I noticed when watching Swiss Open... a lot of the players choke up on their racket A LOT... Why is that??
correct assessment cheung. The korean changed tactics and switch to fast drives and net shots forcing the danish team to do the same or lift the shuttes. The korean won because the danish team made more errors on drive and net shots.
But do they play the whole game like that? or do they change grips when doing other strokes such as clears or smashes?
No, grips are longer for smashes and clears. In the Swiss Open, the Koreans were being aggressive in order to pressure the Danes (esp. Lungaard) forcing them to either clear (which is something you try to avoid doing often in doubles) or play tight net shots.
But my friend came back recently from a tourney and said that when he saw the mens doubles play the semi-final and final game, they all choked up on the racket... and played like that the whole game. He tried swinging the racket like that afterwards and found that the swinging speed is faster and there is more "snap" to the swing... and he said that he's gonna start trying to play like that from now on when attacking... so confusing
I would be surprised if they choke up on the grip when smashing or clearing. Choking up allows you to get to the shuttle fast as the head has a shorter distance to travel. The only situation where I can see them playing it that way is that it just a pure fast game of net shots, drives and blocks.
it personal preference i think. The best is to try it and see how u like it. You see, different strokes for different folks.
Decided to Dig up this Post I have been playing holding the racket all the way up to the point where my finger covers the area where the serial number has been engraved. I found that I'm returning smashes that I normally would not be able to. And found some of the pros and cons of choking up so high Pros: faster reflex speed (faster drives) better control for net shots easier to snap the racket easier to return smashes directed right at the chest area racket feels "lighter" More power on the backhand Cons: shorter reach so you need better footwork to compensate for that not as good an angle during smashes/drop shots too much power (when i first started i kept clearing the shuttle out of bounds and doing drop shots that are way too high I've not fully "converted" to this form of racket holding and I guess that's why on this other post I did I was complaining about how I can hit the shuttle at the right time Also, I prefer evenly balanced rackets (slightly head heavier) when holding the racket this way. (ie i prefer the MP55 over the MP100 when playing like this)
Need a lot of pratice for choke up the rackets. I always choke it up if I am infront of net and then release it come back to the normal grip for smash, clear, etc. The problem is that once you have shorten your grip, your body kindda remember and get used to the position for the sweet spot. Hence, once you are in a fast movement and release back to normal grip, you usually mis-hit the bird lot. I do spend a lot of time pratice that choke up thing.
Are they just using it in doubles? If so, I can see the merit in choking up, as you gain control and responsiveness by shortening the distance between the hand and racket head (the same would be accomplished by shortening the racket shaft, something we may see in the future).
Hi, Choking up the handle is an effective way of holding the racket whilst playing in doubles. It gives you greater control of the racket for positioning while recieveing a smash, drive etc. This about holiding a long piece of thin wood up vertical. You'll notice that the Top of the wood will begin to fall. Now, if you hold the wood, further up, you'll notice this wont happen, and u'll have greater control over what the wood does. This is why many people do it doubles. Greater racket control and racket speed. From the back, you notice they hardly choke the handle. This is because holding it lower down gives more of a kick, and therefore smashes are harder. I think californian has a very good point, maybe racket shafs will become shorter for speed, definately something to look out for. Matt
Really??? My Smashes are actually faster holding the racket up because of the speed generated from the faster snap... and more precise at where it lands... hmmm... weird...
JChen99, Maybe so, but if you hold the racket firther down the handle, then the higher you can take the shuttle, adn therefore the steeper the angle. You hold it higher up, chances are you have to jump to get any sort of angle on it. Matt
Hi, Yes thats right, at least you have your options open when you hold that bit further down the handle. Matt
There are some basic physical principles involved here, as the racket is essentially a lever. If you’ve ever seen the movies of medieval battles where the armies used catapults to launch boulders, you can see the similarity to a racket. A force is applied at one end and the energy is transferred up the connecting shaft to the other end. If you take a broomstick or piece of pipe and attach a weight to one end and pick it up at the other end, hold it straight out and try to flex your wrist to move it, you’ll notice the amount of work needed to do that. Then, put the stick or pipe down and move the weight up closer to the end where you hold it. Hold it out and flex your wrist to move it. It’s easier to raise, isn’t it? This is what happens with choking up or shortening the shaft. You have a shorter length of material to transfer the force through to get the work done. How fast and efficiently that force is transferred depends on the elasticity of the connecting material and it’s design (stiff shaft vs. flex shaft). (There is also a very slight difference in surface area exposed to air resistance.) But here’s the trade-off: while the angle of travel is the same for short shaft vs. long shaft, the arc distance traveled by the head is not. The longer shaft means the head has a longer distance to travel through the same angle, meaning that there is more time for the head velocity to increase. Although you would have to apply more force with a longer shaft to get the same head velocity, you could get more head velocity with a longer shaft than with a shorter shaft. Choking up gives the hitter more control and better responsiveness, which makes sense in doubles where racket movement is quick. As for smashes or clears, it depends. Somewhere in the range, there is an ideal gripping point that takes into account time and amount of force that can be applied (muscle contraction) to give the maximum striking force. It would be different for every individual and every racket. There is another factor to consider, and that is the follow-through. A hit using a longer shaft has more momentum and requires more follow-through to dissipate the energy of the swing. Not a good thing for doubles unless it is a kill smash. I’m not a physics professor, so I may not have explained this with complete accuracy, but I think you can get the idea. It’s something to think about anyway.
If you turn your fingers and hand with exactly the same speed and compare holding the grip further up the racquet to near the end, you will get more speed into the shuttle when the grip is near the end.
hehe... i just asked my dad about this whole racket holding business and came out with the same result you came out with However, my dad said something else that was also very true. When racket up higher, the head of the racket is then lighter therefore allowing the player to generate more speed of the racket head (not necessarily power however) So... i guess this is another thought?
