Different Badminton Grips

An excerpt from my coaching supplement:

1. Four grips: basic, bevel, thumb, panhandle

a. Basic: overhead clears/smashes/drops, forehand net play*, smash blocks on forehand and backhand side, forehand smash lift, forehand chest-height drives/pushes away from body, late forehand shots from deep in rear corner, forehand lift​

b. Bevel: backhand clears/smashes/drops*, backhand net play, forehand net play*, chest-height drives/pushes away from body, backhand lift, backhand cross court smash block/drive, backhand smash lift*​

c. Thumb: backhand drives/pushes and similar shots in front of body, backhand net kill, backhand smash lift*​

d. Panhandle: forehand drives/pushes, forehand net kill, late backhand shots from deep in rear corner, backhand clears/smashes/drops*​

2. Grip height: high for speed at the net (in doubles play), low for power on overhead shots
3. Grip switching: use fingers to rotate the racket within hand; must be able to switch immediately to basic grip and then to any other grip
4. Finger tightening: begin all strokes with the proper grip, then tighten grip by pushing out with thumb and hooking pinky & ring finger where applicable, in other cases simply tighten grip in entirety
5. There are some instances in which two grips will work well for one shot (*), but with slightly different outcomes. These all involve the bevel grip, which is also called the universal grip due to the ease of switching from it to any other grip. Experimenting and coaching will be required to figure out the circumstances in which one grip is superior to the other. The ability to switch quickly between the two grips relies on using the fingers (particularly the thumb and index finger) to rotate the grip.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBzn3jyEs5k

In reality, sometimes your grip may be in-between two of the above mentioned grips. However, the four mentioned should be a more than sufficient baseline for most players.