Holding the handle higher up?

[BaMBaM]

I understand that holding the handle higher up the grip you can generate a faster racquet head speed but with today's lighter racquets would you really need to do that to compromise reaching ability? I've seen some players using LONG racquets but they do not get its full benefit because they hold the handle midway and sometimes more than midway up the handle. I know that is not a new thing but with today's technology, is it still needed?

[Kelvin]

Isn't that a contradiction of sorts for the manufacturers, and players?

They make "long" racquets, and yet, the players prefer to grip them higher, so they can hold them higher, for more control... kinda silly if you ask me...
Why not just make a short version racquet for those players then? :p

[Byro-Nenium]

I grip the racket higher up the handle only when i serve in doubles or when i serve low in singles. I find that it provides more control, other than that, i never grip the handle high.

[Lao Liu]

I found it is useful to have a long racket to play doubles. The trick is that when you play at the front, you 'hold the handle high up', which gives your so much quicker side-to-side movements of your racket head to serve and return short very close to the net. Looked at WIJAYA Candra's play at the Olympics, his grip is half way up to the middle of the shuft.

On the other hand, when you play at the back, you need to hold at rare of the handle and use the long shuft to generate more power in smashes and drives. Tony Ganawan is a very good example of this.

[Pebulutangkis]

yep i agree with that and i do that, juz liek the indo MD players

[Pebulutangkis]

forgot to say if u r using this grip, do put ur grip as high as a few cm higher than the normal way of putting the grip. from experience towel grips r the best but change them when they r uncomfortable.