Hi I am a beginner at badmintton, been playing for 2.5 months now, play 2 or 3x times a week. I recently purchased a racquet (Z slash) but I am not overtly impressed with the Yonex overgrip (not sure which it is..probably standard cheap stuff as it was free with racquet). I tend to like thickish grips which gives me a firm hold for Tennis, got a Karakal comfy on my tennis racquet and love it which I put on top of original to get the thickness. With Badmintton I want to get some advice so i dont compromise the balance, weight etc.. I have read on here that thikcer grips mean wrist is harder to use (I am trying put soem wrist into shots..a new thing for me) so please recoomend an overgrip that is comfy, solid feeling, light but thick. It will replace the yonex overgrap. p.s any of you guys use vibration dampeners on your racquets? thank in advance. SL101
Hello, Coming from tennis, you probably hold the badminton racket in the palm of your hand, like a tennis racket. As your game progresses, you'll notice that badminton rackets are held differently, more toward your fingers, thus the small grip size. You may notice that you tend to push the racket outward, toward your fingers, during a game. The wrist action is not actually an action of the wrist. It is a pronation of the forearm. This is discussed in other sections of the forum. Adding a grip changes the balance and weight of the racket, true. It does change the 'static' weight and balance but, I tend to agree with those who say that in actual use, it won't matter. Of course, there are those who say otherwise. So much has been said that it's best to go back and read the discussions. Such as: http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67405
I think you should, before buying a new grip, make 100% sure you are holding the racket correctly - if you are holding it wrong it can also explain why you are having a hard time with the wrist. I think you'll notice that for badminton you don't want the same feel as when playing tennis as badmintonrackets are held mostly by the fingers and not by the entire hand as ixoye also states. On the vibration dampener thing: The shuttlecock weighs 5 grams... There isn't any vibration to speak of as there is in tennis, so no I don't use one (and have in my 12 years of playing never seen one being used).
Also, to reduce thickness and still use a thicker replacement grip, remove the original grip first. "The wrist action is not actually an action of the wrist. It is a pronation of the forearm. This is discussed in other sections of the forum." The above comment is a bit misleading... It's both wrist and pronation, tennis players are familiar with pronation (that's how you get top spin on a ball) but they don't break their wrists while they are doing it. Going back and forth from tennis to badminton can also be challenging due to the almost opposite swing basics. The karakal is a great grip but as stated, remove the original yy one first.
Thanks guys! I just did a quick test of holding the racquet , and you guys are right, I am holding it in my palm like a tennis racquet although i make a conscious effort to be relaxed with it, I notice when running towards the shuttle my hand tenses up almost like a fist. Trying to stop that anyway and I will try this finger grip and see how I get on this week with current grip (reading the badminton bible- grips guide atm) I know there is something wrong in either the way I hold the racquet or I am missing some subtle action in executing strokes with the wrist because the smashes I have are very weak. Having played a bit of tennis with a decent paced serve and also having been a fairly decent paced bowler(cricket) I expected to be able to smash with power because body mechanics seem the same to me for bowling action as well as a serve but it is not translating into a powerful smash in badminton hence I thought the skinny handle maybe causing the issue somewhere along the line (Like a good sportsman always blame the tools first ) thanks
+1 for Karakal Super PU - very thick, but nice and yielding. Stays tacky for a long time, too. Sadly it's a repalcement grip, so it's a pain in the arse if you want to change it over. If you fancy an overgrip, I just tried the Wilson Soft (I think it's called) - sticks to your hand like an old Wine Gum.
Karakal Super PU. Tried a few but no one matches it in terms of comfort, tacky and durability. It is also good even when wet. The best there is.
One of the most important parts of smashing power is not actually how much power your muscles can generate, but the pronation of the arm. (And the timing of the stroke, of course). Check out whether you are pronating correctly during the smash. During the "wind-up" phase, your arm should rotate outwards, and during the "smashing" phase, it should rotate back inwards. (Since "out" and "in" are relative terms, imagine holding the racket in front of you; the thumb will be on the left side of the hand; rotating outwards means that the thumb rotates upwards and to the right side of the hand). Just verifying that I actually do this movement helped me a lot. I did not have to change much afterwards; I just pay attention to the outward movement during the (slow) preparation phase of the smash. During the (quick) actual smash, I do not have to do anything consciously because it would be physically impossible not to turn inward without having an arm made of chewing gum. Oh, and on your question: I use a mixed leather/frottee thingy like this one http://tinyurl.com/ydb8ol4 , wrapped around the original cheap factory grip.
Thanks for the suggestions and advice. At the risk of taking this off-topic I just tried the movement you described and I end up with a situation where I am holding the racquet like a pan with an underhand grip , my hand is virtually underneath the grip, fingers at top.. this is the only way my thumb will go to teh right side of my right hand.. There will now be quite a twist from right to left of the entire racquet head when go to hit the shuttle.. Is this what you meant?
When you smash, the racket face (the face is the side hitting the shuttle) should be rotating from facing the left to facing forward for contacting the shuttle to facing down then right as you follow through (while breaking the wrist at the same time). This is the reason you need a finger grip as a palm grip will not allow this follow through. Badminton England has some videos available that show the entire stroke step by step.
You'll have to figure out the range of motion you have to use, then thumb does not need to go all the way to the far right side (just wanted to point out the direction of movement). Nice one.
