"new" overhead forehand grip (attn: gollum)

Hmm.. is the 'first grip' like the 'hammer grip' ?

One of my friends do the same thing as you. He 'hammer-grips' the racquet when he's smashing or clearing. I see that he can pronate his arm ( is this what you call 'flex'? ) and wrist more than those who use the basic-grip or the so called 'new-grip'.
Anyway ff you get more power out of it.. I think it's all ok because this is the correct grip for most forehand shots.

 

The fist grip seems more unstable for me. They both work ok, I can clear fine, but changing to the correct grip increased consistency, perhaps at the cost of some flexibility, which can be ameliorated by allowing the grip to change. Power didnt change much.

After I hit my shot, I end up holding the racket in a fist grip due to the racket's momentum. I think its normal for the grip to change after hitting.

 

It's hard to say whether the basic grip is "new". It's certainly not new to playing -- top players have been using this for ages, as well as a wide variety of subtle grip variations.

It's somewhat new to coaching, at least in England. We used to teach a slightly different grip, with the V shape aligned directly over the side bevel (bevel 1 in my numbering system). Now we teach players to put the V shape towards the diagonal bevel instead (bevel 2). It's a subtle difference, but quite important.

Badminton England have also changed the name from "forehand grip" to "basic grip", because "forehand grip" is a highly misleading name. Many forehands do not use this grip; many backhands do use it!

It's really an improvement in coach education. The top players and coaches (so I'm told) have been doing this all along; but we lesser mortals haven't known about it until recently.

These are just the fundamental grips, however -- your starting points. In a real rally, top players make countless subtle grip adjustments. The main purpose for these adjustments is to ensure that, when you hit the shuttle, the racket is facing in the direction you want the shuttle to go.

That's correct.

It's important to understand that the grip changes during hitting. The grip should be relaxed before you hit the shuttle, and then tighten suddenly as you hit the shuttle. This grip tightening is essential for generating high racket head speed (and it also stops the racket flying across the room!). My page on grip principles goes into more detail.

Grips instruction focuses on the grip before impact with the shuttle. This is because most players fail to use a sufficiently relaxed grip before impact. The grip at impact is rarely a problem, because players naturally hold the racket tightly to prevent it flying out their hands.

Check the angle of your grip. You may be using a smash grip adjustment for your overhead clears (Lee Jae Bok calls it "smash grip"). This is not a good choice; instead, use the basic grip for clears and drop shots (and indeed for smashes where the contact point is more overhead, rather than in front). You may find this page useful: which badminton grip for clears, smashes, and drops?

Note the subtle difference in angle between the basic grip and the smash grip adjustment.

You also may need some time to get used to a new technique!

 

Posistion of the index?

Gollum, in your guide, most pictures (for forehand strokes) show that the index is 'Going up the handle' (higher than the thumb), but I was looking at a few professional players (especially Chinese players) and their index seems to be positioned under their thumb and pointing down. Is there a specific reason for this? Personally, I find the grip used by the Chinese more powerful, but less accurate (this could be because I never really practiced with it) for forehand overhead strokes but I'd be very interested to hear what you have to say about this. (Or should it be to read what you have to write about this? )



This may not be the best picture, but you should understand what I mean.

 

i'd assume this grip allows the racket to be gripped more tightly?? what thinks ya'll

 

It's important to remember that grips teaching is always a simplification of what the fingers actually do during a stroke. Analysing the exact sequence of finger movements is difficult, and from a teaching perspective it's not terribly useful.

Note that the fingers may open up (relax) further immediately before hitting or before making your forward swing. This is something I do often, and Xiao Jie teaches it (CCTV videos).

The changes in grip tightness/finger position need not be all one-way: you can start relaxed, then tighten a bit, then relax again immediately before hitting, then finish with the full grip tightening. There are many, many possible small variations between players and situations.

So when we teach grips, we're teaching a starting point for technique. We are also generally teaching the preparatory grip, not the hitting or part-way-through-hitting grip. The grip often changes substantially throughout the stroke.

Smashes especially will tend to finish with a fist-like grip. The index finger will be lower -- the small gaps between the fingers have disappeared by the end of the stroke.

It's hard to see exactly how Lin Dan is holding the racket, and we can't see what his fingers do next (we don't even know for sure what shot he played here!). Still pictures of professional players often give misleading impressions of their grip, because they are part way through a hitting action.

With regard to the index finger position, note that having the thumb higher than the index finger tends to make the grip unstable (the butt will wobble) -- unless you are already holding it somewhat tightly.

 

Practise makes Perfect

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Greetings,

Thanking fsnicolas to start this thread. And thanking Gollum who provided us with so much info containing Badminton grips.

