Hey there, im just curious whether the width of the grip could improve my game in one way or another ? (Assuming of course it isnt at the extremes like pencil or log width ) I have two rackets..one with a single layer of gripping and the other with two (one over another). I found that although i can put more force into the thicker one..the smaller one is easily maneuvarable. I dunno, may be just my mind. Any real opinion ?
hi PandaLord, There must be tons of previous discussions on this already, but you're probably like me too lazy to go through the thousands of threads and posts. I assume that what you mean by grip width to be the diameter of the handle after adding on grips. From personal experience, whether the grip size affect the game really depends on where you hold the rackets. Some people hold the racket very close at the end, nearly having the butt of the handle on the edge of the palm. People do this to get increased leverage and reach. These type of players aren't affected by grip diameter as much as players who hold it short or at the centre of the handle. This is because when holding in the middle of the handle or holding it short, the thicker the grip, the more potential it has to limit your wrist flexion as the end of the handle may come into contact with your distal forearm/wrist. In badminton, wrist power is VERY important and you don't want to have your grip too thick which may limit wrist flexion. i.e. think of receiving a flick double serve that you want to smash down, have to use wrist and may be impeded by thick grip. Too thick grip may mean you have to rotate more when you use your thumb and fingers to turn the racket during netting, when it is mostly using fingers to rotate the racket to get the desired racket face angle. I found that the best grip diameter is when holding your racket in a relaxed grip, not to have your finger nails digging into the palm (thenar eminence), and definitely not to wide as it may limits your shot selection an the angles you can create when you hold a short grip. However, this assumes you don't have any wrist injury previously as some players have told me that once they've injured their wrist, it is quite demanding to use a thin grip so they switch to a thicker one.
