Peter Gade Christensen has been given a "wild card" entry by the IBF into this years World Championship Finals in England.

I would like to wish Peter all the best luck and hope he can show some of the brilliant form that has made him a favourite to many people all over the world. Perhaps he can rattle a few cages?

TS

TS, are you going to get the T-shirt off him?

BRL, look at that grip! He's doing the inside to outside motion for the net shot.

Thanks for pointing that out Cheung. His grip here seems clearer to me now. I've tried this grip a few times more so it feels better now. I still find the standard v-grip more secure though it might be because i'm just not familiar with it. Do you notice any difference between using this grip and your standard grip?

Good question.

The more I play badminton, the more I realised there is no standard grip. The v grip is just used for beginners. In order to utilise the power and control of the fingers, one has to hold the handle between the fingers and thumb to a certain degree. It can really make a lot of difference. As we see in the picture, it can make a difference between a smooth stroke and an ungainly stroke.

My forefinger will be a little more curved round the handle than Peter G's

Why does the v-grip make strokes look ungainly?
Simply because its very nature forces us to use different forearm muscles. This results in more upper arm/lower arm movement in a more tense fashion preventing the full potential energy of the swing being transferred to the shuttlecock. This works for large swings (such as overhead shots) and shorter swings (such as spinning netshots).

When first learning this grip, I found that a larger diameter handle makes it more difficult to hold and roll between the fingers(for me). Hence, I decrease the amount of thickness of overgrip. Initially, it was a bit difficult but after adjusting, people (eg Kwun) said I had a hard smash. [Never ever had been described as having a hard smash before]. Funny thing was, I felt I was putting in less physical effort into the swing than before (but there were other adjustments as well).

My overall impression is that the HK players, generally, have smaller grip sizes. Is it to facilitate the finger movement? well, some very good players do have larger grips but they are rarer.

My impression of UK players is that they have large grips compared to HK players (more than that can be explained by physique differences). UK players tend also to show more arm movement and less fluidity in the strokes. Perhaps this can be partly explained by the relative grips sizes used by the different population of players. (non professionals)

i have noticed this trend in grip sizes over here (UK) - oddly tho i prefer mine as small as possible - i can stretch one grip over two racquets :)

But yes - the thinner grip does allow for more technical shots - it's is easier to manipulate the racquet with fewer fingers.

Neil