hey guys, so im somewhat inconsistent. and when i do perform well, i dont really take a note of it and im about to gradute from college so i have to prioritize other things than badminton :/ anyway, i just have a question. when you do a swing, i know that you start off by gripping the racket softly. however, should you finish the swing by gripping it as tight as when you started off? i mean lets say on a 1-10 scale, you start with 3 before the swing, then during impact, its still a 3, all the way up to the follow through. is this correct? or should i hold it tighter during impact? also a bit off topic. is it okay to start a swing with the basic grip, then finish with a fist grip? thanks!
i would say 3 in ready position, then rapidly increase to 9 at moment of strike, then relax to 3 immediately on follow thru. this helps you make use of "finger power" referring to a power stroke of course, eg. clear, smash it should happen instinctively, as the racket will fly out of your hand if your still gripping 3 at moment of strike! for touch shots, no need to grip that hard
It is best to hold the handle of your Badminton racket as loose as possible . It is best to hold the handle of your Badminton racket as loose as possible, as long as, like what visor said, your racket doesn't fly off your hand when you hit the shuttlecock. Why? Because a loose grip won't get your wrist 'locked up' (in other words, your wrist would be more flexible when hitting the shuttlecock). This is why an experienced player always change his/her overgrip as soon as the grip of the handle is getting slippery. Many experienced players change their overgrip once a month. .
ah ok. so youre saying that it must be gripped very tight after impact, and back to softness again. i mean maybe i was exaggerating, but during impact i would hold the grip at perhaps 5. you know, just enough to prevent the racket to fly out of my hand, but its not very tight either. and when i do a smash, it feels weak. however, it works nicely for softer shots like drop shots. i sort of do a 3-5 with all my shots, including backhand/forehands clears and drops. it became a habit; but ive never known how tight i should hold. so you said 9, so thats a BIG difference in tighetning. should this apply to clears, and drives as well? going from 3 to 9 during impact, and back to 3 on follow through? thanks for the tip by the way! EDIT: i just saw chris's post! in fact i added an extra grip to the handle just last week. i had a habit of using a fist/hammer grip when holding my racket, and i read on badminton bible that you must at least have that index finger above all of the fingers. so i assumed that my grip was too small, because it feels weird when i use the basic forehand grip. but with the extra grip i feel much more comfortable, but still confused with finger tightetning.
Just for comparison, I do it just like giant_q_tip. 3 in ready position, and at impact i only went to around 5-6. I think it i just right. 9 is to stiff, i loose control and even power. The point is to relax your grip. i
Preparing: Firm, but not hard (i.e. not throttling it). Relaxed, but not loose. So 2-3. Impact: For a smash it should be gripped to 10, for clears, well, it depends, it's a clear and should be measured in power, but i'd say if you use more grip than shoulder/upper-arm power, you'll save a lot of energy and be able to control clears more easily. The point is, is that you should be gripping as hard and more importantly as FAST as possible on a smash. After, back to 2-3.
I'm learner and just recently have hitted really fast smashes. I was amazed at how loose and effortless it was, when I try to hit it hard it doesn't work. Maybe its through growing up playing tennis and cricket which needed firmer grips is why such a relaxed loose grip seems unnatural.