As stated by Gollum, the main purpose for these grips is to ensure that, when you hit the shuttle, the racket is facing in the direction you want the shuttle to go.

However, the feel on our 5 digits, of fingers and thumb, as the racket strings hit the shuttle, gives us the sense of control. When we could hit the shuttle to the direction to where we want it to go with this sense of control, we could say that we have mastered that certain grip.

The power of our stroke would come from the rest of our stroke production, not just from the grip.

For us luckier players who are having all our 5 digits of our racket hand, we should make sure we can feel with every digit of our hand on the racket handle as we stroke the shuttle. I am saying this because there are players who have had one or more digits amputated from their racket hand and yet they can still manage to hit the shuttle to where they want it to go by just using their remaining fingers.

It is Practise makes Perfect.

Cheers... chris@ccc

.

 

No, the key difference -- for coaches in England, anyway -- is the slight shift in angle away from panhandle.

It's not so much that you need a different grip for a different shot, but rather that you need a different grip for a different contact point.

Clears are typically hit with the shuttle roughly overhead. By preference, smashes are hit with the shuttle farther in front. It's this difference in position that requires slightly different grips.

Yet you can also smash when the shuttle is directly overhead, or even behind you. If the shuttle is directly overhead, then you would use the basic grip to play either a clear, smash or drop shot (although there are some grip variations you could use for certain drop shots).

So you can select your grip before you select your shot. All you need to know is where your contact point is going to be:

• Contact point overhead? Use the basic grip.
• Contact point farther in front? Use a smash grip adjustment.
• Contact point behind? Use a late forehand grip adjustment.

This isn't true in all situations. At the front of the court, where deceptive shots make use of very short hitting actions, your grip may often vary according to what shot you intend, not only according to your contact point.

 

i use the "old" england grip and have been trying the "new" grip as often as i can, i have to correct my timing and stroke because im still hitting the shuttle towards the right (im left handed) slightly with the new grip. but i havn't noticed a huge difference, will continue trying it thought. i have a feeling with time pronaton gets stronger this way.

 

Interesting, do you think that it could be because he is holding the racket very tightly when jumping (or preparing the stroke), then loosing it and tighting it again for the stroke?

I found a better picture of his grip. This picture is right before he swings. Do you think that his fingers could change place again before hitting? Or maybe it's just a personnal variation that he uses... I don't have other good pictures of professionnal players's grips.

 

I have been aware of Lee Jae Bok and I use his grip. However he doesn't have very good English and I'm still a bit confused and don't know if I'm doing it right. I have asked questions on this grip but never made a thread, so great thread!

 

LCW's forehand grip

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Hi Mathieu... I think LCW's forehand grip is more widely used. Here is a pic for you.



Cheers... chris@ccc

.

 

Btw. I use the basic grip as described by Gollum, however I simply cannot use the smash grip for smashing. I got too used to the basic one, is it okay? I can't seem to twist or have room to pronate when I use the smash grip.

 

Quite possibly. This is common and effective.

Yes and yes.

It's really hard to tell. Either possibility is plausible. Since I've never coached Lin Dan, I can't be sure exactly what he's doing.

The basic grip is your touchstone. Keep coming back to it.

The "smash grip" is merely a slight adjustment to account for an impact point in front of the body. It's very important not to exaggerate this tiny adjustment. In my view, Lee Jae Bok's presentation of his smash grip is exaggerated (my presentation is more moderate, although I might still subject this to peer review if I get the chance).

The problems you experience with the "smash grip" are absolutely normal and can occur in two ways:

• You have exaggerated the grip change, and are left with too much of a panhandle.
• You are using it with an impact point that is overhead, rather than somewhat farther forwards.

Remember that many smashes have an overhead impact point, not in front. Here you should use the basic grip.

If you ever find the smash grip adjustment to be problematic, stop using it. Chances are you'll make the correct (non-exaggerated) adjustment naturally anyway.

 

I am very relieved Gollum. Thank you so much!

 

I think Gollum should receive the Nobel prize for correcting bad badminton technique.

Badminton Bible is growing into a really useful tool, and I refer to it on a VERY regular basis for grip info etc. I also discuss some of these issues with my coach who is chinese and sometimes communication can be slightly misinterpreted (my own fault, not his usually) and he gives me that extra touch you can only get from a professional watching you put things into practice.

Keep up the brilliant work, the time you put into all your coaching projects i'm sure does not go unnoticed.

 

just started playing regularly this year. when i first saw the pictures to the forehand grip, i memorised it. and for the first time in my life cleared baseline to baseline. and subsequently with lesser effort

so in a nutshell, yeah thx gollum