	0.189
Back court forehand area	0.64 ± 1.008	0.57 ± 0.514	0.234	0.818
F	5.625	1.435	–	–
P	<0.001	0.189	–	–

^♦Indicates that there is a difference between the values at one level, and is marked on the larger value.

Table 9. Distribution of the average frequency of the second shot of the Skill hitting line for the key points scored and lost by Lee Chong Wei.

	Goals allowed	Scoring goals	T	P
Forehand position	2.21 ± 0.975*	2.07 ± 1.328^♦	0.285	0.780
Middle road	0.79 ± 0.873	0.93 ± 1.072	−0.366	0.720
Backhand position	1.21 ± 1.369	0.71 ± 0.726	1.165	0.265
F	6.234	6.500	–	–
P	0.004	0.004	–	–

* and ^♦ respectively indicate that there is a difference between the adjacent and separated levels between the values, and are marked on the larger values.

Table 10. Distribution of the average frequency of the change in the second shot potential of the key points scored and conceded by Lee Chong Wei.

	Goals allowed	Scoring goals	T	P
Euphoria	0	0.57 ± 0.646	−2.876	0.013
Homogeneous state	4.14 ± 2.070*	2.86 ± 1.791*	1.540	0.148
Inferior state	0.36 ± 0.633	0	2.110	0.055
F	47.230	26.924	–	–
P	<0.001	<0.001	–	–

*Indicates that there is a difference between the adjacent levels of the values, and is marked on the larger value.

Table 11. Distribution of the average downward deflection angle and average frequency of Lee Chong Wei’s key points in the second game.

	Goals allowed	Scoring goals	F	P
Scores and losses	0.36 ± 0.633	0.57 ± 0.646	0.785	0.384
Lower declination	26.78 ± 23.414	24.06 ± 23.856	0.330	0.571

Table 12. Frequency distribution of the Skill categories in which Lee Chong Wei won and lost key points with multiple shots.

	Goals allowed	Scoring goals	T	P
Drop ball	1.71 ± 1.773	1.57 ± 1.869	0.254	0.804
Pick	6.14 ± 4.572^Ω	3.36 ± 1.781	2.424	0.031
Ball rolling	0.86 ± 1.406	0.50 ± 0.650	1.000	0.336
Rush shot	0.57 ± 0.852	0.93 ± 1.592	−1.235	0.239
Crosscourt shot	0.93 ± 1.207	0.71 ± 0.914	0.493	0.630
Flat draw fast block	1.00 ± 1.664	0.86 ± 0.949	0.414	0.686
Catch and kill high	0.14 ± 0.363	0.36 ± 0.633	−1.385	0.189
Hight clear	1.36 ± 1.447	1.07 ± 2.018	0.589	0.566
Splitting and lifting	0.93 ± 1.141	0.29 ± 0.611	2.090	0.057
Smash	2.93 ± 2.841	2.50 ± 3.032	0.501	0.625
Lift shot	5.93 ± 5.370^☒	4.57 ± 3.715^⊕	1.237	0.238
Catch and kill blocking net	2.14 ± 1.875	1.79 ± 1.424	0.548	0.593
F	8.975	7.139	–	–
P	<0.001	<0.001	–	–

Note. ^⊕, ^{☒ and Ω} indicate variability in magnitude at five, six and seven levels apart, respectively, and are marked in front of the larger value.

Table 13. Distribution of the average frequency of the opponent’s hitting area in the multi-shot skill for the key points scored and lost by Lee Chong Wei.

	Goals allowed	Scoring goals	T	P
Forecourt backhand area	5.43 ± 3.458^#	3.21 ± 2.517	2.844	0.014
Middle area of the forecourt	3.14 ± 3.394	2.43 ± 2.065	0.960	0.355
Front court forehand area	4.93 ± 3.362^♦	5.07 ± 4.582 No	−0.152	0.881
Backhand area in the middle court	1.36 ± 1.336	1.00 ± 1.109	0.717	0.486
Central midfield area	0.93 ± 1.328	0.93 ± 1.072	0.000	1.000
Forehand area in the middle court	1.14 ± 1.292	1.50 ± 2.279	−5.63	0.583
Backhand area	3.86 ± 3.035	2.07 ± 1.730	1.804	0.094
Middle backfield area	0.50 ± 0.760	0.50 ± 0.760	0.000	1.000
Back court forehand area	2.93 ± 2.731	2.57 ± 2.848	0.701	0.496
F	7.211	4.921	–	–
P	<0.001	0.189	–	–

* and ^♦ respectively indicate that there is a difference between the adjacent and separated levels between the values, and are marked on the larger values.

Table 14. Frequency distribution of multi-shot Skill strokes on key points scored and lost by Lee Chong Wei.

	Goals allowed	Scoring goals	T	P
Forehand position	8.57 ± 5.774	6.57 ± 3.589	1.172	0.262
Middle road	4.50 ± 4.485	3.36 ± 2.240	1.333	0.205
Backhand position	10.86 ± 7.814*	8.71 ± 7.279*	1.096	0.293
F	3.803	4.308	–	–
P	0.031	0.020	–	–

*Indicates that there is a difference between the adjacent levels of the values, and is marked on the larger value.

Table 15. Average number of shots scored and conceded by Lee Chong Wei in key games.

	Goals allowed	Scoring goals	T	P
Average	7.964	6.179	1.316	0.211
Standard deviation	4.802	2.6233	–	–

Table 16. Average frequency distribution of Lee Chong Wei’s key points scored and conceded in each racket.

	Goals allowed	Scoring goals	T	P
First beat	0.36 ± 0.633	0.36 ± 0.633	0.000	1.000
Second beat	0.36 ± 0.633	0.57 ± 0.646	1.000	0.336
More shots	3.79 ± 1.888^♦	3.07 ± 1.542^♦	−1.059	0.309
F	37.675	29.909	–	–
P	<0.001	<0.001	–	–

^♦Indicates that there is a difference between the values at one level, and is marked on the larger value.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the first author [Shuzhen Ma] upon reasonable request.