finger power revisited.

Discussion in 'Techniques / Training' started by kwun, May 2, 2002.

  1. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    finger power revisted.

    in my quest to figure out the correct fingering method, i was told by a friend recently that holding the racket with the little/pinky finger is more powerful than the thumb/index finger.

    so i was in the gym today. decided to try out the two different methods of fingering. lo and behold, using the little finger is really much more powerful.

    what i did was, to hold the racket with just the little finger forming a "ring", hooking it against the flare end of the racket grip, using that as a pivot, when i am about the hit the birdie, i "flick" the racket. that, on top of the arm and body motion, generated much more power than before, and it was also much more relaxed as it forced my motion to be more loose instead of tense.

    anyone else tried it?
     
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  2. Pete LSD

    Pete LSD Regular Member

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    It Works!

    Yes, it works great! I tried it before. Make sure your palm isn't wet or you will risk sending your racquet across the court! :)
     
  3. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    i was taught this technique by an ex-Chinese National player. previously, other have taught the thumb/index finger method, which i also tried.

    now that i have actually practiced both of them for sometime, i found that the little finger method is more agile.

    it sounds less intuitive at first. however, i noticed that for the thumb/index fingers techinque, the palm gets in the way. also, power is generating from the little fingers, which is less powerful. in the little finger technique, power is generated by the flick and then by the index/middle finger, which has more power.

    i also noticed that tapping from the net can be done more efficiently using the little finger method too.
     
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  4. Quantum

    Quantum Regular Member

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    I'm not getting it. So do you hook the end of the grip with your little finger against your palm? I don't really see how it is used as a pivot to move the racket head foward. Explain please!!
     
  5. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    it is difficult to describe with words. i will post a picture tonight when i get home.
     
  6. ahtan

    ahtan Regular Member

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    Kwan,

    I don't really get u. Mind foreward me a picture?

    Thank you.
     
  7. shabs

    shabs Regular Member

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    i tried using the pinkie finger but i couldnt control my smashes
    am i doing something wrong?
     
  8. Bokor

    Bokor Regular Member

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    it really works!

    Hey guys & especially kwun!

    Also went to the gym yesterday and gave the pinky version a try.

    Powerwise it really was a big improvement - BAAAANG :D

    For the very first few shots, control seemed to be a problem but I guess it's just a matter of training - as always. So I decided to stick with this technique for a few weeks and then see the result.
    What really makes me believe in it is the fact that u have it from a former chinese national player :p

    What came to my mind is the question whether one should utilize it only for high power shots (smash/clear) or also for drops and stuff? For deception, I don't think it would make any sense to switch between the two models for different strokes but it seems to me that some sliced drops and stuff might become quite difficult in their execution with the "new" model. Kwun, maybe you just go and ask your Chinese friend again?!

    Ah, a picture would also be highly appreciated. I don't think there is anything you could get wrong with this technique but still I want to be on the safe side ;)

    greets
    bokor
     
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  9. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    here it is...
     

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  10. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    ok. that's what i was talking about. holding/hooking the racket with the pinky finger. if you just do what i did in the picture, and try to pull the racket away, you will find that it is actually very tight and it won't come off.

    i had to "open up" my other fingers to illustrate the pinky grip. when in the court, the other fingers are lightly gripping the racket as well.

    with this grip. you will find that the racket can freely rotate/flick using the pinky as the pivot.

    try it. you will need to relax and not tense up your fingers. you need to loosen them up.

    let us know if it works for you...
     
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  11. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    Bokor,

    yes! i think you got it. it does take a little bit getting used to. and you definitely got it right on: it takes practice.

    for drops, it is the same. you will use the same stroke, but instead of applying pressure as in the clear/smash, relax and just let the racket follow the natural motion of the arm. the best part is that, if you relax enough and hit your clear/smash/drop consistent and similar enough, since a lot of the extra power is coming from just finger motion, it is very deceptive.

    i also tried it to do drives and tapping on the net. it works in those situation as well. as for net shots. you need to relax the pinky to be more agile. but basically, you can do it all the time.

    the hardest part of this grip though, is not whether you can do it during practice, but is whether you can remain so relaxed during a game. it is really really hard to do.
     
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  12. Bokor

    Bokor Regular Member

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    hey kwun,

    thanks a lot for the nice pic :)

    i come directly from the gym and noticed a lot of improvement again. seems like i get the control bit as well with more practice.

    I think I will go on and do a little more experiments with the pinky method. didn't try around the whole court yet tho. all i can say is that it works pretty well on the overhead strokes. drops were quite good as well today. all in all the big improvement for me is the power as i am not too good in smashing powerwise :) maybe i should play in the girls league ;)

    just to be sure, in the pic it looks as if you were using the ring finger as well to tightly grip the racquet. i guess this is not really the case, right?

    good point on the during the game thing :) tried that today without success. it's like every new technique you learn...in critical situations you stick to the older "more secure" version :D maybe we should all have more guts on this *lol*
     
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  13. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    Bokor,

    the way my nerves are wired, the ring finger just naturally follows the pinky. it is impossible for me to bend my pinky while leaving all my other fingers straight. :) so i had to bend my ring finger as well!
     
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  14. ahtan

    ahtan Regular Member

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    Thks for ur pic Kwun. I will try it out ^_^
     
  15. Mag

    Mag Moderator

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    Kwun, thanks for bringing this up. In the past, I experiemented a bit "on my own" using this method. Nobody had told me about it, but I just figured it might work. However, I gave up because I never got any decent control, and I thought it was a dead end. Now that I know better, I will give it some more time...

    By the way, I really loooove the image attachment function in the new forum. It's so great not having to put the image up on some server first. People, use your digital cameras, I say! :)
     
    #15 Mag, May 8, 2002
    Last edited: May 8, 2002
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  16. stccmc

    stccmc Regular Member

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    hi,

    Even with the nice picture, I fail to see how to "flick" during a stroke with this pinky method.

    Anyone to further explain? Thanks alot. :(
     
  17. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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  18. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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  19. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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  20. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    stccmc, take a look at the pictures. notice that for illustration purpose, the racket handle isn't touching much of the hand but the pinky/ring fingers. in reality, they actually touch all the fingers, but only very lightly. the main gripping point is still the pinky.

    also, most importantly, notice that the upper part of the handle is moving around the hand. it starts off leaning around the thumb, and then at the end, it travelled down towards the middle finger. this is the extra movements that causes the increase in power.

    hope that helps.
     
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