Coaching: gripping the racquet

[Winex West Can]

As many of you know, I am currently helping with coaching beginners/intermediate players and we (the coaches) finished our assessment of the intermediate players (to figure out areas requiring improvement). Our intermediate players can be grouped into 3 groups; (a) good basics but need playing experience, advanced techniques, strategies; (b) real beginners with no formal training; (c) advanced intermediate requiring improvements in basic drills and advanced techniques, game strategies & experience.

One of the things we look at was how the player held the racquet. There is one advanced intermediate who seems to have a pretty strange grip in that he held the racquet by the end of handle (it seems that the butt cap was sitting in the palm of his hand) and he has a very wristy shot. Even with net shots, the wrist was bent. I indicated that that is something that will require improvement but one of the other coach X thinks that it is okay (to each their own) as long the player is used to that grip.

X figured that we have no right to change a player's grip (even if it isn't the standard grip) as long the player is able to play. To me, yeah, but if you show the player the proper grip, he might be able to play his shots with more fineness and control as well learn the advanced strokes.

Comments?

[viver]

WWC,
It's not an easy task. If he tries to change the technique it's quite possible his game will suffer. For long term I agree with you, he should learn the proper grip. You may try to ask him during drills to change and also show him the advantages of having a proper grip.

[Cheung]

Objectives will be according to the player's aims.

Adult or child?

I remember Bjorn Borg used to hold the butt of his racquet in the palm of his hand in that extreme Western (AKA panhandle) grip.

Having a cocked wrist is not a disadvantage for netshots. Many players are dong that nowadays.

[bigredlemon]

Hi WWC,
I used to use the standard V grip until I tried the grip you described, with (only) index finger around the "butt" of the handle. I find it gives my smashes more power and accuracy, and expense of accuracy everywhere else. If it works for him, i don't see why he has to change.

Btw, if you really want him to change, have him to a lot of net drills, as I find it near-impossible to have good control of the control at the net when i'm holding the racquet with one finger. The shots are sometimes more than a foot or more higher than the net, especially moveing left and right a few times.

[Normand]

Hi

I also coached several levels (from beginners to provincial champs) players and one thing you teach them is the standard grip for beginners but as you're getting closer to a competitive level you want to vary your grip depending on if you're on offence or defense, in at the net or at the back (for doubles), type of shot you intend of doing (with deception or not) backhand or forehand... So I think it should be better to let your player know when it better to use his grip and after that show him the other available grips and when to use them so he can adjust his style on his own time frame.

Normand

[badrad]

I would agree to take the effort to correct the grip, main reason is to ensure long-term gain and also will help to prevent injuries later in life.

The downside to this and will depend on your individual situation: It does take time, patience and extra effort on both your part and the player.

In a group exercise, doing this can be shown on a broad base, with some feedback, since you cannot devote a lot of time towards one player. In a smaller group or one-on-one this is acheivable and you should attempt to correct as much as possible.

If it is league or school where you have a short duration to build up a team and get them ready for competition, typically the exposure is intense but brief, so your coaching and corrective measures will differ. Understanding how they play and how to help them improve within the short time is the challenge for the coach. Changing their grip at these times will cause them hardship and ultimately short-term failure (or what they feel is frustration).

If you are dedicated to this individual and considering to bring them to a competitive level over a number of years, and thus a long term relationship, then by all means, mold them the way they should play to be at that level. Proper grip will be fundamental.

I have been asked before why I spend different amounts of time with different players. First, since everything that I do is totally free, I will coach only to whomever if I want to. Second, I will correct as often as I can, but ultimately you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make them drink. If an individual has a strong burning desire to improve, you will certainly see them do so.

Here in Canada, learning badminton and eat/sleep/work badminton is not a priority. So most kids having to take steps that are perceived backwards to get ahead is often quite a foreign concept. Sometimes you have to take a look at the broader picture as a coach and work on them to be as good as they can be with what they have. It is also fundamentally better to show them how much better they can be if they adopt your ideas, but again that is up to the individual to decide.

[wildstyler]

I had 2 months of proper coaching in Hong Kong with a former HK women doubles player. I thought I played with the right technique until she showed the basics of badminton and what it really needs to succeed. So I believed her and it took time for me to recover from the lose of the wrong technique, even though I played better before having the correct techniques. My skill dropped amazingly, but I have recovered it and am now doing better than before. If I were you, I would ask the player if he would change the grip and maybe get the correct technique for the long term goals of badminton later in life. But this will take time, but if he tries hard he will succeed faster and normal. But on the other side, badminton is a sport that has no rules of right or wrong technique. You might say the grip should be like this, but if someone later in badminton invents a new kind of way of playing even better badminton, not saying there would be, would people following him/her?
Just to make a point that there is no right or wrong way of technique as long as it is good and works, over the best players ofcourse.

Don't know if this will help but hopefully it does.
Sorry if there is any misunderstanding.:p

[azmi]

I believe if it works for Han Jian it should work for others.

[JChen99]

I personally started playing with a hammer grip. Everything was fine except my backhand (well... almost everything :rolleyes: )

The proper grip IMO just makes it easier for backhand shots, and easier to exert power onto the bird. However, I've been constantly changing my grip whenever i play (if the proper grip doesn't work for me for the day, I'll go to an alternative grip[of course, it's also gotta be able to handle backhand shots]) which sometimes work better for me, but then my playing style will have to change a bit for the time being to compensate for the change of grip(ie more clears and less drops or something like that)

I think that u SHOULD teach the kid the proper grip. Just because it's "proper" Once he gets used to it, he can choose which grip style to stick to(the proper grip or the one he was playing with). That would be his own disgretion

[Winex West Can]

Thanks to all who took the time to post their comments and suggestions.

Most likely will talk with the player regarding the grip and worked on various different grips and situations that the different grips would help.

Thanks again.

[kwun]

it all depends on the particular player, his goal and expectations.

some people just want to play and drills and don't care if they are using the "correct" technique. they don't look into the future and only think of immediate gains. in the long run, they will hit a brick wall and find that they won't advance any further.

the other type understands the trade off and is willing to unlearn what they have learned and learn the proper technique. the trade off is that their performance will go down while they are unlearning and relearning. also it is a time consuming process. however, in the long run, having the proper technqiue will allow them to advance to higher level than with their old technique.

the hardest thing however, is to convince the first type of people why. often, they will question that they are "doing fine" with what they had and demands an explanation to learning a different technique. furthermore, the "correct" technique to most people's eyes may be more awkward, partly because they "may" be awkward, and partly because the person isn't used to it.

personally, i know quite a few what the proper techniques and strokes are, however, i still have hard time explaining why some of them are better and without this knowledge, i find it hard to convince others.

[TOmike]

if they don't understand, tell them they are Luke Skywalker
they have potential but no skills
make them watch Empire Strikes Back (episode 5)
and then use the words of Yoda
"You must unlearn what you have learned"

[marshall]

I tried the butt cap in the palm grip a few months back, and it was OK at first. But since I had been trained to hold the racquet a little loosely, only tightening my grip just as I pronated the wrist on overhead shots, I found that after practicing clears for about 5 minutes I had bruised my palm. Last time I tried that grip.